Mark 11:25
One of the greatest hindrances in effective prayer is the presence of resentment and bitterness toward another person. Our responses to the things that are done to us, when held onto deteriorate into resentment and bitterness, and totally blocks the channel of God’s communication to us.
It is not without reason that the above verse says that if we are praying and we have something against another person, we MUST forgive, because forgiveness, the cleansing of our own contaminated hearts, restores the presence of the Holy Spirit in our prayer time.
Without His presence we can’t have a dialog with God, and will be left talking to ourselves! God’s intention is that we become channels of His love into the hearts of others. There is no other place that we can prove our genuine Christian faith than by forgiving someone WHILE they are being impossible. Of course we can’t do this unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
When people wonder why they can’t hear, and prayer isn’t becoming a dialog, the first place to look is to ask God to search and see if there be any wicked way in us. (Psalm 139) If there is, it can be quickly confessed and forsaken so that our communion with our Lord is restored.
We stack up a lot of resentments against parents, just from the simple process of growing up. With all that baggage still intact, we then think we can get married and have children, be involved in jobs, etc. and have continual good relationships. If someone drives you crazy, and you hardly know them, ask God for a good insight into the contents of your own heart. You may be experiencing an “old rag” that needs to be removed.
Every person we meet in the present can trigger old undealt with anger and resentment. We must deal with ourselves first before we know for sure if someone is doing something to us or not. A very small offense seems like a bomb going off to a person who has already harbored a lifetime of rage at a parent! Our response is a picture of what WE are like, not necessarily is it a picture of the person who seems to be so offensive.
No relationship can endure when the people involved don’t walk in constant forgiveness. We are all sinners, walking toward a cleansed life, but nobody is finished yet. Our conflicts with each other are God’s opportunities to continually change our life. Let’s not miss our opportunities by focusing on other people. We are meeting the enemy, and he is us!
Jesus was on the cross, forgiving as He was being crucified. We, too, are meant to live in a way that forgives even while offenses are being committed. Keep in mind that doing this is only possible through the Holy Spirit, who accomplishes forgiveness in us. When we are offended, we don’t feel like forgiving anyone—Don’t worry about it, we can still ask the Lord to cleanse us of what people do so that we can be free even if we don’t feel like it. It’s called obedience, and He always does the work!
"If we do not love one another we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer."
- D. L. Moody
"A loving spirit is a condition of believing prayer. We cannot be wrong with man and right with God."
- A Kneeling Christian
"Criticism of others nails them to the past. Prayer for them releases them into the future."
- Frank Laubach
"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Intercession leaves you neither time or inclination to pray for our own “sad, sweet self.” The thought of yourself is not kept out, because it is not there to keep out. You are completely identified with God’s interests in other lives."
- Oswald Chambers
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