3.3.11

Mark 11:24-25 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.  But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

My Thoughts

When I started my journey through my One Year Bible I began to learn how to pray. One  day I can to this very passage and knew I would have to put this forgiveness thing into practice.  At first it wasn't easy at all! At first it could be down right hard...and my list, well that was a long list.  The first few days I tired this I left people out...after all I was doing my forgiving, which was more than I had been doing. Then as I would pray I began to know that I had to, I must forgive everybody everything.  I knew that God was helping me forgive.  I just had to make the first efforts.  Some people I had to forgive over and over and over again.  I am not talking about people that kept doing hurtful things...I am talking about forgiveness from  years back.  Bringing these things to my mind were sometimes making me angry, or upset or hurt all over again.  I learned when I begin to feel that anger to send up a pray, right then and there, a prayer of forgiveness.  I am telling you some days I could pray lots of times throughout the day.  But those prayers began to work... the forgiveness I was speaking out of my mouth was cleansing my heart.  Lifting weight off my shoulders.  Forgiveness was freeing me. Forgiveness was changing me.  Forgiveness was making more room in my heart for God. Do I still get angry (my anger is always on the inside), yes I do, but when I do I don't wait for prayer time. I send a prayer up the very minute I feel anger or frustration or hurt at somebody... and again I have to do it sometimes several time before I get there.  But, you know what? God always, always helps me forgive. Now when I start out my prayers I find that there are so many days, more days than not that there is nobody to forgive when I say my prayers.  My words will be God I forgive....... then I think.... and I shrug my shoulders and smile and say to myself  "Lookie there Jeannie, you don't have anybody to forgive today." Then I feel so very blessed.  You know the most important thing that I have learned. God doesn't ask me to do anything that won't make me feel better or be better.  God ask me to treat myself and others in such a way that life could only be good.  I opened up my heart totally to God and he has only had blessings for me. Start your day willing to forgive, speak those words out of your mouth and God will do the rest!