Hi there, prayer warrior! According to Jerry Bridges, “Resentment, bitterness, and self-pity build up inside our hearts and eat away at our spiritual lives like a slowly spreading cancer.”
My husband has survived cancer, and while the battle was really and truly one of the most spiritually flourishing times of our lives, cancer is still not something I would wish on anyone.
But what’s much worse than cancer of the body is cancer of the soul. And for a great many people (some of whom are Christians), that cancer comes in the form of bitterness.
Perhaps the saddest thing about this cancer that hardens our hearts and consumes our souls is that we don’t have to hold onto it. We can let go of that cancer and release ourselves from its bondage, by simply choosing to forgive.
Contrary to popular belief, forgiveness isn’t about forgetting, so let’s not fool ourselves with that empty platitude. It’s also not about trying to talk ourselves into believing that the person who wronged us doesn’t deserve to be held accountable.
When you get right down to it, forgiveness is simply about letting go of our hard-heartedness toward those who have sinned against us, because we know we can trust God to dispense an infinitely better justice than we could ever hand down.
And ultimately, the one who benefits the most from forgiveness is the person doing the forgiving.
Who wants to hang onto soul cancer, after all?
I know you don’t want your loved one to hold onto the cancer of bitterness. Would you join me in praying the Scriptures over your friend, asking the Lord to grant them a forgiving heart?
Prayers For Your Friend to Have a Forgiving Heart
- Ask God to grant your friend a desire to put all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander away from them, along with all malice. Pray that He would produce the fruit of kindness springing from a heart that’s tender, and that He would enable your friend to choose forgiveness, especially in light of all they have been forgiven. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
- Pray that your friend would have a sobering awareness of Jesus’ statement: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15) Ask God to not let your friend forget the many times they have required forgiveness – not so they will live in self-condemnation, but rather so they will remain humbly aware of their obligation to extend forgiveness to others as freely as they have received it.
- Implore the Lord to remind your friend of their identity as one of God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, and that this awareness would prompt a heart full of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with others and forgiving them just as they have been forgiven. Pray that above all else, they would put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Ask that His grace would compel your friend to let Christ’s peace rule in their heart and their relationships, as they are part of the Body of Christ. (Colossians 3:12-15)
- Acknowledge to the Lord that the effectiveness of your friend’s prayers may be hindered by unforgiveness. Ask Him to help your friend live in a spirit of forgiveness toward others, so your friend’s Heavenly Father may forgive their sins. (Mark 11:25)
- Pray that they would strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Pray that God’s grace would prevent any root of bitterness from springing up and causing trouble, causing their defilement and potentially spreading to others, as well (Hebrews 12:14-15).
- Ask God for miraculous grace that releases your friend from their need for vengeance. Pray that they would live by the following instructions from God through the apostle Paul: “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)
Dear Heavenly Father, You are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call upon You. Thank you for granting forgiveness so freely to us, who are so undeserving. I pray that you would overwhelm my friend with a fresh awareness of how much they have been forgiven, and that they would be able to grant the same mercy to others who have wronged them. Open my friend’s eyes to the trap caused by bitterness, and enable them to find freedom by following Your example. It’s in the Name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen.
I don’t know about you, but God is working in my own heart in powerful ways through this challenge. I pray you’re experiencing that, too. Tomorrow marks 1/3 of our challenge complete! You’re doing an awesome job.
I’ll meet you back here to pray that our friends will have peace. Click here to navigate to the main page and find Day 7 of the challenge.
