“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” - Ephesians 4: 32
Has anyone ever injured your feelings badly or bruised your ego? Have you also hurt anyone for whom you are yet to be forgiven? Do you currently hold yourself accountable for a lapse? Don’t worry about these situations. First forgive others; next seek for forgiveness; finally, forgive yourself. Resentment and anger bottled up in the heart injures the spirit and destroys the body. Anger dries up the blood while resentment eats up the cells of the body. Your inability to forgive renders your offering unacceptable to God and also deprives you of God’s grace. Just as Jesus healed the sick by first forgiving them, so also you must forgive others in order to receive healing – Healing for your body, business, job etc. Forgiveness is a gradual process. Therefore, anytime you feel resentment or anger rising up in you due to unforgiveness, arise and rebuke the devil and renounce the spirit of unforgiveness. God opens the doors to healing each time you actually forgives anyone, including yourself. Remember, God may not answer your prayers if you don’t forgive one another. Mark 11:25 says as follows:
“And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.” – Mark 11:25
As you are already aware, sin is a hindrance to the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lives. Sin also hinders prayers from being answered. Therefore, it is necessary to remove sins from your life before you start to pray. But God won’t forgive us if we do not forgive others first. To proceed in prayers without seeking for forgiveness and others, hinders the manifestations of our petitions. Starting from today, begin to forgive those who offended you and pray fervently for your enemies. In this gesture lie the power of healings and prayer answered.