Unforgiveness – Matthew 6:9-15

9    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10   Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 11   Give us this day our daily bread. 12   And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13   And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14   For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15   But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Example

Louis XII of France, before coming to power, had been cast into prison and kept in chains. But the real story is found in how he treated his enemies after he ascended to the throne. When he later became king, he was urged by his closest friends and aids to seek revenge on his enemies, but he refused. Instead, he prepared a scroll on which he listed all who had perpetrated crimes against him. Behind every man’s name he placed a cross in red ink. When the guilty heard about this, they feared for their lives and fled. Then the king explained.” The cross which I drew beside each name was not a sign of punishment, but a pledge of forgiveness extended for the sake of the crucified Savior, who upon His cross forgave His enemies and prayed for them.

Lesson

It could have been easy for Louis XII to have let his flesh harbor an unforgiving spirit, but he looked to the cross instead. It made all the difference in the world for those accused men, and for the heart and spirit of the king as well.

I. THE BLESSING OF FORGIVENESS

1. What can happen to somebody who finds no forgiveness (II Cor.2:7)?
2. The blessing of God’s forgiveness can go well beyond the individual.
3. Read Philemon 15:18. Notice how Paul spells out what Philemon should do in forgiving his runaway slave, Onesimus

II.                TURNING A NEGATIVE INTO A POSITIVE

1. Sometimes we need to remember this fact in order to forgive others (Luke23:34).
2. Forgiveness of others should be a reflection of our own forgiveness (Colossians1:14).
3. How often are we to forgive others (Matthew18:21-22)? What do you suppose Christ meant by these particular numbers?

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:9-15)
According to the Bible I must forgive others or the Father will not forgive me. Having an unforgiving heart blocks my prayers to be heard by God and I want to experience Him daily..then I must forgive.
They say forgiveness is one of the most important issues we Christians can ever encounter..we are all sinners and we are separated from God because of our sin. Forgiveness is the heart of God’s plan for us..and it is our hope to be reunited with Him. We know this and would always share this to every people that we bring to a close encounter with God.

But how do we really begin to forgive someone who caused our family so much pain and turmoil?
During my childhood days, I would resent my father for I am a battered child. I came from a broken family and didn’t experienced having a father in authority over my life. So growing up, I would always struggle in submission, in trust, in obedience and in love. God dealt with me in a loving way that He allowed me to go circumstances where I myself would need and ask for His forgiveness, in order for me to forgive. I cannot do it on my own..only by His grace..I am fortunate that God is a forgiving God. We must look to Him to help us forgive others.

God knows best. Jesus Christ sacrificed His Body and Blood for the sins of the world! That’s why God forgives. God forgave me because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God forgave you because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God forgave you and me because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ…and will constantly forgive whenever we ask for forgiveness. We don’t have to forgive others to receive God’s forgiveness. We already have it. We do not and cannot lose the forgiveness God has given us. We are under His grace and we just have to be obedient to His teachings.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Colossians 3:13-14

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:31-32

This is how and why we should forgive those who have wronged us..be it a new acquaintance, a friend, a family, your loved one, your leader. We can be easily offended by others at times but it’s difficult if you are harboring bitterness, rage and anger in your heart. God wants us to “get rid of all that” because He knows it will free us..free our heart and mind to truly worship and enjoy His presence. Forgiving others is one of the greatest examples of the reality of God’s Life in us. Forgiving others also frees us to know the fullness of God’s Love and Grace; to experience all that God has for us in this life.

So what are we waiting for..cry out to God to always have that forgiving heart and live a free man..

Mark 11:25
And whenever you make a prayer,
let there be forgiveness in your hearts, if you have
anything against anyone; so that you may have forgiveness
for your sins from your Father who is in heaven.

By Noemi Lyn Arda-boyles· Friday, July 30, 2010

“9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. 
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread, 
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.” 

Matthew 6:9-15

This is The Lords Prayer.  There are countless prayers in the bible, but in Matthew 6 it literally says, “pray like this”.  It gives us a clear picture of what intimate prayer looks like.   When we break it down it looks like this 1. Praise Him 2. Repent 3. Ask or request 4. Yield

Praise Him.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Okay, let’s be honest… nobody really speaks like this anymore.  When is the last time you heard someone say hallowed in every day conversation?  When Matthew says “Pray then like this” he doesn’t literally mean say this word for word.  No.  Notice the word like.  We are to pray like this.  Like I mentioned last Monday, God is our Father.  We don’t need to impress Him with our fancy wording and elaborate prayers.  Mark Driscoll gave a sermon on prayer and said his son prays perfectly when he says, “God, you rule”.  God doesn’t care how we say that he “rules”, but rather the fact that our hearts acknowledge His power and beauty.  And from this recognition comes praise.  He wants us to come to Him with an authentic heart and realize He is worthy of all our praise. 

Pause.

 Let’s look for a second at why He’s worthy of all our praise.  It seems so simple, but I love being reminded of how awesome He is.  He created the entire universe in 6 days without lifting a finger.

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:11

The earth is a speck compared to the universe, and we don’t even know where the universe ends.  He chose to create us, knowing we would sin against Him.  He chooses to love each and every one of us.

“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” Jeremiah 31:3

 He sent His only Son to live a perfect life and take the weight of our sin upon His shoulders so we can have life and spend eternity with Him instead of eternity in hell.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.

And we deserve NONE of this.  Wow…Definitely worthy of my praise.

Play.

“Give us this day our daily bread” By asking for our daily bread, it means we need to acknowledge that everything comes from our Father.  Nothing we have is our own, but it is a gift from God.

“The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts” Haggai 2:8

Repent.

 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”  Repent.  This is a tough one and it’s left out of a lot of prayers.  The important thing to remember is that repenting isn’t God trying to guilt us into coming to Him with our sins.  He knows EVERY sin we’ve committed and EVERY sin we will commit.  When we truly recognize how big, awesome, beautiful, merciful, powerful, amazing God is we recognize how sinful, small, imperfect, powerless we are.  Like I said, it’s not supposed to make us feel bad about ourselves or guilty, but it makes us fall in love with God so much more because He chooses to love us even when we have nothing to give back to Him.  And it’s because of this free gift that we want to glorify Him.  When this is truly the desire of our hearts, we will come to Him and repent. The fist part is admitting your sin.  The more difficult part is having a genuine heart that wants to resist sin in order to glorify God with our life.  Repentance is coming to God with an authentic heart that is admitting we need his help to resist temptation because we want our lives to glorify Him.

“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Luke 15:10

“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Matthew 4:17

Ask.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  Lastly, we need to ask God for things.  Number one, we need to pray that’s God’s will is done.  But this doesn’t mean we can’t ask God for things. He’s our Dad.  There is no harm in making a request.  I mentioned before that he’d either say yes, maybe, or no.   He wants to help us when we are in need.  We need to surrender and realize we are not in control, but God is.  It’s important that we continually pray that God prepares our hearts for the struggles ahead.  That way when they do come, we are quick to run to Him.  And we can’t always expect God to say yes to us. Jesus said

“Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour” John 12:27

Even Jesus asked the Father for things, and He said no.  For Jesus was sent to die so you and I may have life.  The worst thing that will happen if we ask God for something is that he’ll say no.  He’s not going to laugh and point and tell us how silly we are.  He wants us to go to Him with everything.  If we need strength in a time of trouble, ask. If we want a parking place close to the front, ask.  If we want to pass an exam, ask. Why not? He is our Father, and if He doesn’t want it to be so he’ll say no.  But with this we need to remember to not become greedy.  And with whatever He gives us, we should glorify Him.  We’ve probably all heard that there is nothing too big for God.  But we also need to remember there is nothing too small for Him. 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Yield.

 “What we pray for is a sign of what our hearts are longing for”- Josh Kirstine.  We need to make sure we truly recognize that God is our ultimate treasure so we are not lost when our earthly treasures go away.  “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We can praise, and repent, and request, but at the core of our hearts we need to trust that our lives are in our Father’s hands.  We need to trust that God’s will is what we need, and it may not be our will.  We need to yield to the will of our Father and trust that whatever happens, God’s will is perfect and it is to bring Him glory.

“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” Luke 22:42

We are praying to God the Father, through the Son, by the Holy spirit. Keep in mind that each prayer doesn’t have to be said in this order and it doesn’t have to include everything each time we pray.  It’s a guideline as to what we need to be praying about all day in never ceasing communication with Him.  PRAY.

My pastor, Josh Kirstine, did a 4-week series on prayer.  So if this 20 minute devotional brings up more questions you have, I encourage you to check out his pod cast in The Great Room Community.

To Him be the glory,

Torrie

Dear God,

Wow.  You are so beautiful and I am so unworthy of your mercy.  Thank you for choosing to love me every day even when I turn my back on you.  I pray you give us strength to bring you glory in whatever we do through this week.  I pray we resist temptation and instead run to you.  I pray that your will is done in our lives and we surrender to you.

Amen

For most Christians, it is the most familiar passage of scripture, the one part that nearly all of us have memorized – Matthew 6:9-15, commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer,” the “Our Father,” or “The Prayer that Jesus Taught Us.” Despite our familiarity, despite the fact that this prayer is said in Churches every Sunday, despite the fact that it is prayer in small groups, prayer meetings, in the morning when we rise and at night as we lay down to go to sleep – despite all this, I would hazard to guess that the vast majority don’t realize what we are really saying. Taking this prayer apart line by line, paying close attention to Jesus’ words here, reveals just how deep this revolution is that Jesus is stirring up.

We start at the very beginning, “Our Father.” The first emphasis is on the “our,” the plural possessive. The first word in the prayer reveals first of all the communal nature of the prayer, that we come to God as a people, in a group, with others. This is no individual, between “me” and God prayer. Jesus’ “our” places us alongside everyone else in our relationship to God, making our faith about “us,” not about “me.”

And the title Jesus chooses here for God is literally “Abba,” closer in many ways to “Dad” or “Daddy” then “Father.” What it denotes is a level of intimacy and closeness to God, but it is an intimacy that is still rooted in authority—the relationship is child to parent, not sister to sister or brother or brother. Such a relationship implies God’s claim on us, and our accountability to God, albeit a God who is intimately involved in and aware of his/her responsibility to us as well.

Moreover, perhaps the most important thing about the emphasis on “Our Father” is not the relationship it defines between us and God, but rather the relationship it defines between us and other people, between me and all of these other human beings I come into contact with everyday. Approaching God as “Our Father” implies that all of us, every human being, that we are brothers and sister to one another, family; and therefore, each human being also has a claim on us and we a claim on them. Despite the forces of society and culture and creed that endeavor to separate and divide us, we are, under this Parent God, brothers and sisters to one another, responsible for each other, a reconstituted family. This is especially true for those of us who claim discipleship to Jesus, membership in the Church, but also to all people everywhere, by virtue of God’s “parenting” of them too. The implications that such an insight—that we are truly brothers and sisters, one family—in terms of our lifestyles, our political participation, our economic decision-making, and more are astounding. If we are truly brothers and sisters, then imagine how much we must change in how we see those whom our country is killing in wars or those who are in economic distress because of our nation’s policies? The implications of being “one family under God” are far-reaching and incredibly critical of the status quo.

In verse 10, we read: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In many ways, the notion of “kingdom” is anachronistic in our world. The time of nations ruled by monarchies is pretty much over. So we need to get behind the reality of what the word kingdom is all about. Kingdom refers to a political reality in the world; a kingdom is a people or place over which another has authority or reign. In praying this prayer, after acknowledging God’s intimacy to us as “Father” and our relationship to one another as family, we then acknowledge our hope and longing for God’s authority over this world, this reality here and now, as God rules in that other reality we call “heaven.” But if we are calling for God’s rule here on earth now, then we are also tacitly acknowledging the illegitimacy of any other “kingdom” or rule on earth. At the very least, we are implying that the kingdoms of this world (the authorities, the political system, the governments) are NOT equivalent to God’s kingdom and that we long for them to be replaced by God’s kingdom. Again, the implications for us and for our way of being in the world—not just as individuals or as the church but as states and nations—are revolutionary. Our prayer pledges us to God’s kingdom, not whatever nation we live in or have citizenship in. We are saying, in fact, that we are citizens of the kingdom of God FIRST, not of the United States, or England, or Brazil, or China—that our first loyalty is to God’s kingdom, indeed to God, not to our political leaders or systems or nation. And most poignantly, we are praying that God’s will be done—not the will of our country or elected officials, not our national interest or self-interest be done. Praying that God’s will be done implies that we already are aware how little of God’s will is done, and so we must pray for it, invite it, yearn for it and be about the business of making it happen here, now, for the benefit of our entire, reconstituted family, the human family.

Then we pray that God gives us “our daily bread.” This verse conjures up for us the story of the Exodus, of the Israelites recently freed from Egypt finding the manna in the wilderness. We remember the prescriptions about the manna: Take only what you and your family need for TODAY. And those who took more than they needed for one day found it turned wormy and rotten. This is again a radical understanding of what type of security we ask God for. We do not pray for perceived needs or needs that we may have a week from now or a year from now or for that time after we retire in 20, 30, 40 years. Our security is in our God who takes care of us for today. And if we take only what we need for today, we find, like the early Israelites wandering in the desert, that there is ENOUGH for everybody; No one is hungry, no one dies of starvation, everyone gets what they need when each of us only take what we need for today. This is a radically contrary ethic, one that believes there is enough as long as some of us don’t take too much; and that the reason we find that there isn’t enough is because some in our world are taking more than they could ever need. In essence, when we take more than we need for today, we are stealing from others and contributing to a system where some have way too much and others die because they cannot even get what they need for today. Praying for daily bread is an indictment of an entire system predicated on manufacturing “needs” and encouraging us to get as much as we can as quick as we can before someone else takes it from us. An ethic based on God’s provision of daily bread where there is enough for everyone would be a drastic change in the way our society works now.

This section, which is at the center and the heart of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (both thematically and structurally), ends with two reminders about forgiveness—first in verse 12 and then again in 14 and 15. Jesus seems to be telling us just how central forgiveness should be to humanity. This emphasis on forgiveness should give us pause, especially because Jesus intimates that our own forgiveness is dependent on our willingness to practice forgiveness toward others. This is no simple “please forgive me God” and we find ourselves forgiven. It is, in fact, a quid pro quo: God will forgive us ONLY if we forgive others. And again the reality of what we are praying should strike us to the heart. Whether as individuals or churches or communities or nations, we can only be assured that our own mistakes are forgiven if we forgive the mistakes of another. It is an ethic of reconciliation based on reciprocity, rooted in the basic reality that our relationships to other human beings are reflective of our relationship to God.

So when we pray this prayer, do we really have any understanding of what it is that we are praying? And if we do, do our lives give testimony to what it is that we are really praying here? If the millions of Christians who prayed the “Our Father” every day really did understand and believe this prayer, our world and our relationship would look radically different I think.

-John