Jesus said that to receive what we
ask in prayer, we must have faith. But,
Jesus DID NOT say that ALL we need is faith.
No.
No, He didn’t.
In the Lord’s Prayer, the prototype
for effective prayer, Jesus taught:
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. (Matthew 6: 12, 13)
Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also
forgive everyone who is indebted to us. (Luke 11: 3, 4)
See the AND there?
The original Greek word is a primary
particle used as a conjunction “having a copulative or cumulative effect.” In other words, The forgiveness clause is
part of the give us our daily bread
clause.
To receive, you need faith, but you
also need to be forgiven AND you
need to be forgiving.
Still don’t believe me? Can’t hear me over the echo of Creflo Dollar
in your ear?
O.K.
Go to Mark chapter 11.
Jesus was teaching His disciples
about the power of faith.
Mark 11: 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have
faith in God.
23 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.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you
ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
That makes sense to you, doesn’t it?
Faith moves mountains.
But Jesus didn’t end His lesson there.
Keep reading and you’ll notice an And.
Mark 11: 25 “And
whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him,
that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if you do not forgive, neither will
your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Jesus deliberately and repeatedly
linked receiving by faith to forgiveness and forgiving.
Jesus said that if you’re praying and
asking by faith, but you have something against somebody, then before you
finish your prayer, you’re supposed to forgive the person who offended
you.
Why do you have to forgive
them?
Because if you don’t forgive them
for what they did to you, then you can’t expect God to forgive you for the dirt
you’ve done to Him. And if you approach
God begging, but unforgiven (or to put it another way---- unrepentant) then you
can’t expect God to give you anything---- no matter how much faith you have.
James 1: 5-8 says that we must have
faith when we pray. We can’t expect to
receive from God when we are doubtful or double-minded
. Later, in James 4: 6-8, Scripture gives us a working cure for double-mindedness:
Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts…
In other words, ask for
forgiveness. In one word, REPENT.
If you don’t repent, you’re double-minded;
and let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his
ways. (James 1: 7, 8)
Experience demonstrates that you can
ask in faith and still not receive. Therefore, there must be something more to
receiving that JUST FAITH.
Yeah, yeah. I know what “they” say. “They” say that all you have to do is speak
the word and believe. But, what does the
Bible say?
You
ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your
pleasures. (James 4:3)
If you follow the reasoning in James
chapter 4, you see that the whole
passage is about the two things that keep Christians from getting their prayers
answered. Those two things are:
(1)Our grudging, unforgiveness
toward one another;
and (2)Our selfishness and arrogance
about the stuff we want.
James 4:1 Where
do wars and fights come from among you? Do they
not come from your desires
for pleasure that war in your members?
In Mark 2: 3-12, before Jesus
addressed a request for physical healing, the Lord addressed the need for
forgiveness.
He said, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2: 5).
The physical healing was just an endorsement
of the spiritual restoration of the foundational act of forgiveness.
“That you may know
that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the
paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Immediately he arose,
took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them. (Mark 2: 10-12
Come on, let’s be real with each
other. We do a whole lot of praying, and
claiming, and speaking, and believing----without results.
And we have damaged a lot of
brothers and sisters by telling them that the problem was, “You didn’t have
enough faith.” (Or, “you didn’t give
enough money in church” which is so far from right that it requires a whole
other series of posts.)
If we want to have peace with God
and true power in our prayers, then we have to embrace more than the “word of
faith;” we have to embrace the Word of forgiveness.
Faith is absolutely key to receiving
answered prayer; but Jesus said that faith is not the only element. Two other keys are forgiveness and forgiving.
Unrepented/ unforgiven sin creates
static in your spiritual reception. You can’t
really clear hear how God wants to direct your path; so you can end up praying
the opposite of God’s will----- with all of your faith. But God never promised to answer prayer that
was outside of His will.
When you hold on to the unforgiven
sin debts of others, that also creates static; because you put yourself in the
place of God, or rather god, because you make yourself an unforgiving judge of
their sins.
I know that “they” say ask in faith
and forget your haters.
God says, that you can’t forget
them. You have to forgive them.
Remember the Parable Jesus taught in
Matthew 18.
Then his master, after
he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should
you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity
on you?’
And his master
was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was
due to him.
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his
heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18: 32-35)
“God resists the proud, But gives
grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. (James 4:
6, 7)
Submit to God and repent of your
sins.
Submit to God, and because you appreciate
the forgiveness you’ve received, give forgiveness to those who have wronged
you.
Faith without forgiveness is still
faith, but it isn’t mountain-moving faith.
Faith without forgiving is still faith, but it isn’t receive-what-you-ask-in-prayer
faith.
Faith
But Faith connected to forgiveness
for your sins and forgiveness of the sins against you ----- that’s the kind of
faith that works miracles.
Give
us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6: 12, 13)
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for
education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor
of
Hall Memorial CME
Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the
Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization
(SAYNO) and director of rural
leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
If this message helps or touches
you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check
or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
