Mark 11 23-25: 23Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him. 24Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. 25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.
The verse I was given was verse 24, but upon reading the passage, I decided to add the other two verses. Jesus has just cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit. It withered and died. I will admit that that has bothered me, but as I am doing my Lenten Study on John 15, I realized more of what it meant. As we heal and grow in Christ, and become transformed, we should produce the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In this chapter it speaks of removing branches from the true vine that do not produce fruit. Jesus is showing what will happen to those who do not produce fruit.
But then he tells the disciples they can move mountains if they have no doubt. It is our doubts that sabotaged our prayers. It takes a lot of work to get there, but Jesus tells them how. When you pray and all things which you pray for, an answer will be granted. Now God is not going to give you a Mercedes Benz which Janis Joplin sang because those are frivolous. You have to develop a prayer life that is focused on God and the needs not only for yourself but for others and even more for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus goes one step forward, He says to the disciples when you stand and pray, you are to seek forgiveness for anything you have done or said that is an offense against another. Jesus tells them that God will forgive them. Why is this also important. The offenses we do against others are often a road block to our prayers being answered. When we point out the faults of others either in jest or in pain, we place a road block on our hearts. Asking for forgiveness opens that road block. It is simply that our hearts are not focused on God but on our words.
I had to nearly die with the dead coming to visit me for me to set out on the true path of forgiveness. Forgiveness never means a person who physically and emotionally damaged you is in the right. It basically means, “Lord, heal me of this wound.” It is not about forgetting because some things get etched into your mind and heart, but God can release their control over you. Forgiveness dissolves that control.
I was hurt by a friend a year ago. She did not know that she hurt me. She was helping me and assumed that something that I treasured was of no value and threw it away. But it did matter to me. It had been made by a woman when we moved into my present home. It was a gift to my mother from one of her best friends. A woman, who when I was in need after my brother was shot and, in the hospital, took me into her home, and loved me and helped me face what I had seen that day. She died decades ago, but it was always there to remind us of her friendship. It was insignificant to everyone else, but it was a treasure. When I realized it was broken and thrown away, my heart broke, but this was a very dear friend, and she did not know what harm she had caused me. I needed to forgive her… but I couldn’t because I knew I would hurt her, but my unforgiving of her hurt my heart. I carried this for over a year. Today I released that and told her how much it hurt me, and she apologized. My heart let go of the pain I carried, and if I had not faced it would eventually have broken our friendship. Forgiving others matters. It is one of the hard parts of loving others. We trespass on people in little ways. We don’t do it to hurt others, but we do. We place in their hearts anger and distrust when we do those things. I have been guilty of doing those things. My hope is that things can be healed.
Today’s question:
Search your heart, and ask yourself is there someone you need to forgive, and ask God to show you how. Have you hurt someone and need to tell them you are sorry?
Ever in Christ’s love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
March 26, 2024 & September 3, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 