This is Cynthia L. Simmons and Julie K. Gillis, and we are here with Prayers for Women's Self, and we invite you to join us in the holy habit of praying for yourselves. Today we're going to pray about forgiveness.
There are plenty of times that I need to be forgiven. In fact, probably more than every few seconds I need God to forgive me. But we also need to forgive ourselves and forgive our friends. And so we're going to pray about forgiveness today.
Julie? Oh, yes. Forgiveness is such a key. You know, it's not an emotion that we feel.
It's a choice that we make. And there are many times, through gritted teeth, I will forgive the person that just cut me off in traffic. And I know that sounds silly, but I'll tell you what, there is power in forgiveness. Let's pray.
Dear Father, I ask you to help us forgive. And I pray, Lord, my problem is sometimes when I mess up, I cannot forgive myself. And I am too hard on myself about it, even after you have forgiven me. So I pray that you'll help me to forgive myself, but to be willing to have a heart that is sensitive to others and willing to forgive them too.
Father, I am so grateful that your word says that all we have to do is to confess our sins to you, and you are faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So we bow our hearts before you right now, and we do just that. And we ask you to forgive us, to cleanse us, and we thank you for that. I pray, Father, that you will enable us to let go of resentment for people who have offended us and hurt us with their words, with their actions.
Father, whether it's our spouses, it's our children, a neighbor, a work associate, Father, a friend, I pray, God, that you will enable us to make the choice to forgive and to let go of resentment, to release them into your hands, and to choose to forgive. God, I pray as your women, you will help us not to be subject to our emotions, but to subject ourselves to your word, which tells us that we are required to forgive. So, God, I pray you will enable us to do that, give us the grace to do that, Father. And I pray, God, that you will help us along the lines of what Cynthia prayed, not to rehearse our sins.
God, your word says, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far you have removed our sins from us. We choose to believe you. We choose not to focus on the guilt that hammers at our heart, Father. We choose, in the name of Jesus, to forgive ourselves because you forgive us.
God, I pray you will help us to live a forgiving lifestyle. It's not easy, but it's possible by your grace. Thank you, Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Amen.