I have been using Praying God's word for the last 6 or 7 years. When I start
to notice unforgiveness in my heart I try to get it out and pray the verses in
that chapter. There is always one ongoing person that I am trying to forgive.
As soon as I get victory over a certain situation, another one comes along and
I have to work with the Lord on that particular situation. Anyway, several
years ago I was really struggling to forgive and coupled with the unforgiveness
in my heart I had a strong feeling of rejection as well. I got the book (which
you can do the same thing with God's word) and began to insert the persons name
in the blanks. I prayed and prayed (even though I didn't feel like it....nor
did I want God to bless that person) and God changed my heart through
exercising His word. It works!! Anyway, here is a good devotional:
Beth Moore from Praying God's Word
Unexpected Weight Loss
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:21-35
Today’s Treasure: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may
have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
Unparalleled joy and victory come from allowing Christ to do “the hard thing”
with us. Perhaps nothing is harder than forgiveness. Let’s face it. Each of
us has been confronted by some pretty overwhelming challenges to forgive. Some
seem…well, unforgivable. We argue with God that all inflicted hurts are not
created equally. For instance, sometimes the person who hurt us isn’t sorry.
Or won’t take responsibility. Or is in the grave. Or the person might be
sorry but refuses to recompense. Perhaps the person simply doesn’t deserve our
forgiveness. After all, forgiveness would make everything OK, and we want the
record to show: we’re not OK! Then, if we let it, truth begins to eclipse our
mound of excuses: we won’t be OK until we forgive. If only we could understand
that God’s unrelenting insistence on our forgiveness is for our own sakes, not
the sake of the one who hurt us. God is faithful. He will plead our case and
take up our cause… but only when we make a deliberate decision to cease
representing ourselves in the matter.
Innumerable strongholds are connected to an unwillingness to forgive. Left
untreated, unforgiveness becomes spiritual cancer. Bitterness takes root, and
since the root feeds the rest of the tree, every branch of our lives and every
fruit on each limb ultimately become poisoned. Beloved sister or brother, the
bottom line is…unforgiveness makes us sick. Always spiritually. Often
emotionally. And, surprisingly often, physically.
Please keep in mind that forgiveness is not defined by a feeling, although it
will ultimately change our feelings. The Greek word most often translated “
forgiveness” in the New Testament Scripture is aphiemi, meaning “to send forth
or away, let go from oneself. To let go from one’s power, possession. To let
go from one’s further…attendance, occupancy.” Forgiveness is our determined
and deliberate effort to let something go. To release it from our possession.
To be willing and ready for it to no longer occupy us. God is not asking us to
let “it” go haphazardly into the black hole of non-existence. Forgiveness
means letting it go to God. Letting it go from our power to His. Forgiveness
is the ongoing act by which we agree with God over the matter, practice the
mercy He’s extended to us, and surrender the situation, the repercussions, and
the hurtful person to Him.
Don’t expect Satan to let you off the hook of unforgiveness easily. Be
prepared to recommit to forgiveness every single day until you’re free. Second
Corinthians 2:11 warns us to forgive “in order that Satan might not outwit us.
For we are not unaware of his schemes.” The King James Version says me must
forgive “lest Satan should get an advantage of us.” The Word of God clearly
teaches that Satan takes tremendous advantage of any unforgiveness in our
lives. Unforgiveness qualifies as one of the most powerfully effective forms
of bondage in any believer’s life. We cannot tolerate it. Yes, this
stronghold demands serious demolition, but the liberty you will feel when you
finally let it go is inexpressible! Forgiveness is the ultimate “weight loss”!
Lord, in the parable of the unmerciful servant, the only person in the end who
was imprisoned and tortured was the one who would not forgive. Help me to see
the monumental price of unforgiveness. It is so enslaving and torturous.
According to Matthew 18:35, You may allow me to suffer the same kind of
repercussions if I refuse to forgive from my heart someone who has sinned
against me. Please help me release the offense to You and be freed from the
weight I’ve been carrying. In the name of Jesus, who has forgiven my own sins,
Amen.
Adapted from Praying God’s Word, by Beth Moore, pages 220-223. Nashville:
Broadman & Holman, 2000, 2003. Used by permission.
to notice unforgiveness in my heart I try to get it out and pray the verses in
that chapter. There is always one ongoing person that I am trying to forgive.
As soon as I get victory over a certain situation, another one comes along and
I have to work with the Lord on that particular situation. Anyway, several
years ago I was really struggling to forgive and coupled with the unforgiveness
in my heart I had a strong feeling of rejection as well. I got the book (which
you can do the same thing with God's word) and began to insert the persons name
in the blanks. I prayed and prayed (even though I didn't feel like it....nor
did I want God to bless that person) and God changed my heart through
exercising His word. It works!! Anyway, here is a good devotional:
Beth Moore from Praying God's Word
Unexpected Weight Loss
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:21-35
Today’s Treasure: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may
have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
Unparalleled joy and victory come from allowing Christ to do “the hard thing”
with us. Perhaps nothing is harder than forgiveness. Let’s face it. Each of
us has been confronted by some pretty overwhelming challenges to forgive. Some
seem…well, unforgivable. We argue with God that all inflicted hurts are not
created equally. For instance, sometimes the person who hurt us isn’t sorry.
Or won’t take responsibility. Or is in the grave. Or the person might be
sorry but refuses to recompense. Perhaps the person simply doesn’t deserve our
forgiveness. After all, forgiveness would make everything OK, and we want the
record to show: we’re not OK! Then, if we let it, truth begins to eclipse our
mound of excuses: we won’t be OK until we forgive. If only we could understand
that God’s unrelenting insistence on our forgiveness is for our own sakes, not
the sake of the one who hurt us. God is faithful. He will plead our case and
take up our cause… but only when we make a deliberate decision to cease
representing ourselves in the matter.
Innumerable strongholds are connected to an unwillingness to forgive. Left
untreated, unforgiveness becomes spiritual cancer. Bitterness takes root, and
since the root feeds the rest of the tree, every branch of our lives and every
fruit on each limb ultimately become poisoned. Beloved sister or brother, the
bottom line is…unforgiveness makes us sick. Always spiritually. Often
emotionally. And, surprisingly often, physically.
Please keep in mind that forgiveness is not defined by a feeling, although it
will ultimately change our feelings. The Greek word most often translated “
forgiveness” in the New Testament Scripture is aphiemi, meaning “to send forth
or away, let go from oneself. To let go from one’s power, possession. To let
go from one’s further…attendance, occupancy.” Forgiveness is our determined
and deliberate effort to let something go. To release it from our possession.
To be willing and ready for it to no longer occupy us. God is not asking us to
let “it” go haphazardly into the black hole of non-existence. Forgiveness
means letting it go to God. Letting it go from our power to His. Forgiveness
is the ongoing act by which we agree with God over the matter, practice the
mercy He’s extended to us, and surrender the situation, the repercussions, and
the hurtful person to Him.
Don’t expect Satan to let you off the hook of unforgiveness easily. Be
prepared to recommit to forgiveness every single day until you’re free. Second
Corinthians 2:11 warns us to forgive “in order that Satan might not outwit us.
For we are not unaware of his schemes.” The King James Version says me must
forgive “lest Satan should get an advantage of us.” The Word of God clearly
teaches that Satan takes tremendous advantage of any unforgiveness in our
lives. Unforgiveness qualifies as one of the most powerfully effective forms
of bondage in any believer’s life. We cannot tolerate it. Yes, this
stronghold demands serious demolition, but the liberty you will feel when you
finally let it go is inexpressible! Forgiveness is the ultimate “weight loss”!
Lord, in the parable of the unmerciful servant, the only person in the end who
was imprisoned and tortured was the one who would not forgive. Help me to see
the monumental price of unforgiveness. It is so enslaving and torturous.
According to Matthew 18:35, You may allow me to suffer the same kind of
repercussions if I refuse to forgive from my heart someone who has sinned
against me. Please help me release the offense to You and be freed from the
weight I’ve been carrying. In the name of Jesus, who has forgiven my own sins,
Amen.
Adapted from Praying God’s Word, by Beth Moore, pages 220-223. Nashville:
Broadman & Holman, 2000, 2003. Used by permission.
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