Bible Question (short): Can we not ask God to forgive another? |
Question (full): We do have clear instruction from the Lord to pray for those who hurt us (Matthew 5:44). Please say what you think we should pray for in such cases. I must say I am surprised to hear that we are not authorized to pray that God would forgive them. It is true that we do not have the position of our Lord Jesus Christ; he is God. But was Jesus not acting in his humanity when he made his petition? After all, he did not grant the forgiveness in this situation, but asked the Father to do it. Did not Stephen do the same thing (Acts 7:60) when he prayed, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”? And wasn’t Paul expressing the same desire, (in 2 Timothy 4:16) that God would forgive those who would not stand with him during his trial? It seems quite admirable that this person wants to encourage a resolution of the matter at hand, and since the original questioner is having difficulty, it seems appropriate that they be encouraged to pray. But again, what should they pray for? They could have prayed for vengeance. That is preferable to taking it themselves (Romans 12:19) since God has said that is his job (Deuteronomy 32, etc.). Paul prayed for a just recompense for Alexander (2 Timothy 4) and certainly there is a lot in the Psalms of asking God to punish the enemies. It seems the more humane and loving thing to do, to pray that the person would find forgiveness. We are asked to forgive those who trespass against us (Matthew 6) but there is also the requirement that the person repent and ask for that forgiveness (Luke 17). One may say, then, that there is no such thing as forgiveness in the absence of repentance. And who can grant repentance. It is only God, as far as I know (Acts 11:18). I would assume that the one who asks God to forgive someone else is implying a request that God grant that person repentance, without which not even God can forgive that person (Luke 13). It may be said that it in some sense it is not our forgiveness that a person needs, but God’s. A person may trespass against us, and we should forgive them if they repent, but all sin is really against God (Psalm 51) and it is God’s forgiveness that the person really needs. If we really care about the person, and I assume that this person cares about their father, they would desire that God find a way to forgive him of his sins. We do not know what the offense is in this case, but the questioner is having difficulty to forgive the offender. Is it because he has not repented? Is it because the person feels they have been hurt too deeply? Is it because they fear it might happen again? It seems impossible to even suggest a solution when there is such a dearth of information. But it does seem appropriate to ask the person to pray. Not only Jesus, but also Stephen and Paul prayed that God would forgive another, and I am inclined to believe that we can as well. |