Forgiven And Able To Forgive

October 28

Do dead people pray? While we remain in the land of the living, we cannot know with certainty the answer to that question. We are told that there is a “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) in the heavenlies, saints who have gone on, who encompass us. We may presume that they pray for us, but we aren’t told for sure.

We do know that sometimes the prayers that are offered up emanate from the lips of the spiritually dead. Who are they? They are, according to the words of the Lord in Mark 11:25, people who pray while harboring anger or unforgiveness against another. It is imperative, from God’s vantage point, that we forgive in order to be forgiven—and in order for our prayers to have power.

Although we cannot forgive and love our enemies in our own strength, we can through the enabling of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whose example ("Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," Luke 23:34) teaches us that we must forgive those who hurt us, even though they may not seek forgiveness from us. Until we do, we are spiritually dead, and our prayers are ineffectual.

In Colossians 2:13, Paul says, “When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and you were bound by the power of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ and He forgave all your sins.” When one who is spiritually dead receives the Author of life into his soul, he, too, becomes alive! He is forgiven of sin—and able to forgive!