Mark 11:25-26- “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” NKJV
Jesus just finished explaining how God operates faith! He says what He believes, and He gets what He says. Jesus tells us that we too can operate in this type of faith. This is more serious than saying, “I believe I’m going to have a billion dollars by next year” and receiving it when you don’t have a hundred dollars. God is not your genie in a bottle! However, when we have faith in God, we can use His faith, to see the impossible!
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”
Mark 11:23 NKJV
He shall have whatever he says! Operating like God gets the results that God gets! He speaks what He believes, and He receives it. Jesus talked just like God! He told the tree that no one would eat of it again, and it dried up. He told people that they were healed, and they were healed. He spoke to demons and told them to leave, and they left!
The caveat in this verse is that we can’t have doubt in our heart, but must believe it will be done! Either Jesus exaggerated and didn’t know what He was talking about, or we have allowed our experiences to dictate a falsehood that supersedes the truth of what Jesus said! These were not Mark’s words! These are not my words! These are not the words of men and women who say “you can’t lose with the stuff I use!’ These are the words of the Savior! So they are true!
Here’s a thought! Instead of drawing the conclusion that this doesn’t work, maybe we should be drawing the conclusion that our faith in God, to believe like God, isn’t where it should be. And maybe, if we stop thinking that we only need a little faith to move mountains, when it takes great faith, we can actually begin to trust Jesus to assist us in growing the faith that we do have!
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
The place of prayer should be the most exciting time in the day of the believer. After all, it’s the time when we get to talk with the Lord and to have Him speak back to us. But for most of us, it’s the most frustrating place in our life! Praying without seeing the results that we expect to see can cause many to lose heart and to faint, or to just stop expecting things to happen. But maybe the problem with your unanswered prayers has nothing to do with the size of your faith, and everything to do with unforgiveness.
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25-26 NKJV
Tony Evans shares that there are two types of forgiveness. Unilateral forgiveness and transactional forgiveness. In short, unilateral forgiveness happens or needs to happen when the person you need to forgive is no longer around. For example, if they are dead but you are still harboring unforgiveness, this is unilateral. Only you are involved in the process, and you need to forgive that person so that you can be free to move on with your life! Only you are held in bondage to this type of unforgiveness and only you can bring about your freedom when you choose to forgive! God is right there with you to assist you, but it’s your choice!
Transactional forgiveness occurs when there is a relationship that needs repairing. If I hurt my spouse and I need to ask for forgiveness so that our marriage will grow and be strengthened, this is called transactional forgiveness.
Jacob and Esau were twins who never could seem to get their relationship right. After Jacob received the blessing from Isaac, Esau was so angry, he wanted to kill Jacob.
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Genesis 27:41 NKJV
Things were so bad between the brothers that Jacob fled to Laban’s to preserve his life. But when Jacob returned home many years later we see that he remembers the hatred of his brother and he was afraid!
Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.
Genesis 32:11 NKJV
From what we read in scriptures about the twins, they were never shown as being friendly with each other. Jacob was loved by Rebekah and Esau was loved by Isaac. This had to be tough growing up knowing that they were loved by only one parent, which had its own set of issues. But now Jacob wants to return to the land of his family and he knows that things were never right between him and Esau, so he is concerned about the reception he will receive from Esau. So much so, he prays and asks God to deliver him from Esau!
But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Genesis 33:4 NKJV
Somehow Esau found it in his heart to embrace his brother. Since the bible doesn’t tell us what happened, we do know at some point in his life, maybe just the night before, he had to forgive Jacob for the wrongs against him. And Jacob had to forgive Esau. It was transactional forgiveness, and it was necessary for them to both live in the same land without warring against one another. Maybe they were never close, but they were at peace. Transactional forgiveness can bring peace, and it can also bring restoration!
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25-26 NKJV
Jesus said to His disciples that if we don’t forgive, neither will God forgive us! That’s harsh! But it is true! We can find all kinds of reasons, legitimate reasons, why we are hurting and can’t see how we can forgive the person who wronged us, but when we camp there, know that God won’t forgive us! It doesn’t even sound fair to know that someone can abuse you and God says that you must forgive that person in order for Him to forgive you!
Someone can cheat on you, break your heart, destroy your family, and God says, you have to forgive them so that He can forgive you! Someone has lied on you, destroyed your character, stolen your money, killed your love one, and God says, you must forgive them, so that He can forgive you!
Here’s the point, in case you missed it! You forgive, because you will always stand in need of His forgiveness. Maybe not in this situation, but there will be a situation. And when you are before Him, you want to receive forgiveness from the Most High God! No one’s opinion or forgiveness matters more than His does. And so you forgive, so that He will forgive you!
When you stand before Him praying, and you need a mountain to move, know that forgiveness places you in a position to hear God; and when He speaks and tells you what to say, mountains will move! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 