R - Rely on God 6 sessions What are you relying on? - Christ ...

25STUDY 5to make a list of people/offenses. (It’s ineffective to try to applyforgiveness to ‘that monster who was bad toward you.’ You need toknow specifics of who/what it is you need to forgive.)2. Open yourself up to feel the full range of emotions related to whatwas lost for the purpose of healing. (Grief is heavy. It can feellike a mixture of anger, sadness, fear, despair and anxiety all at thesame time. Because we tend to avoid these feelings, you might betempted to deny them. Ask God, alone in the safety of His presence,to help you feel the pain that the wound caused in you as you seek tobe healed by His tender touch.)3. Pray to begin to see the offender or offending circumstances fromGod’s perspective, to give you ‘new eyes’ (Smedes) apart from thehurt for them, gain understanding and/or empathy for them. Thistakes time, and usually comes gradually, but it can begin right nowand is important. One of the ways you can know when you haveworked all the way through to forgiveness is that you wish them well.4. Choose to forgive specific people and offenses, releasing each onefrom your perceived right to get back. For each name listed, youmight pray out loud, “<strong>Rely</strong>ing on You, God, I forgive _____________for _____________________ (list each hurt and pain and the feelingsthat surfaced in you because of it). I release _________________to You and my right to seek revenge. I choose not to hold on to mybitterness and anger, and I ask You to heal my wounded emotions.In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.” (adapted from N. Anderson, Steps toFreedom in Christ).5. If you made a list, burn it when you’ve worked through eachthing, symbolic of the offenses being gone now. You might evenceremonially nail the list into a tree in your yard to serve as apermanent reminder of your choice to proceed through forgiveness.Then remove the list and burn it before the Lord, who forgave youfrom the cross.NEXT STEPS:Read Forgive and Forget: Healing the Wounds We Don’t Deserve, LewisSmedes, 1984, Harper Collins or The Art of Forgiving, Lewis Smedes,Ballantine Books, 1996Pray and seek godly counsel if you know you are stuck somewhere in theforgiveness process.RELIES ON GOD