Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors. And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13
I know so many people, and I use to be one of them, that thought that all I had to do was ask God to forgive me and I was forgiven. The first problem was that I thought that I had to. When I had to do it, there was boasting, whether blatantly or subtly, and there was condemnation towards myself and others. When I was feeling condemnation it would not only be directed at myself, but at others. Misery loves company. The next problem was that we are not forgiven by asking to be forgiven, we are forgiven by forgiving others.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants. When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000], And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made. So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And his master's heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt. But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe! So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all! But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master. Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me
to. And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you? And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed. So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses. Matthew 18:23-35
This guy wasn’t truly forgiven until he forgave.
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings. Mark 11:25-26
So the Truth is that we have to first forgive, before we should even ask for forgiveness. That sounds hard and it is if you think that you have the power to forgive. We don’t, but greater is He that is in us then us who are in this world. So we forgive because Jesus is living within us and He is empowering and causing us to forgive others, 7 times, no, 70 times 7 times. Jesus ever lives to intercede for us, so that we are saved to the uttermost, so He is ever living to insure that we forgive. The battle of forgiving is completely His and the victory of His forgiveness towards others is ours.
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