Pastor Jim Kibler says there are two things you must actively live out to effectively communicate with God: forgiveness and faith. The two go hand in hand, because if you have any unforgiveness toward someone in your heart when you pray, it hinders your faith. However, there is a difference between loving someone the way God calls us to and being friends with them, he says.
“If you do love other people, you will forgive them,” Kibler says. “The Bible doesn’t say just love everybody who’s nice to you. We are called to love everybody anyway, no matter how they treat us. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to be friends with them. That doesn’t mean you have to hang out with them. That doesn’t mean you have to have them into your home for dinner and fellowship.”
So not only must you forgive offenses you have against others before you pray, but you must also have faith, Kibler says on the Receiving From God podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network. If you doubt that God can do what you ask Him to do, remember that James 1:7 (NIV) says, “that [man] should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
To listen to the rest of the podcast, click here.
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