"The entrance of thy words giveth light (Psalm 119:130)."
Getting Rid of Anger (Part 4)
"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 (Mark 11:23 NLT)."
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him (1 John 5:14-15 NIV)."
Satan once acquired a spiritual foothold in my life as a result of the actions of a rude church usher. And, though I tried repeatedly to forgive him, I just couldn't break free. When I saw this person at church, I would often come under attack—though this didn't happen every time I saw him.
And when something came to mind that reminded me of this person, my emotions would often get messed up. It got to the point that, whenever I was reading a news story—and the article was about a person with a similar name—I would again come under a spiritual attack. This situation lasted for several years.
Then one day, while driving to church, I again came under attack. This happened at the same place as usual, right before I got to church. But this time I tried something different.
I prayed something like this: "Dear Lord: I pray for You to enable me to forgive him and I believe I have the petition I have asked of You. I thank you in Jesus name. Amen." There was an immediate result. I could tell that God had answered my prayer.
Today, the foothold remains gone. And I learned an important biblical principle: God can make it possible you to forgive when you can't do it in your own strength. If you ask in faith—without doubting.
Notes: 1) I later learned that you can simply trust in the power of the Holy Spirit when you can't forgive someone in your own strength. 2) In retrospect, I could have handled this situation better. The Bible provides specific instructions on how to respond when others, in church, sin against us.
A link to Part 5 is below.
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