Forgiveness:
God’s Master Key
by
Peter
Horrobin
Make a List
If you have decided to
forgive start making a list. Ask in prayer for help to remember those who need
forgiveness.
And don’t forget to put
your own name on the list if you struggle with the consequences of mistakes you
have made or have ever cursed yourself by saying something like “I’ll never
forgive myself!”
Some names will cause
you more pain than others, and you might even have difficulty writing down some
of the names. Inside you might think that you don’t want to forgive them or
they don’t deserve to be forgiven.
If you have
difficulties like this, look back to the specific chapter in this book that
deals with the particular problem you are having, read it again and be
determined to press on. Remember, you have made a decision to forgive, so ask
God to help you write down the names.
Start to Forgive
Now’s the time for
another short prayer. Pray something like this:
Lord
Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross that I might
be
forgiven. I am sorry for my own sins, and ask You to be my
Saviour
and the Lord of my life. And now please forgive me for
the
things that I have done wrong. Please help me to forgive
from
my heart all the people on my list.
Then as you go down the
list pray carefully over each name. Remind yourself for a moment about what it
was they did to you, and then pray something like this:
I
now choose to forgive [insert the name of the person you are forgiving] for
[insert
a brief description of what was done to you], and I release
[insert
the person’s name] into the freedom of my forgiveness.
I
will not hold these things against [insert person’s name] anymore.
As you pray through
your list from your heart, you will find that God slowly changes you from the
inside out. You will be leaving behind all the bad things that resentment and
bitterness are brought into your life and begin to emerge like a butterfly at
the beginning of a new era.
Ask God to Set You Free
You can do this after
each prayer of forgiveness or you can say it the end about everyone you have
forgiven. Whichever way you choose, pray something like this:
Thank
You, Lord, for helping me forgive [insert the name of the person you are forgiving].
I ask now that You set me free from every ungodly influence that [insert person’s
name] has had on my life and that You cut the ropes that have held me tightly
to the pain of the past.
Say You’re Sorry for
Blaming God
If at various times of
your life you have blamed God for things that you now know were not His
responsibility, you will want to tell Him you are sorry and ask Him to forgive
you before you move on. You can use words like these:
I
am sorry God, for blaming You for the bad things that have happened in my life.
I now know You did not want these things to happen either. Please forgive me.
Pray the Most Powerful
Prayer on Earth
Praying the most
powerful prayer on earth is what this book is all about! We have had to travel
quite a journey through your life to get to this point. When Jesus prayed,
“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” there was
no sin, un-forgiveness, resentment, bitterness or ungodly anger in His heart,
so He did not have to do what you have just done.
Jesus was free to be
able to pray this most amazing prayer was a pure heart, right in the middle of
His own pain.
Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is the
best form of self-interest because it means you are no longer locked to the
committer of the crime.”
Joseph, son of Jacob,
forgave his brothers who had sold him into slavery and poverty in Egypt. He
wept with compassion when he saw them years later, poor and hungry in spite of
their one-time hatred for him. (Genesis 42)
Jesus mentions only one
sin in the Lord’s Prayer: lack of forgiveness. When Jesus reached the end of
the Our Father, he went back to elaborate on just one phrase: lack of
forgiveness. (Matthew 6:14-15)
A few chapters later
Jesus tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. (Matthew 18:23-35) Jesus
says the latter is ‘wicked’ for not forgiving and he is handed over to the
torturers (demons?) and “this is how my Heavenly Father will deal with you
unless you forgive your brother from your HEART.” In the same chapter, Jesus
says we must forgive 70 times 7, that is we must forgive people always.
(Matthew 18:22) What happens when we do this with a good heart and people do
not respond to our forgiveness? Jesus said “God will see justice done his
chosen who cry out to him day and night even if he delays to help them.” (Luke
18:6-7)
Jesus said: “Love your
enemies and pray for those who treat you badly.” (Matthew 5:43-48) Jesus
exemplifies this magnanimous forgiveness on the cross when he said: “Father
forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23-34)
“Vengeance is mine says
the Lord: if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him drink,
for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:20-21)
“Christ suffered for
you, leaving you an example that you should follow… When he was reviled, he did
not revile in return; when he suffered he did not threaten, but he trusted to
him who judges justly.” (Romans 14:19) “Forgive each other as soon as a quarrel
begins.” (Colossians 3:13 J.B)
“Do not use harmful
words in talking… no hateful feelings… and forgive one another as God has
forgiven you in Christ.” (Ephesians 4:29f)
N.B. There is NO
healing or deliverance if we do not forgive!
