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A Prayer about the Destructive, Wasted Energy of Resentment

The godless in heart harbor resentment. Job 36:13 
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph. 4:31-32
     Dear heavenly Father, whether it’s the annoying fly interrupting my needed nap, the thoughtless words spoken by a trusted friend, the new ding in my twelve-year-old car, or the old hurt that generates fresh pain, resentment never helps the situation—never serves a redemptive purpose. Like the devil, it only steals, kills and destroys.
     Indeed, to harbor resentment is nothing short of harboring a criminal, for resentment is bent on criminal activity: stealing peace, vandalizing sleep, robbing relationship, killing kindness, murdering hope, infecting the innocent with deadly toxins, to name a few of resentment’s crimes. There’s no greater waste of energy than resentment.
     But worst of all, Father, resentment is a contradiction, a blatant misrepresentation of who you are and how you relate to us in Jesus. For if anyone has a right to hold a grudge, to keep a record of wrongs done, to rehearse and remember our sins against us, it is you.
     Yet you do not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love for those who fear you; as far as the east is from the west, that’s how far you’ve removed our transgressions from us. You’re the Father who has compassion on us as your children (Ps. 103:10-13). You show us neither vexation of spirit nor exasperation of heart, so great is your love for us in Jesus.
     So Father, by the love that sent Jesus to the cross and by the power that raised him from the dead, continue to heal, free and change me. And help my friends who wake up today in unresolved conflicts, unfair stories, ongoing sagas of betrayal, abuse and craziness. You’re not calling us to pretend, but to trust you. Don’t let us be godless in heart, but grant us grace-full hearts. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ wonderful and merciful name.

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