THE PRAYER OF RELEASE

‘Forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
Matthew 6:12 (NLT)

‘Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”’ Matthew 18:21 (NIV)

‘Jesus Answered, “Not Seven Times, But Seventy-Seven Times.” Matthew 18:22 (NIV)

‘Once there was a king who decided to collect on all the debts that his servants owed him. So he began to call them in one at a time and he asked to be repaid. He discovered that one of the servants owed him ten thousand talents of money.’ Matthew 18

‘Since the servant did not have enough to pay his great debt the king ordered him to be sold as a slave along with his wife and children and all that he had in order to repay his debt.’

‘The servant fell to his knees and begged the king. “Please sir. Be patient with me and I will pay you back everything I owe.”’

‘The king’s heart was moved with compassion and he released him and forgave him, cancelling his entire debt.’ Matthew 18:27

WHY MUST I RELEASE THOSE WHO’VE HURT ME?

I. BECAUSE GOD FORGIVES ME

‘The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelling the debt and let him go.’ Matthew 18:27

‘But the servant went out and found a man who owed him a hundred denari and he grabbed him by the throat and harshly demanded “You must pay me back right now!” And the man pleaded just as the servant had with the king, “I promise to pay you back. Just give me some time.” But the unforgiving servant refused and he had the man thrown in jail.’

‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

II. BECAUSE RESENTMENT IS SELF-TORTURE

‘To worry yourself to death with resentment, it would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.’
Job 5:2
‘ “You contemptible and wicked servant. I forgave and released you and I canceled your great debt. Shouldn’t you have shown mercy and release to your debtor just as I did with you?” In wrath the king sent him to the jailers to be tortured in the torture chamber.’
Matthew 18:33-34 (NIV)

‘Some men stay happy until the day they die… others have no happiness at all; they live and die with bitter hearts.’ Job 21:23-25

III. BECAUSE I NEED FORGIVENESS EVERY DAY!

‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ Matthew 6:12

‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.’ Matthew 18:33-34 (NIV)

HOW DO I RELEASE MY HURT?

I. LEAVE IT TO GOD

‘…Never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it…’ Romans 12:19 (LB)

II. I HEAL IT WITH GRACE

‘Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others.’ Hebrews 12:15 (Ph)

‘Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds.’ I Peter 2:24

III. I NAIL IT TO THE CROSS

‘We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin.’ Romans 6:6 (NCV)

‘He cancelled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.’ Col.2:14 (NCV)