Spiritual Dynamite
Jesus not only taught us how to pray, but He also taught us how to use spiritual dynamite. Toward the end of His life He found Himself in an impossible situation. There was no way out. What was He going to do?
The Prayer That Jesus Prayed
After three wonderful years of teaching and healing people, the tables were turned against Jesus. He was now facing crucifixion (see Luke 23). Many different people had played a part in the unfolding scenario that led to His present situation.
First, there were the religious leaders. They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity and threatened by His power and authority. They hated Him.
Next, there was Judas—the deluded disciple who thought that thirty pieces of silver was a fair price to betray his master. He committed suicide eventually.
Pilate also played a role at Jesus’ trial. He was the weak-willed governor of the Roman province of Judea who tried to wash his hands of any responsibility for what was happening.
And then there was Herod, the powerless Jewish king to whom Pilate sent Jesus for a second opinion. Herod only ridiculed and mocked Jesus. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law watched the performance and accused Him vehemently.
A large crowd of visitors were in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Urged on by the authorities, they were incited to clamor for Jesus’ execution. They demanded insistently, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (Luke 23:21).
And let’s not forget Barabbas, the notorious criminal who gained his freedom at the expense of Jesus’ life.
The Roman soldiers were at Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. They were obeying the orders of their commanding officer as they drove the nails through Jesus’ body and into the cross. They cast lots for His clothes and mocked Him with cruel words. “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself” (Luke 23:37).
And finally, you and I were there, alongside of every other human being there has ever been.
All of these people, including you and I, were responsible for Jesus being led out to Calvary to be crucified. He met His death alongside two common criminals who were scheduled for execution on the same day.
In the beginning, humankind turned its back on God and broke relationship with Him. As a result, death entered into the human race. It was our sin, therefore, that caused the Father to put the only possible rescue plan into effect that could restore the broken relationship between God and humankind. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to pay the ultimate price for our sin—Jesus’ death on a cross. Our sin took Jesus there. Jesus’ love kept Him there.
There is no one else who has ever walked the face of this earth who suffered such terrible injustice. No one else has ever had a greater excuse to blame others and cry out, “Not fair.”
What did Jesus do? He prayed. And this is what He prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). I believe this is the single most powerful prayer that has ever been prayed. Not only did Jesus walk in personal forgiveness toward all of those who were the agents of His suffering, but He also asked God to forgive them.
To ask God to forgive in circumstances such as this was an extraordinary demonstration of what Jesus meant when He said, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28 NASB). Jesus asked His Father to allow those who had persecuted Him to enter into the wonderful benefits that He had planned and purposed for them, benefits such as joy, release from bondage and the greatest of all, a relationship with Him.
All the angels of heaven must have bowed in silent wonder as they saw their beloved Jesus turn His back on resentment, bitterness, anger and revenge as He asked the Father to forgive all of those who had contributed to His death. What a man. What a God.
The Need for a Forgiving Heart
It is impossible to ask God to forgive those who have hurt us without first forgiving them ourselves. Jesus even said that if we do not forgive those who have hurt us, then our Father in heaven will not forgive us (see Matthew 6:15).
People are often surprised to find that this is in the Bible. Surely God wants to forgive us. He does, but He has also given us a choice, and He will not override the choices we make. If we choose not to forgive those who have hurt us, we put ourselves under their control. If we are under their control, we cannot be free for God to heal us and set us free. If Jesus had not forgiven all those who had hurt Him, that lack of forgiveness would have changed His relationship with Father God.
When we confess our sin to God but refuse to forgive others, we are asking God to do something for us that we are not willing to do for others. That is hypocrisy.
Jesus told a parable about a servant who was forgiven a massive debt of millions of dollars by his king, but this same servant refused to write off a tiny debt of a few dollars from his neighbor. When the king found out about this, he threw the servant into prison until he could repay the entire amount. Jesus warned that those who behave like the servant will never know freedom (see Matthew 18:23–35).
Jesus even told us to love our enemies. He knew that if we react in bitterness against those who oppose us and who do bad things to us, we will be in bondage to those people for as long as we live. He also knew that if we ignore this vital principle, we will find that our reaction to what others have done to us could do us as much harm as the original offense. He wanted us to be free from all that.
Only when we have truly forgiven others will we be able to pray Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them,” from the heart. Forgiveness of others is the huge first step that leads to our total release from the chains that surround our hurting hearts.
Change from the Inside Out
I was teaching at a conference in Hungary just as the communist walls in Russia and Eastern Europe were falling down and the last Russian tanks were leaving Budapest. The people who had come to the conference were from the surrounding Communist-controlled nations.
As I looked at this large body of severely oppressed Christians, my heart went out to them. I felt a portion of the grief that God must have felt because of all they had suffered. Many were still suffering physically. Their physical disposition reflected their internal pain.
I took a huge risk and talked to them about forgiving their Communist oppressors. I did not know how they would respond, but the Spirit of God changed them as they began to understand what Jesus said about forgiving their enemies.
One by one people began to stand up as they made the choice to forgive. Then suddenly, they were all standing! Through the translator, I led them in a prayer. Phrase by phrase they spoke out their forgiveness.
The Spirit of God fell upon the people in the very hall where Communist leaders had previously met for their conferences. I spoke out that Jesus had come to set the captives free (see Luke 4:18), and then I took authority over the powers of darkness that were holding these people in bondage.
Healing began to flow from Father God into His hurting people. They were changing on the inside. In a short period of time, their bodies began to reflect the deep inner healing they were experiencing. I watched miracles take place before my very eyes. People were walking taller as bent and hurting backs were restored through forgiveness.
Never in all my years of ministering healing to people around the world have I seen God do this much healing among so many people in such a short space of time. As the people forgave their oppressors, they experienced firsthand the wonderful power of God that is liberated through the simple act of forgiveness from the heart.
The Power of the Prayer
“Father, forgive them” is the most powerful prayer that you can ever pray.
But none of us can truly pray this extraordinary prayer until we have learned to forgive others for what they have done to us. And sometimes, we need to forgive ourselves before we are able to turn our hearts toward blessing other people.
Stephen, the first Christian martyr, learned the lesson of forgiveness well. He had such a forgiving attitude toward his accusers that when he was stoned to death—with the man who became the apostle Paul watching on—he, too, was able to pray the most powerful prayer on earth. With words very similar to those Jesus had used, he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).
How important it is that we learn to live like this in the ordinary circumstances of life and not just when we are facing the extremes of persecution that Stephen and countless others have faced through the centuries.
Learning to pray this amazing prayer from your heart could be the most important thing you will ever do. It is God’s master key, specially designed to unlock the most stubborn problems in your life.
It is the spiritual dynamite that God uses to blow apart the prison doors—the doors that can keep us locked in the pain of the past. It is the most powerful prayer on earth.