A HINDRANCE TO
PRAYER
So if you are presenting a sacrifice at
the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has
something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that
person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. Matthew 5:23-24
An unforgiving Christian is an oxymoron. If you are a
Christian, then you must forgive, because
forgiven people are forgiving people. Therefore, you cannot be an
unforgiving Christian. And if you want your prayers to be answered in the affirmative, then you must forgive others. Jesus gave
this command: "If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember
that someone has something against you, leave
your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person.
Then come and offer your sacrifice to
God". Jesus also taught us to pray, And forgive us our sins, as we
forgive those who sin against us ... (Luke 11:4). We need to learn to forgive,
because we are all flawed. We will sin against people, and people will sin against us. Husbands will offend their wives, and wives will offend their husbands. Parents will
offend their children, and children
will offend their parents. Family members will offend one another. Friends will offend one another. So
we must choose to forgive. We must
determine not to let those offences keep us from communion and fellowship with God.
It may be that
someone has really hurt you. You may even have every right to be angry and bitter. But
do you know who gets hurt the most when you harbour anger and hostility and vengeful thoughts toward someone? You do. And not only that, you are
cutting yourself off from fellowship
with God.
When God
forgave you, did you deserve to be forgiven? Does the person who hurt you deserve to be
forgiven? Forgive anyway. Based on God's love and grace, we should forgive.
Prayer: Bind
and cast out unforgiving spirit from your heart.
Scriptural Reading: Matthew 5:17-26
