All of us have been hurt by others.

Make a quick review of the people in your story. Is there anyone who causes a level of anger or resentment to rise in your heart? While you may feel holding onto resentment and anger punishes the one who hurt you, the painful truth is it is your heart that is held captive. It is time to set yourself free from the prison of unforgiveness. Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did was ok. Forgiveness is trusting God to be your righteous judge and loving Father

Pray this way:

Dear Father, I have been hurt and wounded by others. While they were wrong in their actions and words toward me, I have also been wrong in my sinful responses toward them. Your Word says that Jesus was bruised for our transgression, and by His stripes we are healed. Take from me any pain I have been holding onto in regard to this person. I don’t want to carry it anymore.   

I confess the sin of judging them and their specific offences against me.  Forgive me for the anger and hatred I have had in my heart against them. Thank You for forgiving me through the blood of Jesus. I choose to forgive and release them of all my judgments. I let go of all bitterness, resentment, and ungodly attitudes. All judgment belongs to you. Where there has been injustice, I choose to let You be Judge, and I trust You to care for me. Your power and grace are at work in me. I receive all Your gracious work in my life and choose to live in tune with Your heart for this person. In Jesus’ Name,  Amen

Declaration Of Release
Now that you have asked God to forgive you, a declaration of release is needed. Release is spoken to the offender, whether they are present or absent, living or dead. It recognizes that our words and actions have bound them and, equally as important, bound us to the offending person. It is often very liberating to speak or write this release to them if we can. With God’s power it can be done.

Because Jesus Christ is my Lord, I free everyone from my judgments and sinful responses. I give you back to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I place you at God’s throne of grace. I want my heart to be free by His power. I entrust you to God for Him to work in you and in me in His time and in His way. I choose to see you as God sees you. I bless you to be all God called you to be. I will continue to ask for His love for you. I cannot impose my will or expectations upon you, so I place all my expectations on the cross of Jesus. I know that God has good plans and purposes for each of us. I release you. I give you entirely to God. I loose you and let you go. We are both free.

By Sylvia Gunter
Used by Permission
From: from Safe In The Father’s Heart

The post Prayer of Forgiveness can be found at Thoughts about God.

‘Then he (Jesus) said to him, “Follow me!” John 21:19 (NIV)

We believe God will forgive us; the problem, though, is we won’t forgive ourselves.

Peter knew the feeling; he’d failed Jesus, so he went back to fishing. He’d set a high standard of loyalty and love to his Lord, only to perform a belly flop off the high dive, not once, not twice, but three times.

And so it was that he’d gone back to fishing, feeling lower than a bottom fish in the Sea of Galilee.

How could Jesus forgive him, when he couldn’t even forgive himself?

But then Jesus, resurrected, yelled ahoy from the shore, and Peter, in his excitement, abandoned the boat for the speed of swimming to shore. No shout of, “If it’s you, command me to walk across the water, Lord.” Peter figured he’d have to do it on his own because he’d blown his chance for sainthood.

They ate breakfast and Peter was probably hanging back a bit with a sense of shame that lied to him, telling him he wasn’t worthy to even sit in the presence of Jesus.

Yet, Jesus, showing sweet sensitivity, reached out to Peter, knowing he was hurting and humiliated, but also knowing he’d been humbled into the “I can’t” stance.

Jesus reminded Peter that the sentence doesn’t stop at “I can’t”; it moved onto “God can.”

Standing at the Sea of Galilee, on the shore where Jesus first promised to make Peter a fisher of men, the Lord offered one more lesson: Through God’s mercy and grace—because Jesus died but was now standing alive, resurrected, before Peter—there could be forgiveness of sins and peace with God.

“Jesus once again said to Peter, “Follow me!” (John 21:19 NIV).

By Jon Walker
used by permission

Related Links:

Prayer of Forgiveness and Release

FURTHER READING

• Forgiving Yourself –  by Sylvia Gunter

• The Perfect Anorexic – Karen Schenk’s Story of Anorexia

• Forgiving Ourselves – by Charles Stanley

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The post The Problem is We Won’t Forgive Ourselves can be found at Thoughts about God.

“…for His name’s sake your sins were forgiven”  1 John 2:12

We were flying to a conference. I was in the middle seat – certainly not my choice – but my husband and I have an agreement that if a woman is sitting by the window, I sit in the middle, if a man is in the seat by the window, Marvin sits in the middle.

Barely was I settled, when I discerned that the young woman sitting next to me was very sad and deep in thought. Making conversation, I asked her where she was from, where she was going and what she did.

She was a student and had been attending university in Poland – the homeland of her father. Then she told me sadly that her father had died. She had chosen to attend college in Poland against her father’s wishes and their relationship had been strained. They hadn’t forgiven each other when he died.

She seemed so sad and I recognized a deeper issue. I asked her if she had forgiven herself for not complying with her father’s wishes. She answered that she couldn’t forgive herself and felt so guilty. Slowly, I began to tell her about God’s love and forgiveness. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, her sins were forgiven and guilt was removed. I encouraged her to trust that because God had forgiven her, she could forgive herself no matter how awful she thought she had been. As I spoke, I prayed and my husband prayed.

I told her about something I had done as a teenager for which I had felt guilty about for many years. How I had come to the place where I was faced with the choice of forgiving myself because Christ had already forgiven me or I could continue feeling guilty the rest of my life. I had chosen to forgive myself.

The light in her eyes went on. She began to understand she was totally forgiven and could forgive herself. She could be free and happy. “God meant for you to sit with me today,” she told me at the end of the flight.

How about you? Is there something in your life for which you feel guilty? You don’t need to.

Simply accept God’s love and forgiveness.

If you don’t have Christ in your life, you can invite him by saying a simple prayer:

Sample prayer:

Dear God, today I bring you my life, my hopes, my dreams, my deepest yearnings … You know me intimately. You knew me even before I was formed in the womb. You called me into this world to do good and live the life I was uniquely and specifically created for. I ask for Courage and Wisdom to live this life–the life of my dreams. Show me where to start and help me be open to hearing your Voice today. I ask for a greater consciousness of your Presence, today and every day of my life. Amen.

By Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Prayer of Forgiveness and Release

• The Problem is We Won’t Forgive Ourselves | by  Jon Walker

• Forgiveness Opens the Door | by Helen Lescheid

• The Stumbling Block of Unforgiveness| by Kathy Cheek

• Bitterness in the Garden of our Hearts | by Francis Frangipan

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The post Have You Forgiven Yourself? can be found at Thoughts about God.