Faith and Forgiveness

Scripture:

Mark 11:24-25  "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins".

Observation:

Mark 11:24 is a very popular scripture when it comes to faith.  Faith says that when I pray for something, I must believe that I have received it, then I will have it.  Jesus said whatever we ask for in prayer will be ours if we believe we have received it.  When we pray, we must also believe by faith that it is already taken care of.  After His incredible comment on faith, Jesus immediately told them that if they had anything against anyone, they need to forgive so that they can be forgiven by their heavenly father.  When we are as serious about offense as we are about seeing God do great things, we will see great things.  We must be people of forgiveness like Christ, then our faith will be much more effective.

Application:

Faith is seen when we thank God for something that hasn't happened yet.  We must begin thanking God for the answer while the answer is still on the way.  At the same time, we must make sure we are in right standing with people and be quick to forgive.  Forgiveness and faith work together.  If you have faith, but don't forgive, your faith won't take you very far.  If you have forgiveness, but don't walk by faith, your prayers are not answered.  These two are powerful and must be in our lives.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, I want to be a person of faith and forgiveness.  Help me to forgive quickly when people hurt me.  Help me to walk by faith and not by sight.  Teach me more about faith!  I want to see answers to my prayers and want nothing to hinder that.  Help me eliminate all in my life that is not pleasing to You.

Yours,
Jeff