In this video, Dmitriy Leo explains why the prayer of faith sometimes goes unanswered. We explore common obstacles and mistakes that can hinder our spiritual communication with God and learn how to strengthen our faith for our prayers to be answered. Join the discussion and discover the path to true spiritual connection.
Jesus’ words about faith and a mountain that should move into the sea are among the foundational and most popular teachings in the faith movement. But Jesus’ words contain an additional, very important detail that is often overlooked—and as a result, the prayer of faith goes unanswered.
The Gospel of Mark, chapter 11: 23 Have faith in God. For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be lifted up and cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive [in Greek: received], and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses.
Let me remind you that the verses were added during the translation of the Bible; therefore, the importance of forgiveness was not an addition, but part of Jesus’ teaching about the prayer of faith. The conjunction “and” between verses 24 and 25 confirms that this is one thought.
So, according to verse 24, the prayer of faith is enough to receive an answer. This is true, and we will hold firmly to it. Next, when we begin to pray and there is someone we need to forgive for something, we are told to do so. If we do not forgive someone, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us either.
Jesus meant the sins and mistakes present in a person’s life at the time of prayer. For example, someone begins praying and prepares to ask for a miracle, but decides to examine their heart and realizes that they have been harboring resentment against a relative for more than a week.
The question arises: what exactly needs to be forgiven?
The word “trespass” is not quite a satisfactory translation. Looking at ourselves, we may think: “I have not sinned in a long time.”
The Ancient Greek has another word for sin and trespass, [hamartia]. But here Jesus used the word [paraptomata], whose original dictionary form is [paraptoma]. It is translated as:
In the first sense: a slip, delusion, mistake
In the second: defeat, collapse
In other words, in His teaching, Jesus pointed to the missteps, misconceptions, and mistakes people make. A more accurate translation reads:
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Heavenly Father may also forgive you your mistakes. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you your mistakes.
In the Father’s Blessing translation, these words are translated correctly.
Answering the question, “What exactly needs to be forgiven?” we see that we need to forgive any mistakes people make. Let us read verse 25 again:
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone
If you stand in prayer and have anything against anyone, you need to forgive them, so that your Heavenly Father may also forgive you your mistakes. And let me remind you that this is one part of Jesus’ teaching on the Lord’s Prayer—the prayer of faith that can move mountains.
So, this was not only about sins, but about forgiving absolutely anything.
For example:
– you resent someone because they did or failed to do something
– you are angry with your spouse, children, or parents
– you are dissatisfied with the church, a leader, or a pastor
– you consider certain people responsible for your difficulties, and so on.
Jesus said that when you stand in prayer, forgive every person for every offense. You must not harbor resentment, anger, dissatisfaction, unforgiveness, or condemnation. You need to forgive them, and then God will forgive you. In that case, nothing will hinder your prayer of faith.
It is not God who places limitations on the prayer of faith; people create these limitations themselves because they do not receive forgiveness for their offenses, refusing to forgive others for theirs. To put it simply: when we do not forgive others, we remain unforgiven by God and create an obstacle to receiving an answer to our prayer.
So what does true forgiveness look like?
I remember well the story of a young woman. I know her and her husband, Stuart, and heard this story firsthand.
Chloe Glazbury from England had dozens of epileptic seizures a day. She also had arthritis, cystic ovaries, lactose intolerance, transforming migraines, and numerous tumors in the chest area. She had problems with her legs and could not climb even a slight incline; she had to be carried up. At certain times, she needed a wheelchair.
All the problems began in childhood, when she was raped by her father. She hated him and people in general because of the pain in her life. One day, she met a man named Stuart. They got married and attended church together. It was clear that she needed to forgive her father so that every obstacle to her healing would be removed. And of course, she forgave him because she was told that forgiveness was necessary to receive healing.
But after that, nothing changed. Every time she heard about forgiveness, she forgave, but there was no healing. As it turned out, forgiving with the mind was not enough. Time passed, and Chloe had an encounter with the Lord. After that, she came to know the love of the Heavenly Father. At that moment, she realized that her earthly father had been an unhappy, wounded man who was unable to be a good father at the time, and that was why he had committed that act.
Her attitude toward her father changed, and she forgave her earthly father with all her heart. Immediately after that prayer, all the pain left her body. When they returned home, they discovered that Chloe had been completely healed and restored. More than 13 years have passed since her healing, and none of those illnesses has returned. Glory to the Lord!
What is this story about? Chloe had a lot of faith and prayed herself. She and Stuart prayed a lot together. Many people prayed for them at church and at various healing conferences. Was there faith in all these cases? Yes, of course. And we do not doubt that prayers of faith work. But there was one obstacle: one small requirement had not been fulfilled—wholehearted forgiveness.
So, friends, forgiveness is not forcing the word “I forgive you” through clenched teeth—it is being released from a burden. Someone needs to be forgiven for something bad they did to you. You need to stop being offended by someone for what they did. You need to stop being offended by someone for what they did not do. You need to stop being offended by someone because they are not actually at fault. The situation is often not the way we see it, and we may take offense without cause.
Here is what I understood. We are not born with the ability to forgive—we learn to forgive. We are not born with the ability not to take offense—we learn not to take offense. We are not born with the ability not to become angry—we learn not to become angry. We have to learn everything.
We need to forgive because we ourselves need forgiveness. We make many mistakes, and perhaps even commit sins. Forgiving is just. We must stop taking offense at others because we ourselves do things that cause others to take offense at us. Not taking offense and not judging are also just.
Let us pause right now and consider whether there is anyone we are angry with, offended by, or judging. Is there anyone I need to forgive?
– Now close your eyes so you will not be distracted, and pray from your heart.
– Our Father in Heaven, I forgive.
(say the name of the person you forgive and what you forgive them for)
– I forgive. I no longer judge. I no longer hold a grudge.
– I demand nothing and hold nothing against them.
– And now, from my heart, I bless…
(say specifically how you bless the person)
– I also ask You, our Heavenly Father,
– forgive me too for unforgiveness, judgment, resentment, and anger.
– Cleanse me from all unrighteousness and heal my heart.
– I also thank You for healing my body from weaknesses and illnesses.
– I thank You for hearing and accepting my prayer.
– In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
– Glory to You. Amen.
And in conclusion
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
