That happened to my husband, Happy and me once. Happy had been hurt by two men who had defrauded him on a contract. All of a sudden, the flow of our finances just stopped.
It seemed as though our prayers came back marked "Return to Sender" and our walk with God had hit a dead end. The blessing pipe just seemed to clog. Happy was saying, "What's going on here?" until the Lord revealed to him the source of the clog - unforgiveness.
"You have to forgive those men," the Lord told Happy. Keep your heart right. Their hearts may not be right, but I'm dealing with you. Keep walking in obedience to My Word. Keep walking in love.
So, that day, Happy called those two men over to the house and asked them to forgive him for harboring resentment and unforgiveness toward them. The very next Sunday, we were given a fine automobile!
It was a wonderful blessing and a specific answer to prayer. We had been believing God for a new car, but we weren't able to receive it until we purged our hearts of unforgiveness. Unforgiveness had blocked the flow of our prosperity.
Spiritual Drain Opener
In Mark 11:25, Jesus tells us to forgive because unforgiveness will hinder our prayers: "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
Unforgiveness hinders our prayer life because it limits our fellowship with God. By walking in unforgiveness, we are not walking in love as God commanded. Therefore, when we don't forgive, we walk in disobedience - and disobedience will put us out of position to receive from God. Unforgiveness will stand between us and God to keep our blessings from getting to us. Not only will unforgiveness stop our prosperity, it will also keep us from walking in divine health.
Flush Out Aught
Asking someone who has hurt you to forgive you for harboring resentment and bitterness toward them will not necessarily change them. But it will change you. And that's important because it enables you to cleanse your heart of the bitterness of a broken relationship - even if it's been broken for years, or even if the other person is dead.
I see this happen in people whose problems are caused by bitterness and unforgiveness toward abusive parents. I ministered to one woman whose deceased mother had been very cruel to her as a child.
When she realized that unforgiveness toward her mother was the source of the sickness in her body, she was able to forgive her mother and release the bitterness she'd harbored against her.
Now, obviously, these actions had no effect on the dead mother. And it couldn't change what the mother had done to her in childhood. But the woman herself changed. She was able to shake off the bondage of bitterness about her past and go on with God because she made the choice to forgive her mother.
On the other hand, another woman was unable to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit because she would not let go of unforgiveness toward her abusive parents.
"Letting go of unforgiveness won't change your parents," I told her. "They may never change. But forgiving them will change you. It will allow healing to flow into your body. It will allow you to go forward spiritually, mentally and physically."
She refused, however, to repent of her hatred toward her parents. Consequently, she was unable to advance in her spiritual walk. Unforgiveness hindered her prayers, robbed her of joy and peace, and stopped the rich flow of God's blessings in her life.
Honey, Call the Plumber!
Not only will "holding anything against anyone" (Mark 11:25 NIV) hinder your prayers as an individual, it will hinder the prayer of agreement between a husband and wife and clog their blessing pipe as a family. A member of my Bible study group sent me a testimony of how she and her husband overcame a blockage in the flow of their blessings after I taught on releasing unforgiveness.
"Our house had been on the market for six months," she wrote, "but we'd received no offers. We had gone to God's Word, agreed in prayer and confessed in faith that the house was sold, but nothing had happened. On Tuesday night after you taught how unforgiveness could block healing, I asked my husband if unforgiveness might stop the sale of our home.
"There was a person whom I thought I had forgiven long ago, but whenever that person's name was mentioned, I felt hate rise up in my heart. So my husband and I prayed. Finally, I truly forgave that person. I was completely set free of the burden of unforgiveness. Our house sold on Thursday! And my hands, which had been broken out with eczema for over a year, immediately healed up!"
Within 48 hours of getting unforgiveness out of her heart, this woman not only received her healing, but she and her husband also received the financial breakthrough they needed.
Breakthroughs like these are available to anyone who makes a decision to let go of unforgiveness. So if prosperity and health haven't been flowing in your life, inspect your spiritual pipeline. If you find it's clogged with bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness, judge yourself and repent.
Then apply Mark 11:25: "Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against any one, forgive him and let it drop" (AMP). You'll stay healthy and blessed when you do!
by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers