20 May 2011
Warriors,
I received some very positive feedback from some of you regarding the exercise in last weeks email. If you haven’t tried the exercise, go back and read last weeks email and find some time this week to spend with God in self-examination. It is a somewhat painful, yet powerful exercise that will make you more aware of the sin which so easily besets us in our lives.
This week we are going to consider the second law governing prayer which is:
Our horizontal relationships effect our vertical one
There are numerous passages I could point you to read regarding this law, but there are two that I want you to consider today:
“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins”- Matt 6:14
This passage interestingly enough follows the model prayer of Jesus. One of my favorite commentators Lenski points out I believe correctly that this is not a footnote to verse 12, but rather a principle that encapsulates the entire prayer. In other words, if we harbor an unforgiving spirit in our hearts, our prayer life will be an effort in futility. God will not hear our prayers.
Some scholars think that this is the “unforgivable” sin. That if we do not forgive others that we tie God’s hands and His ability to forgive us. I am not 100% certain of that view, but a good case can be made for that based on the “will not” in this passage.
Another passage is this one:
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” Matt 5:23
This passage of course references a Jewish form of worship, but the principle here is that in order for God to accept our worship, we have to do what we can do make all of our relationships right. We may even need to skip worship to right any offenses that we have committed towards others. The inference here is that God won’t accept our worship if we don’t just as he did not accept Cain’s worship.
If you think you can harbor bitterness, unrighteous anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy or envy towards another person and that God will overlook that – think again! God takes all of our earthly relationships very seriously. You may well be blocking any chance for God to answer your prayers until you make that relationship right.
The question I will leave you with to ask God this week is:
Lord, is there anyone in my life that I am harboring ___________ in my heart towards that I need to reconcile with?
God Bless,
Gregg