The Conditions of Prayer – Day 30 of 40

Armodoxy for Today: The Conditions of Prayer – Day 30 of Lent

Much of your life has changed during this Lenten season and these past few days your prayer life has matured. Your prayers become calls to action, to realize the dreams that are set deep in your heart and not the desires based on the whims of today.

The model of the Lord’s Prayer, the “Our Father” is the quintessential prayer, because of its author and because of the make up of the prayer. It focuses on everything that is necessary for us. Including a condition statement.

We ask for God’s forgiveness to the extent that we forgive others. “Forgive us our trespasses” we say, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To receive forgiveness from our Father, we have to forgive others. If we partially forgive, we are then partially forgiven. If we forgive completely, we can expect the same forgiveness of our sins.

Forgiveness is such important part of prayer life that Jesus repeats this condition after giving us the Lord’s prayer. You’ll find in the verses that follow immediately Jesus explaining, “For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

The effectiveness of the prayer is based on you being of clean heart. For this reason forgiveness is directly associated in the instruction to pray. Even more specifically, Jesus instructs us that, …Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:23-26)

Prayer is effective from a clean heart, one which has been wiped of sin. Herein we learn that the cleanliness of heart begins with us forgiving others.

The act of charity today is to forgive, plain and simple. Anyone who has hurt you, needs to be forgiven today, before you move forward. Fast from anger.

Treat yourself to Rice Dessert with Cherries, today’s recipe found below.

We pray, Lord, help me to forgive. I open myself up to you. You have forgiven me not only seven times, but seventy seven times seven times. Now, instill in me a heart that will move forward with forgiveness so that my prayers have meaning. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 30: Rice Desert with Cherries