Sometimes it's the little sins you overlook that keep your faith from working and your prayers from being heard.
Sometimes it's the little grudges against others that you don't think amount too much that will keep your voice from being heard on High.
A woman once asked me a question along this line. She said, "Brother Hagin, there's no family in this church who has been as faithful as my family has been. Yet if one member of our family has ever received healing, I don't know it. But my husband's family is not nearly as faithful, yet they always receive their healing. Why is that?"
I said, "I don't know why one person gets healed and another one doesn't unless God reveals it to me. But I know this, if people get results over a long period of time, it's because they're walking in line with God's Word."
Then I said, "Without knowing your husband's family, I would say that if they always receive their healing, they have two outstanding characteristics. First, they are quick to repent and forgive. You understand that repentance and forgiveness go hand in hand. And, second, they are quick to believe."
That woman's eyes got big, and her mouth fell open. She said, "Why, Brother Hagin, you've hit the nail right on the head!"
I answered, "No, I didn't hit the nail on the head. God did. I'm not that smart. I got the answer from Mark 11:23-25."
The Bible has the answer to every problem and to every situation in life. No matter what happens in life, the Bible has the answer. It may not be the answer we want to hear, but it's the answer.
She said, "I believe my husband's family are the quickest to repent and forgive of any people I've ever known."
This woman added, "Not only that, but if there was a squabble, they'd take all the responsibility for it, even when they weren't to blame.
"They would forgive you, no matter what you had done to them. They wouldn't hold anything against anyone, not even for a moment. They'd always say, 'I'm to blame. Please forgive me.' And they meant it."
Then she said, "My husband's family lived in the country, and it's hard for them to get to church. But when they would come to church, they'd go to the altar, repent the fastest and believe God the quickest, and get blessed the most of anyone I've ever seen in my life."
God just blesses people who repent, forgive, and believe.
Smith Wigglesworth once said, "There's just something about believing God that will cause God to pass over a million people just to get to you."
This woman continued, "But you take my family—we will eventually forgive because we know we have to, but we'll hold out just as long as we dare."
But, you see, the problem is that a person could die while he's holding out. Then she said, "And when it comes to believing, we're the slowest people you've ever seen to believe God."
She had her answer right there. People who are slow to repent and slow to forgive aren't going to be able to believe God for His best, because faith is of the heart.
If there is unforgiveness in their hearts, it will hinder them from being able to believe God.
You see, love and forgiveness go hand in hand. Love forgives. Love works no ill to its neighbor. Therefore, love doesn't take account of a suffered wrong (1 Cor. 13:5 AMP).
When you walk in love, you fulfill the Law—all of God's requirements. Without love, you won't be able to walk in God's ways because God is love.
Even though all the blessings of God have already been provided for you through Jesus Christ, there's no way you can have faith to receive the blessings of God in your life with unforgiveness in your heart. That's absolutely the truth!
It doesn't make any difference how spiritual you are or how many gifts of the Spirit operate through you, there are certain qualifications you have to meet if you're going to enjoy God's best in this life. Be quick to repent, quick to forgive, and quick to believe God.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications