Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-Unforgiveness

April 6, 2026

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-Unforgiveness

What exactly is unforgiveness?

Unforgiveness is the inability to completely forgive someone that hurt you, offended you, damaged you, disregarded you, and caused you pain so deep that you feel that you simply just cannot forgive them. Every one of us struggles with the best way to handle those kinds of situations where all you want to do is make that person pay no matter what the cost!

What we fail to fully realize is that when you are harboring those negative emotions like unforgiveness, bitterness, and animosity; what you are doing is harming yourself more than you anyone else. One of the most dangerous things that unforgiveness can lead to is spiritual oppression. When you become offended by something someone did, the enemy will take full advantage of the situation by planting negative thoughts in your mind to bring to your remembrance what he or she did to you.

Demons know that if you form unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, resentment, or animosity in your heart it can give them legal access to create strongholds in your life. We have to remember that they form their mischief by laws, Psalm 94:20 is clear, “Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You?” You holding on to an offense is not worth the mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional consequences!

One of those consequences is your prayers being hindered. If the Lord is not clearly hearing what you are saying because of the unforgiveness in your heart it will deter your mountain from being moved. Mark 11:25 is clear as it states, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

We can clearly see in this passage of Scripture that Jesus is disclosing to us that when we pray to the Lord one of the first things that we need to do is forgive anyone for anything that they have done to us. This clears the pathway of communication to our heavenly Father, thus allowing our prayers to be heard.

How can we expect the mountains in our lives to move if we are still holding onto unforgiveness towards others? It is very important that we make it a daily practice to let go of all offenses, animosity, bitterness, unforgiveness, malice, evil speaking, etc. Those character traits will literally grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:31-32 details, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

Let’s take a look at some passages of Scripture that disclose to us how holding onto unforgiveness will hinder our mountain from being moved!

Matthew 18:34-35

“And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

A little background on what’s going on in these two verses of Scripture, this is a part of a parable that Jesus is explaining to Peter regarding an unforgiving servant. He owed his master ten thousand talents which was a lot of money at that time and begged him not to sell him, his wife, and his children to pay his debt. He just simply could not pay the money that he owed him, Matthew 18:24-25. The master of the servant felt compassion towards him therefore forgiving him of his debt, Matthew 18:27.

Instead of returning the favor to a fellow servant who owed him a fraction of what he owed his master, he threw him into prison as an alternative and refused to forgive him of his debt, Matthew 18:31. Now we come to Matthew 18:34, when the servant’s master found out about his wicked servant and the unforgiveness that he fostered in his heart, he delivered him over to the torturers.

Then Jesus makes it extremely plain when He states, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses,” Matthew 18:35. In other words what the Lord is saying is if we fail to forgive our brothers and sisters their trespasses, our Heavenly Father will deliver us over to the tormentor (Satan and his kingdom). That is how dangerous hanging on to unforgiveness truly is!

Our disobedience is what opens the door to the enemy, allowing him the legal right to wreak havoc in our lives. This includes making sure that our mountains will not move, but instead they will grow larger. You best believe that the devil will take full advantage of your vulnerable moments, ensuring that he applies pressure to them!

The will of God is for us to forgive others as He forgave us, Ephesians 4:32. It is scattered throughout the Bible in so many different areas that there really is no way of getting around it. I know there are some things that people do to you that are so painful that you find it so difficult to forgive them. You feel like they don’t deserve your forgiveness.

The thing is we didn’t deserve the Lord’s forgiveness of our sins, yet he forgave us for every wicked, nasty, and vile thing that we have even done. If we want the mountains in our life to move, we have to make sure that our level of faith is fully intact. Unforgiveness will clog the pipeline that is directly connected to your faith, creating doubt!

He expects us to extend the same grace to others. The act of forgiveness is such a powerful thing, and you are the one that will benefit the most when you let that heavy burden go. It is not worth the door that will be opened up to the enemy to come in and take residence because he will.

Let’s take a look at two other verses of Scripture pertaining to unforgiveness.

Hebrews 12:14-15

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

Here we can see that the writer of Hebrews is disclosing some crucial information pertaining to our mountains being moved. The Lord is making it known that He wants us to pursue peace with all people and the word “peace” being used is the Greek word “eirēnē” which means: peace between two individuals, harmony, concord.

Then we see what happens when we do not obey these instructions, we risk the chance of allowing a root of bitterness to spring up. The words “of bitterness” being used is the Greek word “pikria” which means: extreme wickedness. If you can think back to the times when you had unforgiveness in your heart towards another person, the most wicked and nasty actions came right out of you!

How can we expect our mountains to move when our pipeline of faith is congested with bitterness, wrath, anger, unforgiveness, and malice? Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, Romans 10:17. It will be extremely difficult to hear the Lord’s Words which build your faith if you have such evilness in your heart.

Now let’s take a look at the word “root” in the passages of Scripture out of the book of Hebrews. It is the Greek word “rhiza” which means: Spoken of one who has but a superficial experience of divine truth but has not permitted it to make its way into the inmost recesses of his soul. Think of that!

The Lord is basically telling us that bitterness creates such a barrier in our hearts that it prevents His Words from marinating in our souls (mind, will, and emotions). That is why allowing a root of bitterness to form is so dangerous! The mountains (obstacles) in our lives will not be torn down if we are walking in blatant disobedience.

This gives the devil and his demonic kingdom the legal right to create chaos in our lives. So instead of your struggles diminishing and being dealt with, they will intensify because of the barrier created between our prayers and the Lord from hearing them. Matthew 6:14 is very clear, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Then we see what happens when we fail to forgive, Matthew 6:15 details, “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” If the Lord does not forgive us of the sins that we have committed, where does that leave us?

It leaves the door wide open for the enemy to come against us in the areas that we are most vulnerable. So, that mountain that you have been commanding to move and get out of the way just became Mount Everest. We can never forget that the devil knows the Word of God better than most Christians. He can and will use it against you, if you let him!

Conclusion:

Unforgiveness is one of the most common ways that will hinder our mountain from being moved. Faith is what is activated when we speak to our obstacles and command them to get out of the way! How can we have the amount of faith needed to overcome some of the most difficult circumstances if we have such unfavorable characteristics in our hearts?

Remember harboring unforgiveness towards others will hinder your prayers. So, if you are asking the Lord to help you move the mountain that is currently standing in your way, it may be difficult for God to answer those petitions. One thing that we need to realize is that unforgiveness will always hurt us more than anyone else!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other current blogs:

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-You walk by Sight and not by Faith

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-You Speak Words of Defeat

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-You aren’t Speaking to it!

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-Your mountain i5 Magnified

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-You Doubt God’s Will

Why Your Mountain Won’t Move-What is a “Mountain”

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

Below are some books that I have personally read that I recommend to help you get set free from the enemy and his devices. Each one provides you with warfare practices that you can apply to your daily life. Just click on the Link below the book and it will lead you straight to it. You will not be disappointed!