Prepare
1. Begin with prayer asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart his love and care for you and ask him to teach you today as you look at his word.
2. Read Matthew 6:9-13 (3 times slowly)
3. Use a journal to reflect on the truths below
Devotional
Over the last week, these devotionals have pressed into prayer as something done under the Fatherhood of God, prayer as a longing for His kingdom and will on Earth, and prayer as the humbling act of depending on God for everything we have and need. Today, we’re look at the lines: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
As a child, I remember enjoying big faith in God’s ability rescue, save, and provide. Even when things were hard, I knew his presence and care for me. As I grew up and experienced the world, I “enjoyed” the pain of sin. The pain of wounding others and the pain of being wounded. Like a muscle tear deep within your shoulder, the chronic reality of sin fixed itself into every part of my life—every relationship. Angry at what was done to me in the past. Anxious about hurting others. Fearful of being exposed for who I am. Judgmental about what has been done to me and what I saw in others.
This is a lot to carry. It even exceeds our abilities. In fact, we weren’t created to carry this burden.
The Bible describes this pain with two haunting words: guilt and shame. Guilt: the weight of all you’ve done. Shame: the weight of what has been done to you. Guilt: the burden of proving yourself. Shame: the burden of hiding yourself.
Confessing We Need Forgiveness
When Jesus instructs us to pray this way, he’s teaching us to confess our need for forgiveness and our need for him to help us forgive.
Confession is the act of “saying the same thing as God” or naming reality. We grow in our love for God by being honest about who we are and how we live. We lower the facade and tell the truth: “I’ve wounded others,” “I’m hurt,” or “I’m afraid.”
This is how we bring our true selves before God. In fact, Jesus wasn’t too welcoming to the self-righteous and the hiding. Jesus says that he came for the sick in need of a doctor. The only pre-requisite for joining Jesus’ entourage was to be honest with who you were: a human tainted by sin. Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus forgave sinners.
Ironically, Christian communities have become hiding places for sinners to pretend they don’t need Jesus. But we cannot grow in our love for God (with all our hearts, minds, strength), until we tell the truth about our hearts, minds, and strength. This is the beginning of transformation: acknowledging our need for forgiveness.
Abundant Life
One of the most life-giving things we can do is be forgiven and forgive. One of the easiest ways to crush your soul is to withhold forgiveness or refuse to seek it.
We need the power of the Spirit of God for this, which is why Jesus instructs us to pray. When we pray, we can look to our sin, we look to the sin against us, and we ask him for the treasure of forgiveness.
Good News: You are Forgiven
The life of Jesus was filled with these words: “You’re forgiven”. These words crossed his lips throughout his ministry. And they are spoken over us in every prayer. Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—his love—we are forgiven. This is life giving to our souls.
Journal and Pray
Spend time journaling about the pain of sin done by you and to you. Confess how you feel about that and what has happened to you. Ask for forgiveness. Celebrate his goodness. Make this journal a prayer.