Forgive Us

As we continue to study Jesus’ model prayer, we come to the line, “and forgive us our debts.”  It’s important to remember that this prayer is for believers who have already been forgiven and declared not guilty and righteous…this isn’t a prayer to God as Judge; rather, it is a prayer to God as our Father.

We are in constant need to ‘fellowship adjustments.’  There are times when everything isn’t right in the family and fellowship needs to be restored.  When we pray according to Jesus’ model we are praying for body, soul, and spirit; we are asking for past, present, and future needs; we are seeking him for physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  Not one area of our life is left out of these three requests.  But let’s focus on this one—forgive us our debts.

When you ask for daily bread you will satisfy your appetite, but forgiveness satisfies your conscience.  Daily bread allows us to live comfortably, but forgiveness allows us to die comfortably.  (Thomas Watson)

The word “debt” is one of five Greek Words for sin.  This particular one has to do with failure to pay what is due…it can be both a moral and spiritual debt.  When we sin, we owe a debt to God.

To ask God to forgive is to ask Him to hurl away our debt from His presence; it is to ask Him to put it away; it is to ask Him to take His ledger book and to cross out the debt with the red blood of Jesus and to write “paid in full” upon it!  Forgiveness is a pure act of God’s free grace, and it is only through the blood of Jesus.  

Keep short accounts…if you sin, stop and ask God to forgive you.  Don’t let the debt linger…settle it as soon as the Spirit reveals it to you.  Prayer should always involve asking God to show you any sin that lingers deep in your heart and to confess it as sin and then to turn away from it as you receive His forgiveness.