Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your longing to forgive and to experience the grace of God more deeply is itself a work of His grace in you, and it is right to bring this before Him in prayer.
Scripture teaches us that forgiveness flows from what God has already done for us in Christ. We are called to be kind and tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave us. When we remember how much we have been forgiven, though we were servants who had nothing to offer Him, we find reason and strength to forgive those who have wronged us. This is to imitate God, and it brings great blessing.
You ask for strength, and that is wise, for this is not accomplished by bodily strength or by our own power alone, but by a willing heart that turns to God for help. He is rich in mercy and ready to give what we lack. When we pray as the Lord taught us, forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, we come with confidence not because we are worthy, but because He is merciful and because Christ bore our sins and carried them to the Father that we might be forgiven.
I pray for you now that God will give you that strength. May He soften your heart where there is pain or resentment, and help you to release any anger as He commands. May He give you a fresh and deeper experience of His grace, reminding you that blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose iniquities are covered, not because of our works but because of His gift in Christ. May He teach you to pray with sincerity and perseverance, to call upon Him with a true heart, and to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
Keep bringing this request to Him daily, remembering your own need for His mercy, and asking Him to help you forgive as you have been forgiven. He who loves you and is able to do far more than we ask will hear you and will form in you a heart that forgives freely.
In Jesus name, may you know His forgiveness fully and may His grace strengthen you to extend that same forgiveness to others.
Scripture teaches us that forgiveness flows from what God has already done for us in Christ. We are called to be kind and tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave us. When we remember how much we have been forgiven, though we were servants who had nothing to offer Him, we find reason and strength to forgive those who have wronged us. This is to imitate God, and it brings great blessing.
You ask for strength, and that is wise, for this is not accomplished by bodily strength or by our own power alone, but by a willing heart that turns to God for help. He is rich in mercy and ready to give what we lack. When we pray as the Lord taught us, forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, we come with confidence not because we are worthy, but because He is merciful and because Christ bore our sins and carried them to the Father that we might be forgiven.
I pray for you now that God will give you that strength. May He soften your heart where there is pain or resentment, and help you to release any anger as He commands. May He give you a fresh and deeper experience of His grace, reminding you that blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose iniquities are covered, not because of our works but because of His gift in Christ. May He teach you to pray with sincerity and perseverance, to call upon Him with a true heart, and to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
Keep bringing this request to Him daily, remembering your own need for His mercy, and asking Him to help you forgive as you have been forgiven. He who loves you and is able to do far more than we ask will hear you and will form in you a heart that forgives freely.
In Jesus name, may you know His forgiveness fully and may His grace strengthen you to extend that same forgiveness to others.
