Pray Like This #3
Notes
Transcript
Introduction & Review
Introduction & Review
<<READ vv7-15>>
Week 3 of the Lord’s Prayer, the center of the center of the center of the Sermon on the Mount. Throughout SM (chs 5-7), themes found here in the prayer.
If I were telling you how to get from my childhood hometown of Longview to Navasota, TX, I’d tell you that the best route is going to take you through Davy Crockett National Forest. Google is going to tell you the fastest route, but it’s only going to save you a few minutes, and you’re better off taking the scenic route. Don’t take 31 out of town. Take State Highway 42 south till it merges with 259, and grab 79 on the way out of Henderson. Eventually, you want to get to 21 in Alto. That will take you right past the Caddo Burial Mounds. Now, once you cross the Neches River, you’ll be in Davy Crockett National Forest. Obviously, Crockett Texas is the next town you’ll find, but unless you need a pit stop, it’s not much - it doesn’t even save you any time to go on the bypass, so you can stay on 21 straight through. After Madisonville, grab 90 and it will take you straight to Navasota.
Radically God-centered, Kingdom-focused prayer
Take US 259 out of town, and just follow it South through Henderson and Mt Enterprise until it meets US 59 north of Nacogdoches. 59 will take you around Lufkin and straight to Houston. But when you get to Lufkin, make sure you’re watching for the
Davy Crockett National Forest is part of the Piney Woods. The loblolly pines are tall and straight, and highway 21 gently winds through the forest. The pines are like sentinels on either side of the highway, standing in formation all the way through. They’re not like the cone-shaped pines, and firs, and spruces anywhere else I’ve seen. They’re strange, sparse, hundred-foot bottle brushes with a great straight trunk. At maturity, there are no branches for the bottom two thirds of the tree, so they leave plenty of room for shorter trees and underbrush.
“Grab US 259 south out of town. It’ll take you through Henderson and
Now relates to 5:38-48 - spiritual needs. If we’re going to face who 5:39 calls “the one who is evil,” who is going to strike us, and sue us, and force us to carry their kit, and if we’re supposed to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, to be sons and daughters of our Father who is in heaven, how should we pray when we consider our own sin, and temptations, and the evil one who fights against us?
So on your trip to Navasota, home of the ranch where Chuck Norris lived for many years, what would you think I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss? Something something pine trees. Why? Because I didn’t stop to tell you about anything else. But I mentioned the forest, and then I told you about it along the way, and then I came back to it at the end.
ILLUST:
The only part of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus immediately explains is verse 12. Why?
ILLUST:
Q. How should Kingdom People pray about spiritual needs?
I. We should seek PARDON (12, 14-15)
I. We should seek PARDON (12, 14-15)
<<READ 12>>
Explain:
"Forgive” - αφιημι - a word that means “release” or “let go.” <<NOTE 5:40>>
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
To forgive is to release a debt. In the case of our sins, we’re talking about a debt we could never repay.
And
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
But do you notice that in both cases, Jesus is using this word to describe actions related to peacemaking, and reconciliation of relationships that have broken down? In 5:24, Jesus says that if you’re at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave - that’s our word - leave your gift and go be reconciled. And in v40, If anyone would sue and take your tunic, leave him your cloak.
But in 6:12, the word carries a special meaning. To forgive is to release a debt. This is why Jesus frames this part of the prayer in terms of debt. You’ve probably heard this part of the Lord’s Prayer several different ways. In churches where they say the Lord’s Prayer every week as part of their liturgy, it comes in three flavors:
Forgive us our debts… forgive us our sins… forgive us our trespasses. What’s the difference? Well, the simple answer is that “trespasses” comes from verses 14-15, and “sins” comes from a completely different time Jesus taught His disciples to pray, in , and on that different occasion, He gave a much shorter prayer, and on that occasion He said “sins” instead of “debts.”
But the word “debts” here is important, because it helps us make sense of forgiveness.
The writers of the OT show us that the situation of sinners before the Holy God is absolutely hopeless unless God forgives.
The OT confronts us with stark truth:
The OT confronts the self-righteous religion of fallen humanity and counters it with stark truth:
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
ps 130:
The is - no one could stand. It’s not that some of us wouldn’t make it, or that some of us would. If God counts our sins against us, the judgment against us will be guilty.
But verse 4 goes on
4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
But in , David writes,
And in , David writes,
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Psalm 32:1-2
So how does forgiveness happen? He does mark our iniquities. He does know. The debt that we owe because of our sins is one we can’t pay.
The principle at work in forgiveness is that of God canceling a debt. God choosing to wipe the slate clean. When says “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” But the problem is that He does mark them. He does know. The debt that we owe because of our sins is one we can’t pay. So our text today says, “Forgive us our debts.”
On what foundation will we ask God to forgive us?
How? On what foundation will we ask God to forgive us?
Early in our Sermon on the Mount series, I said we should remember that the Beatitudes give context to the entire teaching. Blessed are the poor in spirit who come to God knowing their only hope is that another has paid their debt, who mourn for sin, the meek who trust in the LORD, who hunger and thirst for a righteousness that they know they lack. By grace and by no merit of their own, they are blessed. They are promised God’s favor and saving presence. These are Kingdom People, people who belong to Jesus.
Our text today says, “Forgive us our debts.”
Paul says
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
col 2.13-
Our record of debt can be canceled only by Jesus dying a substitutionary death for us.
In our very first message from the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven,” we said it this way: Our only hope is that another has paid our debt.
Paul says we were dead in our trespasses.
The next phrase in verse 12 sometimes throws people for a loop. “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors?”
Some people think this means that we are asking God only to forgive in the same manner and to the same extent that we have already forgiven others. If our forgiveness is imperfect, and evolving, are we asking God to give imperfect forgiveness to us?
Other people read this and think it means that my forgiveness is the basis of God’s forgiveness, like Jesus paid it all… except He left this one piece off, and you have to finish it.
Let me tell you, brothers and sisters: That is no prescription for souls in need of a perfect redemption. It’s a recipe for universal condemnation. If God’s forgiveness is imperfect, then your soul is in peril. If there is any part of our sin that we must pay for in order to stand righteous before God, then we are absolutely lost. Every one of us.
So what is being said here?
When the poor in spirit come before the Lord,
Early in our Sermon on the Mount series, I said we should remember that the Beatitudes give context to the entire teaching. Blessed are the poor in spirit who come to God knowing their only open is that another has paid their debt, who mourn for sin, the meek who trust in the LORD, who hunger and thirst for a righteousness that they know they lack. By grace and by no merit of their own, they are blessed. They are promised God’s favor and saving presence. These are Kingdom People, people who belong to Jesus.
Their debt is canceled by the death of Jesus. Their hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied not by their own works, but by the righteousness of God that is given to them as a gift - credited to their account.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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But look back at verse 12. “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.”
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Does this mean I’m asking God to forgive me as imperfectly as I forgive others, or that my forgiveness causes God to forgive me?
If so, it’s a recipe for universal condemnation. If God’s forgiveness is imperfect, then your soul is in peril. If there is any part of our sin that we must pay for in order to stand righteous before God, then we are absolutely lost. Every one of us.
The next phrase in verse 12 sometimes throws people for a loop. “Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors?”
Some people think this means that we are asking God only to forgive in the same manner and to the same extent that we have already forgiven others. If our forgiveness is imperfect, and evolving, are we asking God to give imperfect forgiveness to us?
Other people read this and think it means that my forgiveness is the basis of God’s forgiveness, like Jesus paid it all… except He left this one piece off, and you have to finish it.
Let me tell you, brothers and sisters: That is no prescription for souls in need of a perfect redemption. It’s a recipe for universal condemnation. If God’s forgiveness is imperfect, then your soul is in peril. If there is any part of our sin that we must pay for in order to stand righteous before God, then we are absolutely lost. Every one of us.
But that is not what Jesus is teaching us about forgiveness.
When we take the Gospel of Matthew as a whole, we see that our forgiveness has a cause, a condition, and a confirmation.
The cause is clear in Matthew 26:28
It might be helpful to look at a few texts in Matthew and put them together:
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
There’s nothing other than the blood of Jesus that can pay for our sins or cancel our debt. But the blood of Jesus is not applied to every human being without exception.
The condition or occasion of our forgiveness is faith in Jesus Christ.
The source, foundation, cause, and basis of our forgiveness is the death of Jesus on our behalf.
mat
2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
The occasion and condition of our forgiveness is faith in Jesus Christ.
2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And the confirmation that we have been saved - the demonstration of our forgiveness is our own commitment to forgive.
The demonstration and proof of our forgiveness is our own commitment to forgive.
Look at how Jesus clarifies the matter in verses 14-15
Look at how Jesus clarifies the matter in verses 14-15
If Jesus had intended us to pray “Forgive us because we have also forgiven,” or if he had meant “Forgive us exactly as we have also forgiven,” he would have said that. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” simply creates a point of comparison.
The Greek word translated “as” takes two things and puts them side-by-side to compare them. It can also be translated “like.” It shows up in the Greek translation of
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
verses 14-15
God is detailing His promise to Abram - soon to be Abraham. “offspring as the dust” doesn’t mean his kids will be exactly like dust. There’s one point of comparison: Dust is so numerous that you can’t count it. In , Jesus calls us to pray for forgiveness in ways that remind us of what we are called to be, as well.
This is the only part of the Lord’s Prayer that has an immediate explanation - verses 14-15
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
There are genuine and false believers, but if we are children of our Father in heaven, we will be committed to forgive, as we have been forgiven. But no one who claims to be a child of God by faith, but refuses to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus actually belongs to Him.
John Stott says it this way:
John Stott says it this way:
“God only forgives the penitent and … one of the chief evidences of true penitence is a forgiving spirit. once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offence against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling. If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offences of others, it proves that we have minimized our own.”
It helps to look at a parable Jesus tells later in Matthew:
It helps to look at a parable Jesus tells later in Matthew:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
In the parable, the cause of the King’s forgiveness is pity. Mercy. It comes from him, not from the servant. But the King’s incredible mercy should have transformed him. In fact, the debt he owed - ten thousand talents - was a practically unfathomable amount, the equivalent of millions and millions of dollars. He literally never could have paid it off. But when his debt was forgiven, instead of being a changed man, he goes and attacks another servant who owed him a hundred denarii. The wicked servant was just forgiven 6 hundred thousand times more than his fellow servant owed him. His refusal to forgive confirmed that the King’s forgiveness meant nothing to him.
should have changed the servant
This is not out of
John Stott says it this way:
No one who claims to be a Christian but hates his brother or sister, who absolutely refuses to forgive, is actually a Christian at all.
“God only forgives the [repentant] and … one of the chief evidences of true [repentance] is a forgiving spirit. once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offence against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling. If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offences of others, it proves that we have minimized our own.”
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
But true sons and daughters of God - true Kingdom People - recognize the magnitude of God’s mercy towards them, and it changes them forever.
No one who claims to be a Christian but hates his brother or sister, who absolutely refuses to forgive, is actually a Christian at all.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
True sons and daughters of God - true Kingdom People - recognize the magnitude of God’s mercy towards them and it changes them forever.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Application: What’s the practical application of this? Should we pray for forgiveness regularly? If you’ve been rescued by Jesus, when you say, “Forgive us our debts,” it’s not because your sins put you back in the red with God. You can’t undo His atoning death for you. It’s because in the present, as we continually fall to temptation, we need to experience His forgiveness today.
ILLUST: The Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, spent his early adulthood in a monastery, desperately trying to find the peace of God, but his view of God was terribly twisted by the medieval Catholic theologians. He knew God was a Judge, and he could find no peace, because he knew he deserved to be judged. He would spend hours confessing his sins, so terrified he would miss one. He’d attempt to wipe out the debt by punishing himself, sleeping on the cold stone floor of the monastery tower without a blanket.
One day, while reading the book of Romans, he read the words,
Another version of the same error comes in the idea that you get into salvation by grace, but then your works keep you saved, and when you backslide, your
The other mistake is that you can be a real Christian, but then your sins
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
It was there that Luther began to understand the Gospel: Forgiveness and the righteousness of God is a gift for those who believe. All the confessions, for hours at a time, had been based on the idea that his debts could not be forgiven if he failed to confess them all. But after his conversion, he understood that the finished work of Jesus Christ on his behalf was credited to his account and the record of debt was canceled completely. But he didn’t stop praying "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Instead, he finally understood why he prayed for forgiveness.
To pray, “Forgive us our debts” is to say, “Today, I’m still struggling against sin. Father, in faith I’m asking you to apply the finished work of Christ to me again today. Look with mercy on me. Fill me with the knowledge that in Christ I have been pardoned”
Do you need God to be merciful to you today? The answer is yes.
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”
I wonde
Do you need help to forgive? The answer is yes. The only thing that enables us to be merciful like our Father is to be reminded afresh of how much we have been forgiven.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
II. Second, we should pray for PROTECTION (13)
II. Second, we should pray for PROTECTION (13)
II. Protection (13)
II. Protection (13)
<<READ 13>>
Here we have the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, and we’re going to take this verse in two parts.
First, Jesus teaches us to call upon God to guide our steps. Lead us not into temptation. Jesus is the master of using just a few words to teach incredibly deep truths, and this one is no different. There’s actually three different ways to understand “Lead us not into temptation,” and all three are things we ought to pray for. The complexity comes from the fact that the word translated here as “temptation” has three important meanings - temptation, test, and tribulation.
First, we’re asking the Father not to permit us to fall into temptations to sin.
Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane <<STORY>>
41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Temptation is coming, and Jesus knows it, and instead of praying, the disciples fall asleep. When Judas arrives with the high priest’s guards to arrest Jesus, the disciples fall into temptation almost immediately. Peter responds with violence, the guards arrest Jesus, and all the disciples immediately flee. Peter and John later follow at a distance, and Peter then denies Jesus three times in the high priest’s courtyard.
Temptations are sure to come, Jesus says in . And they are sure to come for us. “Lead us not into temptation” is our prayer that God would hold us up, and keep us from falling when temptations arise.
Second, “Lead us not into temptation” is a request that God would not lead us into tests. A test is different from a temptation in a few respects. First of all, we know that God never tempts anyone to sin.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
To be tempted is to be enticed to sin. To be tested is to be given an opportunity to demonstrate obedience to God when obedience is difficult. A temptation seeks to undermine your faith; a test seeks to strengthen and refine it. God never tempts us, but He does test us. looks back on the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings of Israel and says
8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
The test that refines us is for our good. But the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation” also means “Don’t let us fall in the time of testing.”
The last meaning of the word is “tribulation.” “Lead us not into temptation” means “Don’t let us fall in Tribulation.” Jesus tells us in that there is a time coming before His return when
But our prayer is that the LORD would not lead us into the test
Explain: Verse 13 gives us two related petitions. The first one is, “And lead us not into temptation.” The
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
mat 24.9
Jesus tells his disciples and us that when persecution and tribulation falls upon us, to flee it, and to remain faithful. “Lead us not into temptation” means “Don’t let us fall in time of persecution and tribulation.”
So we have a single petition that asks the Father to protect us from temptation, to hold us up in testing, and to keep us faithful in tribulation. This is a request that the Father would keep us faithful in the midst of every kind of trial.
APPLICATION: I wonder if you’ve ever considered the fact that your perseverance isn’t ultimately in your hands. To remain faithful is a gift. So we should seek it.
I’ve watched men and women grow in their faith after great trials, and I’ve never seen one who thought it was their own doing.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
It is God who is able to lead us, to keep us from falling, to protect us in the time of trial, to keep us from temptation.
Jesus says in that He is the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
When we pray “Lead us not into temptation,” we are asking Him to do what He has promised to do.
Let’s look at the final part of verse 13 -
III. Third, we should call out for PRESERVATION (13)
III. Third, we should call out for PRESERVATION (13)
III. Rescue (13)
<<READ 13 again>>
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that there’s more than one layer of meaning here, too. The word “evil” here can either mean evil things or the evil one. And once again, we should pray for rescue from both.
In
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
And
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Paul points to the other meaning in
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
“Deliver us from evil” is a prayer of absolute dependence upon God for rescue.
Jesus ends the prayer here, and it’s worth taking a look back at the whole thing.
So look at verses 9-10 with me. Christ-shaped prayers are radically God-focused. His nature, His name, His Kingdom, His will. These are the most important things.
As we saw last week, our prayers for our own needs are in that context. And so is our call for forgiveness, for protection, and for rescue.
Our plea for forgiveness is rooted in the grace and mercy of God that takes merciless sinners and washes them clean, and transforms them into forgiving children.
Our plea for protection - “Lead us not into temptation” is rooted in the knowledge that our King is also our shepherd, who is able to keep us from stumbling, and no one can snatch us out of his hand.
Our plea for rescue - “Deliver us from evil” - is rooted in His goodness and saving purposes.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
The Lord’s Prayer - what Steve called the Model Prayer or you might call the Disciple’s Prayer - is radically God-centered from start to finish.
APPLY: And so when you pray, start with what you know about your Lord. Lift your requests to Him, knowing that He hears you and is able to deliver you. He knows what you need before you ask. So say those things to Him.
And remember the warning that Jesus gives us in verses 14-15 -
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Are you actively refusing to forgive someone today? It’s time to let it go. And if that’s too difficult, it’s time to ask for help. Do you think it’s a surprise to your heavenly Father that you can’t bring yourself to forgive? It’s no surprise to Him.
Conclusion & Gospel
Conclusion & Gospel
eph 1.7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
mat 26.26-28
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
james 2.13