Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
Forgiveness is such a serious issue, Jesus commented on it immediately after He gave the Lord’s Prayer. “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” (Matt. 6:14-15, The Message)
Our part is to forgive others, to let go of hard feelings and grudges and prejudices. We think we hide those harmful attitudes, but most people see right through us and especially those we hold things against. We have no idea how much we hurt others by our lack of acceptance. Our critical attitude hurts and offends others even when we are unaware of it.
Why is it that God won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive others? How can He forgive us if we don’t forgive those for whom Christ died and saves from sin? Our hatred—that’s what unforgivingness is—dishonors His name and prevents us from glorifying Him. We honor God by forgiving, accepting, and loving others.
And as “bread" is the first need to the body, so forgiveness is for the soul. God’s provision for the one is as sure as for the other. We are children, but we are sinners, too. We owe our right of access to the Father’s presence to the precious blood and the forgiveness it has won for us.” (Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 34.)
Deliver us From Temptation
“Don’t let us yield to temptation.” (Matt. 6:13a nlt). We are vulnerable at all times to temptation; how easily we are led astray and fall.
“We ask him, who orders all things in heaven and earth, to restrain us from going into that which would injure our souls, and never to let us be tempted beyond that we can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13). (Ryle, Matthew, 41)
I have been struggling with a rebellious attitude about doing what the Lord desires of me. I give into the temptation to do what I please rather than what pleases Him. He convicted me that if I continued on this way, I would become more resistant to doing His will. The more I “get away” with doing what I want without consequences, the more I feel free to do as I please, the more resistant and harder my heart becomes to the Lord.
The Lord convicted me that I needed to make better use of my time, take better care of myself, and not stay up so late watching television at night. So what’s the big deal? you may think. That’s nothing! If only you knew what I’m doing wrong.
The Lord is teaching me that it is a big deal. I need to constantly battle giving into temptation and do what He desires. He commands obedience and any sacrifices I feel I am making or pleasures I’m missing are nothing in comparison to doing His will, His way.
Deliver us From the Evil One
“Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matt. 6:13b nlt). “We are here taught to ask God to deliver us from the evil that is in the world, the evil that is within our hearts, and not least from the evil one, the devil. We confess that, so long as we are in the body, we are constantly seeing, hearing and feeling the presence of evil. It is about us, and within us, and around us on every side. We entreat him who alone can preserve us, to be continually delivering us from its power . . .” (Ryle, Matthew, 41.)
Jesus cared so much that we be protected from evil, He prayed on our behalf, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
If we are ever going to grow in our prayer-life, we need to realize that the fight is not with ourselves, but our struggle is “against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 nlt). They tremble when we pray, and so they fight hardest against it.
The only way we can overcome our struggles with prayer is to continually “use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy” (Eph. 6:13a nlt).
I have been in situations where the presence of evil seemed so strong that in order to combat it, I prayed, He [Spirit of God] who is within me is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). That simple prayer is powerful and I have offered it up repeatedly until the presence of evil leaves.
These prayers also have great effect:
1. Jesus, deliver me from evil.
2. Jesus protect me from the evil one.
These prayers also have great effect:
1. Jesus, deliver me from evil.
2. Jesus protect me from the evil one.
3. Your name, Lord, is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. You are my loving ally and fortress, my tower of safety and deliverer from evil. You stand before me as a shield, and I take refuge in You (Prov. 18:10, Ps. 144:2).
