A Heart Prepared for Prayer

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive   your sins, too. - Mark 11:25

Life is a patchwork of success and failures, victories and defeats, joys and sorrows. When we experience life's inevitable disappointments, we may become embittered, but God instructs us to do otherwise. God understands the futility of bitterness, and He knows that without forgiveness, we can never enjoy the spiritual abundance that He offers us through the person of His Son Jesus.

Christ's teachings are straightforward: Before we offer our prayers to God, we should cleanse ourselves of bitterness, hatred, jealousy, and regret. When we do so, we can petition God with pure hearts.

#alln4Jesus

Prayer from the Blogger:
Heavenly Father,
Through the blood of Your Son, we have been redeemed. Yet, when we come into Your presence, we still hold on to the things that make us so different from Your Son. Father, send Your Spirit to make us like Your Son, so when we enter into Your presence, You would see the heart of Jesus in us.
Amen

Digging Deeper:
Read the following passage-

Mark 11:15-25

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Clears the Temple

15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” 18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching. 19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city. 20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

Challenge:
Before we offer our prayers to God, we should cleanse ourselves of bitterness, hatred, jealousy, and regret.