Latest / Meditative Prayers by Pray.com / Deep Forgiveness - Limitless | Zach Clinton
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft
- 0:06Speaker 1: shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
- 0:10Speaker 1: Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not
- 0:15Speaker 1: unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.
- 0:21Speaker 1: Matthew 18.21-22 Dear Lord, There is no limit to your love.
- 0:32Speaker 1: There are no boundaries to your mercy. Even though I
- 0:37Speaker 1: was once your enemy, you pursued me and forgave me.
- 0:43Speaker 1: Even now, I find myself in awe of the forgiveness
- 0:47Speaker 1: you give me. In light of your unconditional love and
- 0:52Speaker 1: unending forgiveness, I pray that you would help me forgive others.
- 0:59Speaker 1: Expand the horizons of my mercy and empower me with grace.
- 1:04Speaker 1: May my heart grow larger with every moment I spend
- 1:09Speaker 1: with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for joining
- 1:15Speaker 1: me in prayer. Stay tuned for today's free podcast, Meditative
- 1:19Speaker 1: Prayers with Zach Clinton, where you can draw close to
- 1:22Speaker 1: God and find strength in Him.
- 1:28Speaker 2: My friends, welcome to your meditative prayer on deep forgiveness.
- 1:32Speaker 2: To get the most out of your spiritual journey, use
- 1:34Speaker 2: Pray.com every day and make prayer a priority in your life. Again,
- 1:38Speaker 2: our goal for today's meditative prayer is all about deep forgiveness.
- 1:43Speaker 2: So right now in this moment, I would encourage you
- 1:45Speaker 2: to slow down and just take a minute to center yourself.
- 1:50Speaker 2: Maybe find a relaxed environment that will allow you to
- 1:53Speaker 2: ruminate and reflect. Now turn that reflection toward God's Word
- 2:00Speaker 2: and allow your mind to reach out to the presence
- 2:03Speaker 2: of the Lord and prepare your heart to be filled
- 2:06Speaker 2: with the Holy Spirit and His teaching for you today. Remember,
- 2:11Speaker 2: today we'll be meditating on Matthew 18, verses 21-22 from
- 2:16Speaker 2: the King James Version. Then came Peter to Him and said, Lord,
- 2:21Speaker 2: how often shall my brother sin against me and I
- 2:23Speaker 2: forgive him? Till seven times? My friends, let your worship
- 2:36Speaker 2: rise up to God. God, I praise you for your faithfulness.
- 2:42Speaker 2: I adore you for your love is unending and unmeasurable.
- 2:46Speaker 2: I praise you for you are gracious and kind. I
- 2:51Speaker 2: praise you for you are gracious and kind. Your forgiveness
- 2:54Speaker 2: is vast and I give you my adoration for you
- 2:59Speaker 2: have overcome iniquity and conquered hate. Righteousness and truth are
- 3:03Speaker 2: found only in you. Forgiveness must be limitless. The only
- 3:10Speaker 2: condition God placed upon forgiveness is that it must be inexhaustible.
- 3:16Speaker 2: You are to have mercy and to show grace repeatedly.
- 3:20Speaker 2: No matter how many times you are wronged and regardless
- 3:22Speaker 2: of how you may feel, You are ordered to forgive.
- 3:26Speaker 2: Even if those who hurt you do not seek your forgiveness,
- 3:30Speaker 2: forgive them anyway. This divine directive may seem difficult, but
- 3:36Speaker 2: it must be done. You need to remember that God
- 3:39Speaker 2: is not a cruel God. God is kind. He has
- 3:43Speaker 2: a purpose and a reason behind this commandment. And that
- 3:47Speaker 2: purpose is your well-being. Forgiveness is for your personal benefit.
- 3:52Speaker 2: It has nothing to do with others. It is internal
- 3:56Speaker 2: and it is about you and God. Withholding forgiveness is
- 4:00Speaker 2: like drinking poison and expecting another's death. Completely absurd, utterly pointless,
- 4:06Speaker 2: and fatal only to you. Holding on to offenses and
- 4:11Speaker 2: nursing grudges will bring you nothing but evil. Withholding forgiveness
- 4:15Speaker 2: will allow bitterness and hurt to grow roots within your soul.
- 4:19Speaker 2: to suffocate all manner of joy and stifle any hope
- 4:22Speaker 2: for a future. For your own sake, you must forgive.
- 4:28Speaker 2: Pain and pride will tell you it is impossible to
- 4:30Speaker 2: let go, to forgive repeatedly. But this is a lie
- 4:33Speaker 2: the devil uses to keep you bound to sin and sorrow.
- 4:38Speaker 2: So right now, think for a moment on what is
- 4:40Speaker 2: preventing you from forgiveness. Confess that weakness to the Holy Spirit.
- 4:47Speaker 2: And right now, share with Him your wounds... and your weariness.
- 4:52Speaker 2: Now consider all the times God forgave you and thank
- 4:55Speaker 2: Him for it. Thank the Lord for His kindness and
- 4:59Speaker 2: long-suffering towards you. Thank God that His love and His
- 5:02Speaker 2: grace are limitless. Thank Him for not keeping a record
- 5:07Speaker 2: of your wrongdoing. Give thanks to God for all the
- 5:10Speaker 2: times in the past He made you righteous, for forgiving
- 5:13Speaker 2: all your sins, no matter how grievous or heinous they
- 5:16Speaker 2: may be. Thank Him that His compassion will never change
- 5:21Speaker 2: and He will never withhold it from you. My friends,
- 5:25Speaker 2: never forget God is present and He is listening to you.
- 5:30Speaker 2: Come before Him and ask Him to fill you with
- 5:32Speaker 2: His love, to give you the ability to have mercy
- 5:35Speaker 2: and compassion as He does. Ask God to remove your
- 5:39Speaker 2: hurt and your hate. Reach out to Him for healing
- 5:44Speaker 2: and restoration. Ask Him to guard your heart from pride
- 5:48Speaker 2: and presumption. Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to
- 5:52Speaker 2: overcome the evil done against you, to rise above it,
- 5:57Speaker 2: and to live free from bitterness. And ask the Holy
- 6:01Speaker 2: Spirit to enable you to forgive those who wrong you
- 6:04Speaker 2: and to show grace toward the offenses of others. Remember, remember,
- 6:09Speaker 2: God says you are to constantly and ceaselessly forgive others.
- 6:14Speaker 2: to show grace and compassion regardless of how repetitive the
- 6:17Speaker 2: offenses may be. Take courage and trust God's Holy Spirit
- 6:22Speaker 2: will help you. Do not allow yourself to grow weary
- 6:26Speaker 2: of showing mercy, but pour it out to others as
- 6:28Speaker 2: God has poured it over you. And let God's love
- 6:32Speaker 2: and forgiveness flow constantly from you to others. So choose
- 6:37Speaker 2: to be God's living example of grace in this world
- 6:40Speaker 2: this day and every day to come. My friends, thank
- 6:45Speaker 2: you for completing today's meditative prayer on Pray.com. By incorporating
- 6:49Speaker 2: this healthy habit as a daily practice, I believe you're
- 6:51Speaker 2: not only making prayer a priority, but you're also strengthening
- 6:55Speaker 2: your walk with God. My name is Zach Clinton, Vice
- 6:58Speaker 2: President of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and we
- 7:02Speaker 2: love being a part of your life. Hey, to find
- 7:04Speaker 2: more help, hope, information, and inspiration, I would also encourage
- 7:07Speaker 2: you to go visit our website, which can be found
- 7:10Speaker 2: at aacc.net. Again, that is aacc.net. dot net.