Forgiveness

Mark 11:25 AV
And when¹ ye stand² praying,
forgive³, if ye have⁴ ought against any⁵:
that⁶ your Father also which is in heaven⁷
may forgive³ you your trespasses⁸.‭

¹) The word translated with ‘when’, can also be translated with ‘whenever’ (so, every time), ‘as long as’, or ‘as soon as‭’.
²) Means to stand fast (it is 6 out of 8 times translated like this in the Amplified Version – twice as stand), to stand firm‭, to persevere, to persist‭; to keep one’s standing‭.
³) Let go, let alone, let be‭, disregard‭, give up a debt, forgive, keep no longer‭ something against some other.
⁴) Hold.
⁵) A certain one‭.
⁶) In order that, so that‭.
⁷) The region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect, where God and the other heavenly beings‭ dwell.
‭⁸) Fall beside or near something‭; a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness‭; a sin.

Other translations

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop. [AMP]

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." [ESV]

And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive--only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins." [MSB]

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. [KJV]

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." [NIV]

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. " [NLT]

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. [NKJV]

Study

And when ye stand praying,
forgive, if ye have ought against any:
that your Father also which is in heaven
may forgive you your trespasses.‭

This is repeated from the Sermon on the Mount to remind them that if this is necessary, to make any prayer acceptable to God. Especially when great things are asked and confidently expected.

And when ye stand praying

I above already mentioned that the word “stand” doesn’t speak as much of the posture as of the perseverance and persistence of the prayer.
Standing by the way was an usual posture in praying (compare Matthew 6:5; Luke 8:11)

Forgive

The sense is, that if, while a man is praying, and it comes into his mind that a certain person has committed trespasses against him, or has done him an injury, of which he has a just reason to complain, he should instead of complaining about it to God, and calling upon Him to avenge his cause, he should immediately in his heart, and from his heart, completely forgive him, even though he is not present to acknowledge his sin, and ask his pardon.

Doing that, your God Who is in heaven may grant you forgiveness as well. Not because of your forgiving the person that has offended you, but because of God’s grace.
Your action to forgive is not the cause, but a condition, of receiving remission of sin from God.
Forgiveness of sins is only possible through the blood of Jesus, through the blood of the Christ, and is available according to the riches of His grace.

Forgiving others points at a temper and disposition of mind well pleasing to God, and describes persons who may expect this favour from Him.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses

Christ here refers to the petition in ( Matthew 6:12 ) which is enforced with this reason and argument, “as”, or “for”, so ( Luke 11:4 ) “we forgive our debtors”; which he repeats and explains.

The reason why Jesus singles out this particularly is, because He knew the Jews were a people very subject to revenge; and were very hardly brought to forgive any injuries done them.
Therefore Christ presses it upon them closely to “forgive men their trespasses”.
▪︎ All sorts of injuries done them.
▪︎ All sorts of offences given them.
▪︎ All sorts whether by word or deed.

And that fully, freely, from the heart;
▪︎ forgetting, as well as forgiving;
▪︎ not upbraiding them with former offences;
▪︎ and even without asking pardon,
▪︎ and though there might be no appearance of repentance.

Your heavenly Father may also forgive you

Jesus encourages the previous by saying that it is a condition to receive forgiveness yourself.

Not that the forgiveness of others
▪︎ is the cause of forgiveness with God, which is the blood of Christ;
▪︎ or of the manifestation and application of it, that is, the advocacy of Christ;
▪︎ nor the moving cause of it, that is, the free grace of God.

But this enters into the character, and is descriptive of the persons, to whom God is pleased to make a comfortable discovery, and give a delightful sense of His pardoning grace; such persons, so disposed and assisted by His grace, may ask it of Him.

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Prayer must be accompanied not only by absolute confidence in the goodness of God (Mark 11:24), but also with a willingness to forgive one’s neighbor (Matthew 6:12,14,15).

Forgiving others is the disposition that is necessary in order to receive forgiveness of sins (παράπτωμα‭ – paraptoma: transgressions) from God (‘your Father in heaven’).

After all, the relationship with the neighbor is closely related to the relationship with God (1 John 2:9-11; cf. Matthew 25:40,45). Where the relationship with the neighbor is disturbed, the relationship with God cannot remain unaffected.
Therefore ‘having something against someone’ (Matthew 5:23; Colossians 3:13; cf. Revelation 2:4,14,20) blocks the answer to prayer (cf. 1 Peter 3:7).

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