The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: Luke 17:1-10 // Psalm 130

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is heaven may forgive you.”
Mark 11:25

Forgive and Be Forgiven

God forgives us completely through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet it is equally true that if we refuse to forgive someone who has wronged us, we cannot expect to receive forgiveness from our heavenly Father. In Ephesians 4:32, Paul writes; “be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” And when Peter asked, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” The Lord’s answer was clear: no less than “seventy times seven” times [Matthew 18:21-22].
True forgiveness is not a matter of human decision. If we try by our own strength to forgive one who has harmed us, that forgiveness will be incomplete or even impossible. We must take Christ’s work as our source of strength, remembering His substitutionary death on the cross for us even while we were enemies of God. When we ask God to enable us to forgive as He has forgiven us, we can then truly forgive others. Having been washed clean and forgiven all our sins, we are able to set aside our angry pride and forgive others.

Compassionate Lord, help us to remember always Your great mercy through Jesus’ blood and merit, that we, too, may forgive. Amen.

July 06, 1993