Answer
During His final week in Jerusalem, Jesus took a moment to reinforce His previous teachings on prayer to His disciples. He emphasized two crucial elements of prayer: faith and forgiveness. He said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:24–25, ESV).
When rooted in faith and forgiveness, our prayers are effectual and powerful. Holding unforgiveness in our hearts will hinder our prayers. Jesus had already shown His disciples the correlation between forgiveness and prayer in the Lord’s Prayer and other teachings (see Matthew 5:23–24; 6:12, 14–15; 18:15–35; Luke 17:3–4). Our willingness to forgive others is a condition for receiving God’s forgiveness, and both are requirements for answered prayer. It’s not that we earn God’s favor by forgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ; our willingness to forgive shows that our hearts are right with God. The psalmist affirms, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).
Forgiveness is a natural outflow of a humble heart submitted to God’s will. Praying in line with God’s will is another fundamental prerequisite in prayer: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15). So, forgiving others as we have been forgiven is God’s will for us (Luke 6:37; Colossians 3:12–13; Ephesians 4:32; 2 Corinthians 2:5–11). Praying according to His will instills confidence (or faith) that God will hear and answer our prayers. If we cannot forgive, we are praying empty, faithless prayers.
Standing was a traditional Jewish posture for prayer (1 Samuel 1:26; 1 Kings 8:22). When Jesus stated, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive,” He likely brought to the disciples’ minds the image of arrogant Jewish religious leaders standing in the synagogues to pray. Earlier, Jesus explained, “When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:5, ESV; see also Luke 18:11).
In essence, Jesus said, “If you’re going to stand up and set an example in prayer, let that example not be one of self-righteous pride and hypocrisy. Instead, always be humble, authentic, and forgiving. Let your prayers rise from a heart of faith and obedience to reach the Father’s ears.”
By not forgiving others, we fail to acknowledge that “from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace” poured out on us “through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16–17, ESV; see also Ephesians 1:7; 2:4–9). We do not deserve the mercy, grace, and forgiveness God granted us, yet He embraced us with open arms, offering the most profound and unconditional love. When we truly appreciate His divine generosity, it inspires us to extend similar grace toward those who have wronged us. Doing so will demonstrate our genuine and complete commitment to the Lord. When obeying His will becomes our highest objective, forgiveness will flow from pure hearts, creating an atmosphere in which our prayers will never fail.
Jesus’ words, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive,” ought to remind us to examine our hearts in prayer. If we want to remain in right relationship with our heavenly Father, we must maintain loving fellowship with our brothers and sisters on earth.
