I few weeks ago I wrote “Having A Heart,” inspired after reading Andy Andrews “The Heart Mender.” The jist of it was to try and provide help forgiving someone after they have hurt you. Remember, forgiving is for YOU and doesn’t have anything to do with the person who offended you (unless you would like to restore a broken relationship, then by all means ask for forgiveness!). It is through the power of God’s loving acceptance for us that we can have the peace of true forgiveness. At the time I wrote “Having A Heart” I couldn’t put my hands on The Forgiveness Prayer. I originally found it in the sidebar of the Transformations handout for LifeGroups at Chets Creek Church last fall (when I really needed it, I repeated it over 100 times, and for months.) After following up with Glenn (I love that dude!!) Reese at Chets this week I was able to come up with the following prayer on the internet, which is very similar to the missing forgiveness prayer…

Father God, I choose, as an act of my will, to forgive ____________(name) for _______(specific offense). Father, I ask that you forgive them as well, and not hold these charges against him/her on my account. Father God, if there are any more stored up negative feelings in me toward _________, I ask that you cleanse me. I will be open to replace these negative emotions with the fruit of your Holy Spirit. Father, Your Holy Word tells us that we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and the word of our testimony. I now plead the blood of Jesus over this offense and over my unforgiveness. Lord, do not allow Satan to interfere with my testimony. Heavenly Father, I ask that you help me regain the ground that I gave up when I held onto these offenses. I ask that you take back this ground and no longer allow Satan to operate there. Give me wisdom to deal with this situation in the future. Father, I ask that you heal now the wounded places in my soul.  Heal my memory of those offenses so that I can look back on them realistically, knowing that You have healed me. Now Father, I ask that you bless ____(name) with Your abundant mercy. Prosper him/her in every way: body, soul, and spirit. AMEN.

Again from Andy Andrews’ book…

“If you’re mad at someone you have to forgive them for you. You have a choice to make, either think about them all day long and let them keep hurting you inside… or give them to God. We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners to it. Practicing forgiveness is less an act than a determined way of living. True forgiveness only comes at the conclusion of an inner struggle.”

Keep on Smiling, Loving and Living 🙂