Mark 11:25 The Forgotten Secret

When I say that the secret is forgotten, I’m not saying that this is some obscure thing hidden for the ages that I recently discovered and can be yours for the low price of a year’s subscription to my spiritual newsletter.

But I have been wrestling for a long time with unanswered prayer.  Not so much prayers for myself, but there are those as well. 

But there is a theme in the Bible that appears sometimes in strange places that makes you wonder if and how they are connected.

Mark 11:25 is one such passage.  Jesus had just taught His disciples one of the most outlandish things in the Bible, about faith moving mountains.

First He says that you can move mountains by commanding them to move without doubting.  But then He moves to prayer as though moving mountains and speaking to them is a part or form of prayer, and how by doing a certain thing, we will get what we prayed for.

Oh, but then He adds something seemingly unrelated: whenever you pray, you have to forgive if you have anything against anyone.  Mark 11:25 (NASB95)  25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

Now Jesus didn’t come right out and say that if you don’t forgive, then everything He just said before becomes null and void, but He might as well have.

And then there’s the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus expects us to pray every day, because we are to ask for bread only for today.  So tomorrow we are supposed to do that again.

And then right there in the middle we are to ask for forgiveness for our own sins which seems connected to how we forgive others.

Luke 11:4 (NASB95) 4 ‘And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

Matthew 6:12–15 (NASB95) 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ 14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

There are passages in the Bible about how we are to treat enemies, those who wrong us willfully, those who hate us.  And in each case, there is either a promise of God’s specific blessing or a statement of blessings.

Proverbs 20:22 (NASB95) 22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

Proverbs 25:21,22 (NASB95) 21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you.

Matthew 5:43–48 (NASB95) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We may show consideration to the more obvious evil people in life yet show less to those from whom we expect so much more.  Evil people are, well, evil.  They can’t help themselves, but Christians, and spouses, and friends, well, they are inexcusable.  They should know much better. 

Yet the words still stand:  Romans 12:17–21 (NASB95)  17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. . . .  18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “vengeance is mine, i will repay,” says the Lord. . . .   21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 18 is too long to print out here.  It talks a lot about forgiveness, but much of it in a roundabout way.  But it ends with a long parable about a man who was forgiven an enormous debt but who refused to forgive a much smaller debt that was owed him. 

The ending of the parable is strange: 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Many of the passages that deal with forgiveness suggest that it is not an option, thar there are real and significant consequences when we don’t. 

Consider this passage:  Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

But Christians are not judged, we are not condemned, we are pardoned.  But does that mean that there are no consequences if we judge, condemn, and refuse to pardon?

Look at Ephesians 4:26–5:1 (NASB95)  26 be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

When we allow anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness to rule in our lives, we give the devil an opportunity, and we grieve the Holy Spirit.  Not a good combination.  But this shows us how this all affects us personally and spiritually.

Colossians 3:12–14 (NASB95) 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

1 Peter 3:8–12 (NASB95) 8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For, “the one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. 11 “he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 “for the eyes of the lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the lord is against those who do evil.”

And, lastly, even those who are looking for forgiveness from others need to see the importance of restoring the relationship.   

Matthew 5:23,24 (NASB95) 23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

I have tried to be brief, and in so doing, I know that many will just skim through the verses, because they are familiar and I haven’t explicitly pointed out certain things.   If I make it any longer, a lot of people won’t even read it.

This is important.  Take a few minutes.  Who knows, maybe it will change your life?