Offences and forgiveness today (I)

Many think that once they do not doubt, aren’t anxious, do not entertain fear and are not worrying that they are going to have what they say in the place of prayer. How wrong!

What I want to open your eyes to will help you to see why you have been praying and your prayers are not answered and why you have been speaking to that situation and nothing has been happening. And why you have not been able to call things that do not as if they do exist.

The 11th chapter of the book of Mark is usually being explored to teach on the subject of faith and those of us who teach on faith only do limit it to—once the believer does not have doubt in his or her heart that he or she will be able to speak to remove the mountain. How inaccurate! This is why—over the years—many believers have been speaking without getting the required results. With un-forgiveness in your heart, you cannot have what you say at the realm of faith.

When you get to the 25th and 26th verses of the book of Mark, Jesus unveils the major thing that does not permit faith to work. It is called un-forgiveness! Jesus says that while you are praying (speaking to issues) and you remember that you have something against someone that you should forgive that person. This should let you know that you cannot be in un-forgiveness and faith at the same time.

Un-forgiveness is as the stone that Jesus told folks to take away in John 11:39. In other words, if the stone is not taken away, speaking to the situation (praying) will be an exercise in futility. For the umpteenth time, the reason many think that speaking to issues does not work is because the stone is yet to be taken away!

As the stone stood between Jesus and Lazarus, same way the stone stands between you and every issue of life that you have been speaking (praying) to change by faith. The stone will not let your faith work. This is why you will need to take away the stone of un-forgiveness. If you need a further help, you can be fellowshipping with me at the Faith For The Nations Christian Centre, Watercress Hotels (Conference Hall), 48, Oritshe Street, By Balogun Bus Stop, Ikeja. This is the beautiful and unusual church that I pastor in the great city of Lagos.

Now, why do you need to forgive? You forgive not because those who have offended you deserve it, but you forgive because you do not get stuck to where you are. To finding your way out of where you are right now, you will need to forgive everyone who has offended you. This is the major reason all your prayers are yet to be answered.

The Lord said to me not long, “anyone you see, who speaks to issues of life and it comes to pass, it’s because the person has taken the stone of un-forgiveness away.” Kindly understand that forgiveness is not a choice, it is a must, if you want to walk in victory in the midst of the earth.

Am I saying that some offences are easy to forgive? No! This is why you will need to pray to the Lord to pour His love into your heart. When your heart becomes permeated with His love, it becomes easy to forgive. Also, even after your heart has become rich in His love, there are some people you will still need to forgive in tears.

One secret that has worked for me over the years each time I find it hard to forgive. Once I find it hard to forgive, I would just start praying for those who have offended me. Once I start praying for them, to forgive them becomes like a walk in the park. Practice the mentioned principle; it will work for you, too.

Why do you need to forgive? You need to forgive because lack of forgiveness opens you up to tormentors! Many believers do not know this. In Matthew 18:21-35, a servant was forgiven a debt that he couldn’t pay. He did owe ten thousand (10,000) talents! He later asked for forgiveness and the man he owed had mercy on him and forgave him.

Same servant was owed 100 Denarii by a fellow servant, but instead of forgiving him as he was forgiven, he refused to forgive him. When their master heard about what did happen, he labeled the guy who was forgiven a wicked soul and commanded that he should be handed over to tormentors. This is very heavy!

Many believers today are like the servant who was forgiven ten thousand (10,000) talents but refused to forgive 100 Denarii debt. No matter what people do to you, it is still on the level of 100 Denarii debt. Whatever folks have done to us is not up to the debt that God forgave us. When you have this understanding, to forgive becomes easy.

I forgive because I do not want to be handed over to tormentors. Many believers are being tormented by sicknesses and diseases, because they have refused to forgive. Un-forgiveness creates a crack in the wall for the devil to gain an inroad into the believer’s life. I appeal to you to forgive everyone who has offended you, because you cannot afford to keep drinking poison, thinking that it will kill someone else. Un-forgiveness wrecks your health!

In the second installment of this article, I am going to be sharing with you on being forgotten and rejected without being offended. And I am going to share with you on how faith walks through love and the many faces (order, separation, discipline, honor…) of love. It is going to help you a great deal. Till I come your way again, remain in the loving grip of Jesus.