Silence for 2-5 minutes:
If your mind wanders, silently pray a simple prayer again and again, such as, "I surrender to your love" or "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me" until the Holy Spirit gives you a sense of peace and focus.
Scripture:
Matthew 6:9-13
Pray then like this:“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Reading:
The following is an excerpt from The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Read how the forgiveness we give to others is not our own but actually the total forgiveness and love we experience in Jesus Christ.
Several years after the war, Corrie ten Boom was speaking about her experiences in Munich when one of her former S.S. guards approached her at the end of the church service. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,” he said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often . . . the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
Actions/Prayer:
Ask the Lord to give you His forgiveness and love for someone you are struggling to forgive. Listen to the Lord regarding what actions of blessing He might ask you to take. For Corrie ten Boom, it was shaking the hand of a former enemy. Remember the forgiveness you give others; is the forgiveness you receive from Christ Himself.