Dropping the F Bomb in My Prayers

Yep, you read that title correctly. I indeed drop the F bomb when I pray. Actually, Jesus said to do it so I am only obeying his commands. He said....

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

The F bomb I speak of is forgive. In this chapter Jesus commands us to forgive others, it is not a suggestion. If he died and suffered for us while we were still rotten, dirty sinners, then we would be nothing but hypocrites to hold someone's offenses against them. If we want to be like Jesus, we have to forgive people, even if they are still doing us wrong.

"How do I do this? I don't feel like I forgive this person at all. Actually, they get on my very last nerve, constantly."

We must do it the same way we do anything in our spiritual life, by faith. Just say, "Father, I know my feelings do not line up with what I am about to say, but because you said to do it, I know my feelings will have to follow, I forgive _____. I hold nothing against them, and I give them to you. Help my feelings line up with your will."

"Why is this important?"

Unforgiveness is not something that will hurt the person you are bitter towards, they don't realize they are wrong. Holding a grudge will only hurt you. It will destroy you from the inside out. The bitterness will eventually take over your whole life, ruin all your relationships, and open the door for all kinds of bad stuff to start happening. If you are a Christian, it also makes you a hypocrite because how can we receive God's grace to forgive us our sins if we aren't forgiving others for theirs?

Forgiveness means you put God's word above your own pride. This is something that is very hard to do because we all have "really good reasons" why we are right and the other person is wrong. The reality is that we have to die to ourselves in order to live the life God called us to, and forgiveness is just the beginning of that surrender.

I have learned that when I start feeling angry and unforgiving, I have to stop and just pray it off. I don't even let it take up space in my thoughts. It takes discipline, but the bible says to take every thought captive, and with enough practice, it gets easier and easier.

The result of forgiveness is beautiful. You give God the problem you can't fix yourself, and in exchange you get peace and a quiet mind.

So start dropping those F bombs, y'all!

:) XXOO