"And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And He said to them, "When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’"
Good Morning beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ, I praise God for each and every one of you who have been moved to join us today. However, as we rejoice, let us not forget to pray for those who are caught up in the war going on against Christians, being attacked and even killed for their faith in Christ. We bear a significant responsibility, as their brothers and sisters, to stand with them in prayer and in action whenever the opportunity arises, a commitment that is deeply rooted in our understanding that we are a interconnected community of believers as the Body of Christ.
And, on that note, I do believe that we should direct our thoughts and attention toward the topic of prayer, because the Lord is not only concerned about the fact that we do engage in prayer, but more specifically, that we pray as He taught us to pray, highlighting the manner and spirit in which we pray, ensuring that our prayers are heartfelt and genuine. In James 4:3, he reminds us "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." If you're like me, you’ve probably run out of gas at least once, or maybe even several times. If you have I'm sure you've noticed, you won’t get very far driving around on fumes. An experience from which I quickly learned the value of making sure you have enough gas to get where you're going! I am convinced there are a lot of people who operate their spiritual lives on fumes, it’s an extremely powerless way to communicate with God. You can’t get far in your walk with God without a prayer life, yet there are many who trying to do just that because they think they can get away with it. If you choose to ignore your need to pray, it won’t be long until you’ll find yourself stranded on the side of the road of life, desperately seeking divine assistance! If we're being honest, many of us, at one time or another, have struggled when it comes to prayer, whether it's finding the right words, maintaining concentration, or even making the time amidst our hectic schedules.
The good news is, we’re not the only ones, even Jesus' disciples watched Him pray one day and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." I find it interesting, that as many times as they heard Him preach, they never asked Him how to preach, but they did ask Him how to pray. I'd like you to notice they didn't ask "Teach us a prayer," that's because this is not a prayer to be recited verbatim, this is a wonderful illustration on how to pray. To be fair, the rabbis in Jesus' day taught that God was so far way, so unapproachable, that no one could actually enter His presence except the high priest on the Day of Atonement. He was so Holy, so Righteous, that no one could really experience intimate fellowship with Him. Yet, when they heard Jesus pray, He approached Him, He did so without fear, and on a personal level, with overwhelming confidence, and there were no frightening displays of earth shaking thunder and lightning and smoke, along with the sound of the trumpet, which grew louder and louder, and the people trembled and stood at a distance as recorded in the book of Exodus chapter 19 on Mount Sinai.
Psalm 145:18-19 says "Yahweh is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will work out the desire of those who fear Him; He will hear their cry for help and He will save them." Prayer is not only about seeking God's blessing, but is more about aligning our desires with His will, and acknowledging and celebrating His goodness, His commandments, and our eagerness to obey them. Therefore, since prayer is so essential to our Christian life, I believe if we'll embrace what Jesus has to say it, it will be a life-changing experience for all of us, which is the nature of our next several messages, where we'll be examining the nature of prayer, the purpose of prayer, and the transformative power that prayer holds in our lives by truly engaging with God.
Let's pray before we begin.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we humbly thank You for Your Word. We are in awe of Your great Glory, often lost in the busyness of life, so we pray that You will seal these things to our own hearts and enable us to honor You in eager obedience. Help us to understand that true worship is not about us, it's about You. Lord, we humbly ask that You would work in every heart receiving this message and for that we’ll give You the praise, the gratitude and the glory. Help us to make our prayers life what You would have them to be as we submit our unselfish requests to You. Lord, You humbled Yourself to love us who were unworthy, help us to remember humble ourselves to show love to those around us, sacrificial, selfless, generous love. Because we know that any claim to love You that is not backed up by this kind of loving devotion to You and to Your people is a worthless lie. We ask and pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Today's Message: The Believer's Communication with God
Before we get into our message, detailing this pattern of prayer, I want to give you a basic definition of what prayer means.
Prayer is a believer’s basic communication with God who is our Father, through the authority of Jesus Christ and is assisted by the Holy Spirit. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Allow me to remind you that communication isn’t just talking, it's patiently listening to who were talking to. I've frequently been asked, "Why are we supposed to pray in the name of Jesus, is it to get what we want?" No, it's because Jesus is our access to the Father! He's the only way we can get to God. In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Because of what Jesus did on our behalf on the cross, we can now draw near to the Father with assurance and come boldly before the throne as the author of Hebrews 4:16 reminds us, "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
In Romans 8:26-27, Paul reminds us that when we don’t know what to pray our prayers are assisted by the Holy Spirit, Who knows exactly what we mean to say. "And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." How awesome is it that we can be assured we’re never wasting our time by praying, even when we don’t know what to say, because our heavenly interpreter, the Holy Spirit, is at hard work deciphering and organizing our confusion to clarify our prayers, even when all we can do is moan and groan. I don't know about you, but I'm extremely grateful for the Holy Spirit's divine intervention, I often find myself struggling to express what's in my heart, especially as I'm praying for others who are overwhelmed with heavy burdens.
Open your Bible, I trust you have your them with you, so that you can follow along with me as I read for our lesson in the continuation of our study of the Gospel of Luke, which I've entitled "The Believer's Communication with God." For our study today in Luke chapter 11, today we have the tremendous privilege of looking at verses one through four, often called The Lord's Prayer. Let's open our hearts and mind as embark on this fascinating study, The Believer's Communication with God.
"And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And He said to them, "When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’" Let me begin by clarifying that this is not the same incident that occurred much earlier during the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee, several months prior back in Matthew chapter 6. While Jesus is undoubtedly reiterating His previous instruction for prayer, these are not the same incident, this account is distinct as it occurs in Judea, several months later, it can however, be compared with Matthew's earlier account of Jesus' model for prayer that we can follow. It is the structure for all our praying, rather than a prayer to be mindlessly repeated verbatim, which I've often heard, that’s not the purpose of it.
I've been to a number of churches that sing The Lord’s Prayer occasionally, it's actually quite a beautiful reminder of the structure that Jesus taught His disciples and us on how to approach God in prayer where we can express our daily needs, seek forgiveness, and trust in God's provision and protection from temptation and evil, depending on His divine will to be done. I frequently employ the framework of the Lord's prayer as a way to structure my own personal prayer as a way to focus on God's glory and my utter dependence on Him for all aspects of my life, no matter how seemingly insignificant. It also encourages me to humbly recognize my own limitations in every aspect of my life, ensuring that I remain grateful for His continuous provision and ongoing care. We live in a day and age where Christians are consumed with pride and self-indulgence, we think God’s only desire for us is to be healthy, wealthy, prosperous, and personally fulfilled. We want to know what is going to do for us, we don't want anything to do with meekness and humility, we're not interested in that. When we don't fear God, we don't tremble at the Word of God, we instead want to be lifted up, exalted, even though the Bible speaks very clearly about arrogance and a proud heart. God resists the proud.
When you really are a man of Truth, of great integrity, willing to stand firm on the Word of God, a person of tremendous conviction, it doesn’t matter to you what anybody else thinks. You will quickly discover that when you challenge the established order that exists, threatening the self-righteous system of superficial faith, you are unmasking their hypocrisy and pride, and you will exasperate the religious leaders, because you're everything they are not; they don't know what to do with you, and they'll become irritated, but when you don't allow that change the way you feel, they'll soon start to resent you, and, so when you persist, their desire to eliminate you will grow, the same way the religious leaders of Christ's day wanted to get rid of Him, because He exposed them as exactly what they were; religious phonies, white washed tombs. And, even when they spoke the Truth, they were hypocrites because their intentions and motives were impure, and their hearts were corrupted. We are called to be the body of Christ, supporting and encouraging one another. Sharing our lives together in genuine fellowship with other believers, providing encouragement, spiritual accountability.
At the end of Romans 1, Paul reminds us that pride is the mark of man’s fallenness, his decent into a reprobate mind, where he's no longer able to discern right from wrong. Pride is an abomination, it has no place in the Christian's life, it is to be hated not pursued. Oh, we understand all of that biblically, that humility is a virtue and God resists the proud. Yet, in reality, we want to be somebody special, somebody who is recognized, we want the glory. Malachi 4:1 says "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame," says Yahweh of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." Jesus has repeatedly said, if you aren't willing to humble yourself, if you're not willing to lose everything, even your own life, you're not coming into His Kingdom.
Now, for our lesson today, we come to verses 1 through 4. Let's look at verse 1, "And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, that's very general statement, Luke doesn't tell us when or where this occurred, that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, just that after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples. There's little doubt they experienced this with Him all the time, but this time, they must have been watching and listening, perhaps paying closer attention as He was engaged in prayer, communing with His Father. Then, they mentioned the fact that John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray and they wanted to know the clear and concise structure for His prayer. I've heard many people exclaim they just don't have the time to pray, the reality is, they just refuse to make time to pray! The truth is, people find the time to do the things that are important to them, for everything else, they'll find an excuse.
Generally speaking, God hears everyone who earnestly comes to Him. However, He does not hear the prayers of the unrighteous! Psalm 66, tells us if there's wickedness in a man's heart, God does not hear. And John 9:31 says, "We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him." There are some people who have gone to the same church, they hear the sermon every week with very little spiritual growth in their life. I spoke to a man last week who said to me his faith had become stagnate. He's been going to the same church for years and years, I said repent. Listen, if you find yourself spending more time enjoying sinning than praying, the answer is simple. Repent! There are some who’ve been to a Bible college, graduating with a number of degrees, who have never been taught the role that sin plays in our prayer life, especially if your in ministry. The contemporary notion that no one's prayer is rejected by God, that He accepts everyone who approaches Him in prayer without any conditions is not supported in Scripture. It’s not as if this is new revelation, in fact, the Bible consistently instructs us to repent, and to turn away from sin as prerequisites in order to get right with God; otherwise, He will not respond to our prayers. In James chapter 4, James reminds us that "You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." Have you ignored the cries of poor? Proverbs 21:13 says, "He who shuts his ear to the outcry of the poor will himself also call and not be answered." Proverbs 28:9 says, "He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Therefore, the Bible consistently emphasizes the importance of being in a right relationship with God.
We need to know how to pray, because in Matthew 6, we see in verse 5 that true prayer had been replaced by hypocrisy when Jesus says, "When you pray, you’re not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full."
Verse 2, "And He said to them, "When you pray," let's stop there for a moment. Notice He said "When you pray" not IF you pray, it is assumed that you will pray. There is no set time, no particular posture prescribed. Then He says "say" it's the Greek verb "legó," carries several meanings, referring to an expression related to assembling or gathering words for individual expression, or set discourse, to utter, by implication, it means to break the silence. It is an amazing prayer, however, it is much more than just a prayer, it is structure on how to pray. "‘Father, hallowed be Your name." First, I'd like you to notice God is referred to as Father. It was unheard of for Jews to call God Father, in fact, nowhere in the Old Testament is there a prayer addressing Him as Father, that's why when Jesus called God Father, in John 5:18, the Jews wanted to kill Him "all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." In Matthew 7, Jesus says "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" God is seen as a loving Father Who eagerly responds to the needs of His children. In the synoptic gospels, Mathew, Mark and Luke, God is called "Father" 65 times, and in the Gospel of John, 100 times. Through the process of ongoing sanctification, a spiritual metamorphosis brought about by the new birth, as a believer is committed to obeying God's commands, they become more and more like their heavenly Father, ultimately resulting in their unique glorification. So, Jesus begins with addressing God, in a way the Jews never did, as His Father. We're not being presumptuous, God wants His children to call Him Father, to embrace this intimate familial relationship. Praying, is not a sign that a person really knows God, most Jews prayed 3 times a day, but Jesus called them hypocrites!
Then, other the hand, Jesus says "hallowed be Your name." It's the Greek verb "hagiazó," to be regarded as sacred, God keeps Himself holy. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the source of everything. I've frequently been asked, "If God is our heavenly Father, why then is this important?" Because we can tend to get pretty carried away with addressing God in such a personal and intimate way, calling Him "daddy" bringing Him down to our level, so this profound shift is really essential in understanding our relationship with God, by emphasizing a very important balance. While God is our heavenly Father, and we are invited to rush into His presence and pour out all the concerns of our hearts before Him because He loves us, He is also sacred, holy and set apart. In Exodus 9:14, God reminds us, "there is no one like Me in all the earth." In other words, this is to serve as a powerful reminder of His glory, His unparalleled majesty and the amount of reverence and veneration with humility that is required when we enter into God’s presence. This is where all prayer must begin, with the recognition of Who God is, at the very beginning of our prayers. Sadly, many pastors have chosen to transform the holy sanctuary of God into a lecture hall, even calling it an "auditorium."
God has made it so clear, He is utterly distinct, separated from us. In 1 Samuel 2:2, Hannah said, "There is no one holy like Yahweh; Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God." Yet, in contemporary Christianity, we have fashioned of god of our own liking, this diluted perception allows for a god who will not only tolerate, but celebrates our sin. Understanding God's holiness, and righteous standards is crucial to genuine worship, and it is required of all who enter His Holy kingdom, which present a impossible challenge for us, since we are all sinners and cannot attain the perfect holiness God requires on our own. However, God's plan of salvation solves this dilemma by imputing His perfect righteousness to every sinner who believes in Jesus Christ and obeys His teachings. In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." And, in Luke 6:46-49, He said "Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
In His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus said, "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world." The Divine Name of God of course refers to His character, His nature, His attributes, His personality, and His works. In 2 Timothy 2, at the end of verse 19, Paul writes "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to depart from wickedness." Nobody today uses the word "hallowed" any more, its become obsolete, it has been replaced with words like holy, sacred and consecrated. When we hallowed the name of God, we’re not making Him holy; He’s already is holy, we're merely affirming that we recognize His holiness. I believe it was Thomas Watson who said, "Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of God’s crown. It is the name by which He is known."
Then, at the end of verse 2 He says "Your kingdom come." Kingdom is the Greek noun "basileia." A kingdom always requires what? A King. The kingdom of God is the realm over which God exercises His authority, right? Believers are earnestly pleading with God for His kingdom to be made manifest fully, for His influence to permeate all areas of life, especially in those areas where it is excluded. It is a call to action for believers to live out their faith authentically and effectively, spreading His kingdom through both our words and our actions, so that His sovereign reign and rule would not just be evident in the lives of His children, but throughout the world. This is essentially then, is an appeal to God, asking Him to open the hearts of those around us to receive His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Thanks to Jesus, Who came to demonstrate, through His perfect, sinless life, we have a glimpse of what it looks like for "God's kingdom to come and God's will to be done on earth just as in heaven." While we may pray "Your kingdom come" may it be "Your kingdom" we fight for today and every day and not our own, until that day.
Many, if not most people believe that they have the ability to set the direction for their lives, determine their own destiny, decide their own future, plan their own way, however, if you are a Christian, it is crucial to understand, that at the point of salvation, that perspective is destroyed, once and for all. From the moment you accepted Christ as Lord, your self-centered, self-directed life has been replaced by a life of complete and total submission. You are no longer in charge of your own life or the direction you will go, you are not the determiner of your own decisions. Your life has another purpose, your hopes, your dreams, your ambitions, your goals have been replaced by God's purposes, God's plans and God's program. In other words, salvation is not simply a makeover, it's a complete take over. Your life is not your own. You relinquish all rights to do as you please, you belong to Christ Who can do with it as He pleases. I believe one of the biggest misconceptions in Christianity today is that salvation is a democracy, where you get an opinion, you get to vote for what you want. It's a kingdom and Christ is your King. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Colossians 1:18, says "And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."
Verse 3, "Give us each day our daily bread." This petition reflects our trust in God's provision and care, acknowledging that we depend on God for both our physical and spiritual nourishment. Praying for our provision comes after praying for God's glory, for God's kingdom, and for God's will. We're not suddenly praying to get what we want, this is not some over the top luxury, this is what we need for our physical and spiritual well-being, we're acknowledging we depend on Him and can't survive if He doesn't provide for our needs. This is not a complex theological treatise, it is in a sense, a simple heartfelt confession: You're the source of our food, if You don't feed us, we will not be able to eat. If we do not eat, we will perish. In a broader sense, "our daily bread" represents our basic daily needs: food, shelter, clothing – the necessities essential for the preservation of this life. In John 6:34-36, the crowd addressed Jesus after feeding the five thousand, "Lord, always give us this bread." What they're saying is, "We have seen God as the source of our physical needs and what Jesus said to them, what I'm offering goes beyond physical nourishment; "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe."
In a much deeper, spiritual sense, "our daily bread" is the spiritual nourishment that our souls crave, the sustenance that leads to eternal life, rather than literal bread. God, is a loving Father Who cares about His children and He wants to be sure they have food to eat, a place to sleep and clothes to wear. That's why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, "not be worried about what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." God is our provider, our sustainer. He is the source of everything. God has created everything. When you pause long enough to truly contemplate the vast array that God has filled the earth with for us to eat and enjoy, it's really pretty remarkable. The diversity and richness of what is available to us—everything from vibrant fruits and nutritious vegetables to grains, a plethora of seeds, that not only meets our nutritional needs but also adds color and flavor, its truly astounding. And, for those of you who eat meat, there's a wide array of animals for you to enjoy. All of this should serve as an awe-inspiring reminder of the generosity of our loving heavenly Father. It's absolutely staggering. Still, in the busyness of our daily lives, it has become all too easy to allow the awareness of His provision and our gratitude for the myriad blessings that God has bestowed upon us to fade, even diminish. Therefore, we must be intentional, deliberately recognizing and expressing gratitude for everything He generously provides for us, and allowing it to transform our perspective.
That brings us to verse 4, "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." Let us pause there for a moment. Allow me to begin by saying that this is the only one of these petitions that has a prerequisite connected to it. Forgiveness is a profound aspect of our faith, the cornerstone of our relationship with God and with one another. Because of our sin, we incur a debt to God we cannot repay. In His infinite love, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay our debt through His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus not only encourages us to seek forgiveness, He also commands us to extend forgiveness to others, in order that we too may be forgiven. In Romans 3, Paul reminds us, "There is none righteous, not even one." All sin is an act of defiance, a rebellion against God, a deviation from His perfect will. If you haven't forgiven others, do not expect to be forgiven. Paul, in Romans 6:23, reminds us "For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." If God did not forgive our sins, we will surely face eternal destruction. That's why forgiveness is humanity's greatest need, the gracious gift that God could give to us. The Good News is that God is not a reluctant forgiver, is a continuous and ongoing aspect of His character. Therefore, in Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul exhorts us as followers of Christ to "walk in a manner worthy of your calling, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. God's forgiveness is immediate and available to all who seek it. Nothing is more wonderful than to be told to ask for forgiveness on the assumption that if you ask Him for forgiveness, you will receive it. How much more should God's children be willing to extend forgiveness toward others.
Another aspect of our forgiveness is found in Matthew's account of the Sermon on The Mount in Matthew 6:14-15, where Jesus emphatically tells us, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Not only must we be forgiven, we must have His divine protection from the trials that could turn into temptation, leading us to spiritual ruin. This isn't merely a suggestion; or theological advice, its a command, a reflection of the depth of God's mercy as well as the responsibility His forgiveness places upon us who have received it. Unforgiveness is evil, it is a sin, it brings about eternal destruction, even if held quietly in your heart. Unforgiveness not only hinders our relationship with God, but with others. Forgiveness, then, is a powerful tool for healing and reconciliation. Unforgiveness can create a barrier between us and God, hindering our ability to pray effectively. According to 1 Peter 3:7, failure to show honor, mutual respect and understanding, especially between husbands and wives, can hinder a husbands prayers, rendering the ineffective.
Disturbingly, we live in a society that knows and cares very little about the concept of forgiveness, where grudges thrive and reconciliation is rare. The absence of forgiveness is one of the major contributors to the breakdown of the relationships in our culture today. In fact, our culture exalts people who are not willing to forgive, we have created a pantheon of modern-day heroes of those who are filled with bitterness, and anger, idolizing those who seek vengeance against anyone they perceive as an enemy. For the Christian who has received God's forgiveness, however, withholding forgiveness is unthinkable. It's unimaginable. In Scripture, failure to forgive our transgressor is a blatant act of disobedience, regardless of
the issue, no matter the gravity of the offense. In Luke 23:34, Jesus, even while He was hanging on the cross, prayed asking His Father to forgive for those who were crucifying Him, saying "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing," knowing His Father has the heart to forgive, even the most egregious acts such as the execution of His own beloved Son. And, according to Matthew 18, we are even commanded to forgive them an endless number of times. In Psalm 32, when David received God's forgiveness for committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband Uriah murdered, he burst forth in song, "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man whose iniquity Yahweh will not take into account, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!"
Furthermore, unforgiveness keeps our pain alive, reminding yourself of the offense that was done to you. Research shows that the inability to forgive others can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and even physical health issues, such as increased risk of heart disease. That said, Jesus is speaking to believers, we've already been justified, because Jesus paid the penalty of our sins in full, we've already been forgiven. In Romans 8, Paul reminds us because the Spirit of God Dwells in us, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It's not that we're in jeopardy of losing our salvation, but we do put ourselves in a position to be disciplined by the Lord. Hebrews 12:6-7, "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He flogs every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" We do, however, disrupt the assurance of our salvation, not to mention we forfeit our peace, our usefulness, our testimony.
Did you know that failure to forgive also short-circuits God's blessing in our lives? That's why we must confess our sin on a day-to-day basis, receiving forgiveness regularly and routinely to keep us clean. 1 John 1:9, assures us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God puts a high premium on forgiveness because sinners are everywhere, we can't escape them, they're even in the church. Sadly, this world continues to drown in a sea of unforgiveness. We are living in an angry world, full of bitterness, resentment, and hatred; that's why so many families and marriages today are being destroyed. The price of unforgiveness is indeed very high. As long as you fail to forgive someone who has offended you, you willingly choose to remain in "prison, tormented by your pain." I cannot imagine why anyone would willingly choose to live like that? It's self-destructive. As someone who was sexually molested from a very young age, I was, for many years, imprisoned by my anger and resentment toward my offender. I was angry that his life seemed to go on unaffected by what he had done, while I, on the other hand struggled to the point of attempted suicide, several times. Since that time, God, by His amazing grace, not only granted me the precious gift of forgiveness but gave me the ability to be able to forgive others of even the most egregious sin, sexually molesting a young defenseless child. I have never gotten over the fact, God, by His grace, chose to save a wretch like. How could I possibly refuse to extend that same forgiveness to others? To withhold forgiveness is more characteristic of an unbeliever than a child of God. There is nothing is more consistent with the divine nature of God than forgiveness. And, in contrast, there is nothing more consistent with the nature of Satan than anger and hatred. We don't usually think of forgiveness in those terms, but we should, to be unforgiving is a sin, no more or less acceptable than any other violation of the second half of the Ten Commandments. Forgiveness, is not simply a matter of overlooking our mistakes; a cancelation of our debt, it is a divine act of transferring our debt to Christ, Who willing paid it in full.
As Christians, we don't often like to talk about our own violations, of the second half of the Ten Commandments. We'd much rather rehearse what someone else has done to us, thereby parading our lack of forgiveness, excusing our feelings of bitterness, resentment, anger and hate toward that person, unmasking a far worse sin, an unforgiving heart. Consider the impact social media has had on interpersonal conflicts, where public feuds and disputes gain massive attention and far too often garner support, all due to the unwillingness to forgive. Further perpetuating the idea that holding onto anger and seeking retribution as if it were some sort of virtuous trait. Jesus makes it very clear, holding onto to unforgiveness isn't virtuous, its a sin, symptomatic of an unforgiving heart. Our Lord despises an unforgiving heart, so much so that He will not carry on that needed daily forgiveness in the life of someone who is himself refuses to forgive. Beloved, this is not an isolated teaching, the topic of forgiveness comes up a lot, its a recurring theme in His teachings, appearing frequently in His sermons and parables. As we see here, it's even embedded in His prayers. And so as Christians, because of our remaining unredeemed flesh, that's still so much a part of who we are, we must learn to deal with the practice of forgiving one another, a concept that's completely foreign to our fallen nature. If there is someone who has wronged you, don't nurse it by telling anyone who will listen what this horrible person has done to you; don't curse it, that manifests bitterness, resentment and anger, leading to hatred. And lastly, don't rehearse it, picking at an old wound until you bleed again, it only poisons our hearts, and forfeits what God wants to do in our lives, bless us. No matter what your problem is, just give it to God and He’ll reverse it.
A heart that has truly experienced the boundless grace and forgiveness of God will naturally be compelled to extend grace and forgiveness to others.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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