“Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned, but I will sin no more’? Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’? [Job 34.31-32]
After my original post today from my daily reading (in Job), I took to heart what I wrote about (repentance) and spent some time today repenting. In so doing, because I have yet unanswered requests for healing in my own body, I began to ask the LORD what it was in my life (that I didn't know) that was preventing healing...
It was only a matter of time before I knew I had my answer: unforgiveness. So, I have spent much of the day repenting for unforgiveness in my heart. As the day continued on, the following scripture became obvious:
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. [Mark 11.22-25]
The one thing that disables and brings mountain-moving faith to its knees is unforgiveness.
What a thought. How many prayers go unanswered because of unforgiveness?
It would sure be nicer just to say, "Well, God does not always answer our prayers... or says no, or says maybe, or says wait..." How convenient it is then that we have doctrines that say just that.
The problem with our 'unanswered-prayer' doctrines is what Jesus said about faith and forgiveness. Jesus said, in no uncertain words that forgiveness is necessary for faith to work. It might be said in another way, faith won't work in conjunction with unforgiveness.
Sooooo... when our mountains do not move, would it not make real good theological sense to check our hearts for unforgiveness? The thing is, Jesus seems to have said unforgiveness is the ONLY thing that will render faith useless. So, just because at first glance we might not see any obvious unforgiveness, wouldn't it be prudent to look closer? Wouldn't it be wise to do a deep-cleanse sort of heart search instead of a quick, flippant recall?
Unforgiveness is HUGE. It is a monumental problem. It is increasingly growing in popularity culturally too. I know society prides itself on becoming increasingly more civilized... but then, why does it seem like there is more hatred now than ever? Because it is the only result to be expected from focusing on 'self.'
Let's trace unforgiveness down real quick. At its heart, unforgiveness is selfishness - ultimately it is pride - a "haughty mind" (the first thing in the list of things God hates according to the Bible in Proverbs 6.16-19). Unforgiveness is the result of one person believing another person does not deserve pardon. Unforgiveness then, is a judgment against another person. Judgment, we are told from the Bible, is God's business and God's business alone - not man's business in any way.
This is overwhelming. Unforgiveness is likely the greatest 'dead'short' in the life and power of a believer.
When our car tire is flat, we can conclude with certainty, "It has no air."
Can we not make a similar association between "flat" useless faith and the lack of forgiveness?
So again, when we are powerless, it would be the best thing to check our heart for unforgiveness. BUT! We must remember our heart is “...the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" [Jeremiah 17.9] Unlike a flat tire, an unforgiving heart is not so detectable - unless of course one considers powerless faith...
We cannot declare ourselves innocent! How can we know our own hearts? We must ask God! And then, we must spend the necessary time with Him to allow Him to reveal our hearts to us - for He is the only One Who can. How long do we wait? Until He shows us - and we will know.
Perhaps fasting is a good subject to bring up here too...
Father, I am so thankful that You are speaking to me. I am so thankful that You love me enough to reveal my heart to me. I don't like what I see, but I can only imagine how much less You like it! Create in me a clean heart Oh God... Renew a right spirit within me... Show me how to forgive...
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