Un-forgiveness
Sometimes it seems that we have done
everything that we can to believe
God for something, and we still
don’t seem to get an answer. There
is another hindrance to faith that
will keep you from receiving, and it
is un-forgiveness.
We can believe and repeat Mark
11:23-24
Mark 11:22-26 NKJ
New King James Version
22 So Jesus answered and said to
them, “Have faith in God. 23 For
assuredly, I say to you, whoever
says to this mountain, ‘Be removed
and be cast into the sea,’ and does
not doubt in his heart, but believes
that those things he says will be
done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and
you will have them.
We can't stop there...
Forgiveness and Prayer
25 “And whenever you stand praying,
if you have anything against anyone,
forgive him, that your Father in
heaven may also forgive you your
trespasses. 26 But if you do not
forgive, neither will your Father in
heaven forgive your trespasses.”
So we see that we can have the faith
to remove mountains, Whatever that
mountain is...but if we are walking
in un-forgiveness, it will not work.
You can speak to that mountain all
day long and it is just going to sit
there.
I believe that a lot of unanswered
prayer, not all, comes from
un-forgiveness. If you have
bitterness in your heart, how can
God bless you and heal you? It says
here he can’t even forgive you. And
if he can’t forgive you, he
certainly can’t heal you. So we need
to search our hearts and see if
there is any root of bitterness or
un-forgiveness in us and get rid of
it.
So you say, I forgave that person,
and they just did it again. So I did
my part and I still can’t get
healed. Let’s see what Jesus has to
say about that.
Matthew 18:15-22 Moreover if they
brother shall trespass against you
go and tell him his fault between
you and him alone. If he shall hear
you, you have gained your brother.
But if he will not hear you, then
take with you one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three
witnesses every world may be
established. And if he shall neglect
to hear them, tell it unto the
church, but if he neglect to hear
the church, let him be as an heathen
man and a publican.
18 “Assuredly, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth will be
bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.
19 “Again I say to you that if two
of you agree on earth concerning
anything that they ask, it will be
done for them by My Father in
heaven. 20 For where two or three
are gathered together in My name, I
am there in the midst of them.”
Then Peter asked him this "How often
do I have to forgive, seven times?"
And Jesus answered this. "I say unto
you, not seven times, but seventy
times seven.
So what is said here? Your job is to
forgive. If the person that you are
forgiving doesn’t change, then you
still forgive. Even if he
continually offends. That is not
your responsibility. God will deal
with him or her. You need to put it
behind you and get inline for an
answer to your prayer.
Jesus described the steps to be
taken to make things right with
someone. If you follow these steps
and have no bitterness in your heart
and have honestly forgiven that
person, you have done what God has
told you to do.
Now if you are counting how many
times you have forgiven them, that
doesn’t count. What Jesus meant by
the seventy times seven, is that you
just forgive, no matter what. Some
people will never change. They will
continue to be miserable the rest of
their life. But as long as it
doesn’t poison you, then you are
free.
This is another great mountain
moving scripture, but you need to be
sure you are free of un-forgiveness
before it will work. Then get in
agreement with someone and it will
come to pass.
If we go on further in that chapter
we find a story about a man that did
not forgive, even though he had been
forgiven.
Matthew 18:23-35 There was a man
that owed a large debt to a king.
The king was going to throw him and
his family into jail until the debt
was paid. The man begged and pleaded
with the king to have mercy and
forgive him the debt and the king
felt sorry for him and forgave him
and set him free. You would think
someone like that would be overjoyed
to have that happen to him and be
merciful to others around him. But
he wasn’t. He went out and grabbed a
man, by the throat, that owed him a
small sum of money and demanded that
he pay it. The man didn’t have the
money so he threw him in jail.
Someone else saw that he had done
this and reported him to the king.
The king was furious and took the
man and threw him in jail, until his
debt was paid.
"Likewise shall my heavenly Father
do also unto you, if you from your
hearts forgive not everyone his
brother their trespasses."
Jesus paid an awful price for our
forgiveness. We do not deserve to go
to heaven, but Jesus made a way. Man
had sinned against God and was
headed for hell. What greater debt
could you owe then that? Jesus paid
it all. When we accepted him, the
debt against us was paid. So if we
turn around and do not forgive
someone for something they did to
us, which in comparison to our debt,
we do not deserve God’s mercy.
And when you forgive someone, there
will always be an opportunity that
will come that God will test you to
see if you have forgiven them. He
will bring them across your path and
you will know if there is
un-forgiveness in your heart. So the
forgiveness can not be surface, it
must be from the heart! God is not
decieved by false actions
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NET Bible)
31 You must put away all bitterness,
anger, wrath, quarreling, and
slanderous talk—indeed all malice.
32 Instead, be kind to one another,
compassionate, forgiving one
another, just as God in Christ also
forgave you.
You can test yourself for
forgiveness towards someone by the
words that come out of your mouth
when talking about that person. If
you find that you can not talk about
them without hard words or
bitterness, you have not forgiven
them.
What are the benefits of
forgiveness?
Mark 11:25
God will forgive your sins.
2 Corinthians 2:7-10
So we won’t be swallowed up with
sorrow.
And it restores Christian
fellowship.
Also that Satan will not get an
advantage of us, for we are not
ignorant of his devices.
Yes un-forgiveness is a device of
Satan to keep us bound and in his
territory. Don’t be ignorant of the
devices he tries to use against us.
1 Peter 5:8
NIV
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your
enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to
devour.
Lions hunt by stalking their prey,
before approaching them from an
angle and using their body weight to
wrestle the prey animal. They use
their intensely strong bite force to
sever the vertebrae in the neck.
Lions employ two main hunting
methods: stalking and direct
confrontation. Stalking involves
staying hidden and approaching prey
stealthily, while direct
confrontation involves the male lion
joining the hunt with the lionesses.
The hunting strategy varies
depending on the size and behavior
of the prey
That's how the devil hunts use...he
watches us and waits for an
opportunity to catch us in a place
where we are open to his
attack...one way is when we are in
unforgiveness.
James 5:15-16 And the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, and the
Lord shall raise him up and if he
have committed sins they shall be
forgiven him. Confess your faults
one to another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The
effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man avails much.
So we see here that if we not only
forgive one another, but pray for
the offender, we will be healed.
Talk about turning the other cheek.
Pray for the very one that has
offended you. That is God’s way. It
will not only heal you, but him as
well.
There are many stories of
forgiveness in the Bible
Genesis 34 Jacob and Esau. Esau
forgave his brother and the family
was reunited.
Genesis 45 Joseph forgave his
brothers. It reunited the family and
he was able to save them through the
famine.
Numbers 12 Moses forgave Miriam and
Aaron and asked God to heal them.
Luke 23:24 Jesus forgave the men
that crucified him.
Acts 7:59-60 Stephen forgave those
that stoned him.
We must forgive and forget. You
can’t say, I forgive you, but I will
never forget this. That is not true
forgiveness.
God not only forgives us He puts
them where He will never take them
from again
Micah 7:19
New International Version
19 You will again have compassion on
us; you will tread our sins
underfoot and hurl all our
iniquities into the depths of the
sea.
MSG
Where is the god who can compare
with you— wiping the slate clean of
guilt, Turning a blind eye, a deaf
ear, to the past sins of your purged
and precious people? You don’t nurse
your anger and don’t stay angry
long, for mercy is your specialty.
That’s what you love most. And
compassion is on its way to us.
You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins to the bottom
of the ocean.
As long as we keep ourselves clean
before him and walk in forgiveness,
he sees us as clean vessels, open to
receive. I call it keeping short
accounts with God.
Don’t let unforgiveness fester and
become a stronghold in your life.
Get it out when it first happens and
keep clean. It is easier to get rid
of when it first happens. If you let
it sit and meditate on it for too
long it will become a stronghold.
Don't run from God when you
sin...run to Him. He knows
anyways...you can't hide it...but
you can get His forgiveness...no
matter what it is.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
New International Version
4 The weapons we fight with are not
the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish
arguments and every pretension that
sets itself up against the knowledge
of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to
Christ.
Satan will start with a thought. If
we linger on it, it becomes an
imagination. If we dwell on it too
long, it will become a stronghold.
We need to cast it down before it
gets that far.
Walk in forgiveness and you will
start to see things happen in your
life.
