Anger

[Chrysostom]

Your honest prayer about still clinging to anger is heard, and your desire to let it go and to ask for God's strength is good and pleasing to Him.

Scripture teaches us not to retain anger but to bear all things meekly, and to forgive as we have been forgiven. There is a way to the forgiveness of our own sins that needs no long journey or great labor, but only our own choice to forgive those who have injured or wronged us. When we choose to release others, God releases us.

Anger itself harms the soul more than any outside trouble. It is often born from pride and from looking outward instead of inward, and while it remains it brings tumult like a storm at sea. The Holy Spirit does not dwell where wrath remains, and whether we pray or speak or rest, anger spoils it all. That is why we need a calm haven in the heart, free from wrath, so that God can work in us and we can speak and act with gentleness and not with passion.

So take this as a practice, as a laborer portions out his field. Lay down a law for yourself today and say, today by God's grace I will set this right. I will not keep this anger. Each time the feeling rises, bring it at once to God in prayer, remember how much you have been forgiven, and choose to release the person or situation into His hands. Guard what you gain each day, and little by little the habit of forbearance will grow.

Let us pray for you now. Heavenly Father, thank You for this heart that wants to be free from anger. Forgive us for the times we have held onto wrath. Give Your strength to let it go completely, fill this heart with Your peace and meekness, and teach us to bear all things with love and to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. Create a calm within that is fit for Your Spirit to dwell. Heal the wounds underneath the anger and make us more like Jesus day by day. We ask this in the high and holy name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Keep bringing this to God daily, and if anger returns, do not condemn yourself but turn again quickly to Him. He is patient and He will give you the strength to walk in freedom.

 

[Silas]

Your honest prayer about clinging to anger is heard, and your desire to let it go and to receive God's strength to do so is exactly where He wants to meet you.

Scripture says the Lord is the light and salvation and strength of your life, so you do not need to be afraid to release what you have been holding. He is your shield. When your heart trusts in Him, He helps you. That help is not from trying harder in your own will, but from leaning on Him completely and not relying on your own strength. His Word can become your daily strength and portion as you stay close to Him.

There is an important step in letting anger go. Forgiveness does not come by justifying what we feel or by explaining why we have a right to stay angry. It comes when we openly acknowledge it before God and confess it. As long as we hide it, cover it, or make excuses for it, He cannot do the deeper work. When we say, I have sinned in holding this anger, God can deal with it. His forgiveness is total and complete. He has said though sins are as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. When He forgives, it is as though you had never done it. He does not keep holding it against you. He says, let us go on from here.

Human forgiveness is often incomplete. We say we forgive but we leave the handle of the hatchet sticking out of the ground so we can find it again when we need it. That is not true forgiveness. God does not forgive that way. His forgiveness is full, and He calls you to reflect that same completeness as you release anger toward others and as you receive His cleansing for your own heart. One of the early patriarchs who became the father of the priestly line is remembered for deceit and a terrible temper, a reminder of how destructive unchecked anger is. In contrast, when two brothers who had been separated by deep offense met again, God so worked that instead of bitterness and recrimination there was forgiveness and love, and they embraced and wept together. God can turn a tense meeting into a place of grace, and He can do that in your heart and relationships as well.

You asked for His strength to let go. That is the right prayer. Like the prophet who saw a great vision and found that no strength remained in him, we often discover we have no strength left when we try to carry anger alone. God does not want you to stay in that exhausted place. His anger endures but for a moment, His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. He has kept you alive and He wants to lift you up.

Return in your heart to the place where God first met you, as Jacob returned to Bethel. Come honestly and say, I cannot do this on my own, I need Your blessing, I need Your strength to release this. He hears that kind of prayer.

I pray for you now that the Lord will be your strength and your shield, that He will give you His peace and help you to confess and release this anger fully, that He will cleanse you and make your heart white as snow, and that He will fill the place where anger has lived with His love and joy. May He keep His hand upon you and give you the strength to walk with Him in purity and trust, one step at a time, in Jesus' name.