“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” (Matthew 6:9–15)

Why is God’s forgiveness dependent upon us forgiving others? The better question is to wonder why we would believe we should be forgiven when we are unwilling to forgive others. When we pray to God, we can only have from him what we believe he is willing to give. If we don’t forgive others, we obviously don’t really believe in forgiveness. If we have an unforgiving heart, we’re not going to truly believe that God can forgive us.

Forgiveness is an attitude. It is a choice that we make. We free ourselves from a prison of bitterness and anger if we forgive. When God forgives us, he’s not telling us that what we did didn’t matter, or that the suffering doesn’t matter, or that he’s okay with our actions. Forgiveness means he will not allow what we did to interfere with his relationship with us. He is telling us that we and his relationship with us is more important than the sin that would try to come between us. Forgiveness grows from love, from a concern for us that exceeds all else.

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