“Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 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. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 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”(NLT).

Why must our faith start with forgiveness? There is nothing closer to the center of our faith than a heart filled with forgiveness. Forgiveness is the purest and, maybe, the single hardest act of love that can be expressed. The kind of love required for forgiveness is Agape. In order to forgive, you have to be completely surrendered from yourself. You must be able to consider the injustice done to you as inconsequential compared to the need of the one who caused it. In other words, you must be selfless. Love does not seek retribution but rehabilitation. If God sought retribution against us, we would be finished. Instead, God choses to love. His love enables His forgiveness. God selflessly demonstrates His love the only way possible. By putting first the needs of those who have wronged Him through sin, He gave His only Son as sacrifice to save them.

When we are harboring anger, whether it be deep seeded resentments or surface level annoyances, our heart can not be in tune with the heart of God. How can we expect God to hear, much less honor, our prayers if we are so far away from His heart? How can we expect to live and move in faith, if we are so far from the heart of God?

For the Christ follower, forgiveness needs to come as naturally as breathing. The inhaling movement of our faith is receiving the unconditional acceptance of God. The exhaling movement of our faith is showing unconditional acceptance for our neighbor, through the act of forgiveness. Unfortunately, we keep getting stuck on ourselves. Then we wonder why we can’t move mountains. We wonder why we don’t receive the things we have asked for by faith. It is simple. Unforgiveness sows seeds of doubt in our heart. Unforgiveness demonstrates you are struggling with fully accepting what God has done for you and what God says about you. Faith requires surrender. A refusal to forgive exemplifies a refusal to fully believe God has forgiven you. If there is such a doubt in you, your faith will be hindered from receiving the promises given to you in scripture.

The one who understands the weight of what Christ has done for them, would not be able to harbor unforgiveness because their own heart would be so rich with thankfulness. There would be no room for anger. If you struggle to forgive, or are holding onto resentments, ask yourself what you believe about yourself in relation to God? Who are you and Whose are you? Then search yourself for unloving spirits and ask God to reveal any lies you have been believing. Unforgiveness manages to keep you in bondage and belittles your faith.

When Jesus said to “believe and have no doubt in your heart,” He is saying we have to be completely abandoned to Him. The alignment of our heart with God’s heart only happens if we first take care of the business that keeps us far away from Him. My faith is only strong enough to move mountains when I am weak enough to let go of myself – of my assumed needs for justice and my assumed rights – and abandoned them before the throne of God. When I am in such a yielded state, I can see that the one who sinned against me is struggling with their own set of hurts. It was out of their hurt that they hurt me. In fact, they are in need of Agape love. A heart ready to forgive is a heart secure in the promises of God. What God has promised to us in scripture is ours for the taking. It is ours by right, as sons and daughters of God. It enables and activates our faith to do what is impossible outside of God. So believe that what you have asked for has already been given. Know who you are in Christ and live like it.