Forgiveness Leads To Answered Prayers

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:24-25

The key to prayer isn’t the words you speak or how long you are in conversation with God. The faith you have in the Lord determines whether or not your prayer reaches the ears of the almighty or stops at your ceiling… Mark reminds us that just as much as we desire we must believe… “…when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them…” This passage taken from the gospel of Mark speaks to the heart of a Christian; we may go to God in prayer, but we must have faith and not doubt… In the verses before these scriptures, Jesus has made his entry into Jerusalem and while in Bethany went up to a fig tree that had no fruit (when Jesus arrived, the tree wasn’t prepared but that’s for a later day and time), in front of His disciples Jesus cursed the fig tree and when the men returned they found that the tree had withered (died)… The disciples were amazed, but Jesus told them that we (as believers) can do miraculous things (move mountains), but we must have faith in God and not waver about His abilities… Whatever you ask of God, believe that He hears you and will respond to your prayer… 

Notice what Mark says, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any:” We must be willing to go before the Lord and admit our faults, but more importantly, forgive those who have wronged us (faith comes in trusting God to deliver and also trusting God to mend). So many of us carry the offense of another on our shoulders or in our hearts and because of that there is no room for God to work in our lives. We hold on to pain and hurt, and wonder why God has not moved in our lives. In short, don’t carry grudges because all they do is occupy your thoughts and take up residence where God would like to be… We must understand that people will always upset you, people will always offend you, people will always disappoint you, and people will always hurt you. Remember God said whatever is loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven, and whatever is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, so forgive and forget, so God can do the same for you on earth, but more importantly when you go from labor to reward! God will open doors in your life that you never thought possible, but you must be willing to close the doors of malice, resentment, and anger first; this requires faith that believes and never doubts…

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!