March 6-12: Praying with Jesus for Forgiveness
For most of these 40 days of prayer, we're using the Lord's Prayer as our guide. We're continuing that this week with the next request in Jesus' prayer,"...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Here's the full prayer that Jesus taught us:
Our Father in heaven,
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,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9–13)
(If you need help knowing how to use this prayer guide, see our brief overview to our 40 days of prayer that has some tips on praying.)
Sunday March 6
Since Lent is associated with fasting, sorrow, and death, and since Sundays are associated with feasting, joy, and resurrection, Sundays have never been counted as part of Lent. In keeping with that, even this guide won't give you an assignment on Sundays. Pray anyway! Pray in joy for the resurrection of Christ that guarantees our resurrection, and join us for worship. 10a every Sunday.
Monday March 7
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
As we start this week praying for forgiveness, we should first realize that every one of us really does need it. Desperately. It doesn't matter how well we behave on a given day. Our reality is that we are broken, and our only hope is to be healed by a great savior.
John makes this clear in his first letter, when describing what it means to be living in the light:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
By the world's standards, godliness should be measured by moral perfection. What we're told instead is that if we are in God's light, we will be honest about the brokenness we're carrying. We know we're His, not because we're perfect, but because we're safe to admit that we're sinners.
Pray that God would save you from feeling like you need to hide your brokenness. Ask Him to help you believe that your deepest desire is to be united with Him. Beg Him to draw you closer to himself. Pray that He would help you to know that in His presence we see our brokenness, but know we're not condemned for it. Pray for the people in your life, that we could all experience this safety, and live it out together. Pray for more boldness in being vulnerable with your friends, and pray that they would trust you enough to do the same themselves.
Tuesday March 8
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Because of our own flesh and experiences, we tend to see God through our own lenses. When someone hurts us, we tend to feel like they should pay some penalty to be forgiven. We might want to see them "feel really sorry" and show contrition, or we might be passive-aggressive, "forgiving" them while making sure they know we're disappointed in them, and that they probably owe us since we "forgave" them.
This bleeds over into how we think God reacts to us. We can get stuck trying to hide from God when we fall short because we think he's disappointed in us. We see him with his arms crossed, tapping his toe and shaking his head a little. How can we run to him before we've cleaned ourselves up? We have to be acceptable, right?
The thing is...this picture isn't God. Not even close. It's actually the farthest thing from true. And it's probably almost impossible for us to imagine the pure forgiveness of God because people don't forgive like God forgives.
One of my favorite pictures of this relationship is in the book of Genesis. Chapter 50 comes at the end of Joseph's story, in which Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He is brought into Pharaoh's house in Egypt, ends up running the country, and eventually is reunited with his family. He has nothing but forgiveness for his brothers, and cares for all of his family through a long famine.
Years later, when their father (Jacob) dies, the brothers assume that now Joseph will finally punish them for all they'd done. Even through Joseph hadn't shown them anything except mercy, they were sure that he was still holding a grudge and waiting to pay them back. So they come to him full of fear and beg for forgiveness again. And here's Joseph's response:
Joseph wept when they spoke to him. (Genesis 50:17b)
Joseph wept because, after years of smothering his brothers in grace and love, they still didn't believe his love was real. It was too good to be true. But Joseph knew his own heart, and wanted his brothers to know the depth of his love for them so deeply, that all he could do was cry when he saw that they still expected condemnation.
Pray that the Spirit would help you to see how great God's love for you actually is. Pray for help believing that He has his arms open to you. Take Him at his word, and trust Him by confessing your weaknesses and struggles to Him, knowing that you are accepted and safe. Pray that God would remove any judgement or condemnation that you hold toward others from your heart, so that He can show them his great love through you.
Wednesday March 9
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Jesus prays about forgiveness as something that we should be receiving and giving. Don't think for a second that this means God's forgiveness depends on our deserving it (look back at Tuesday's devotional). Today, let's focus on how we should respond to receiving the free and undeserved forgiveness of God.
In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable about two servants. One owed a fortune to the king but begged for forgiveness, and the King had mercy on him, forgiving all his debts.
That forgiven servant then went to another servant who owed him a small amount of money. The debtor begged forgiveness, but the forgiven servant showed no mercy, throwing the debtor in prison.
When the king hears of this, he calls the servant back and says this:
...You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? (Matthew 18:31-32)
We don't forgive others out of fear or duty, but out of gratitude. If we see how much we've been forgiven by our King, how could we possibly withhold forgiveness from the people around us?
Pray today that the Holy Spirit would help you to remember how freely you've been forgiven all your debts. Spend time meditating on the image of your Father extending his open arms to you. See his pure forgiveness that's without even a shadow of disappointment, condemnation, or shame. Confess that you don't forgive others like that. Ask him to remind you again today that you are forgiven. Pray for the people in your life that you need to forgive. Pray for a softer heart toward them. Pray for humility, knowing you've been forgiven, and pray they will know the same forgiveness you have.
Thursday March 10
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Real forgiveness is unconditional and is free to receive. However, any wrong or discretion causes a burden and hurt that someone has to take on themselves. Justice says that the penalty should be paid by the sinner. Forgiveness says that it should be paid by the one who was sinned against.
As we pray today and fight harder to forgive as we've been forgiven, let's remind ourselves that this is not going to be easy. Forgiveness hurts; there's no way around it.
But here's the good part...
Forgiveness is what you were created to do.
Sacrificial love is at the core of who God is. He made us in his image, beings that are most fulfilled and whole when they are laying themselves down for others. When we take on the burdens of others, especially when we forgive them for wrongs against us, we experience more of Jesus' presence and act more fully human than in most any other situation.
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:12-14)
Forgiveness is costly...but it's worth giving everything we have.
Pray today for this decision to be easier for you, the decision to truly forgive or pursue "justice" instead. Pray that the Spirit would change your heart, and help you desire the good of others more than protecting yourself. Pray for an overwhelming desire to be united to Christ in laying your life down for your friends.
Beg the Lord to bring dead people to life by showing them his transformative, sacrificial love through you.
Friday March 11
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
God designed us to bear each other's burdens. Because He made us in His image, we really, truly, need each other. God is community (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), and we can only know full life together.
We need each other.
Forgiveness plays a tremendously important role in our attempt to live life this way. The rhythm of life for people united to one another looks like breathing love in and breathing love out. The church is one body, and we can only survive if we are forgiving and being forgiven. Over and over again.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
Pray for the church, that the Spirit would help us have more unity with all believers. Pray for Redemption, that we could bear more burdens for each other and be more unified because of it. Pray for your HUB group, that you could lead in humility and gentleness this week. Pray for your family, that you would bear everything together in love. Pray for a renewed sense of desperation to have deeper relationships with the people around you, knowing that you really, truly, deeply need each other.
Saturday March 12
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
For our last day this week, let's just spend some time remembering how wonderful forgiveness is.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1-2)
For those who are in Christ, this is our reality. Our transgressions are forgiven (even all the new ones we've added this week). Our sin is covered. The Lord calls us righteous because of Jesus. He has given us His Spirit, which has no deceit at all.
Seriously, guys. We know the grossest, darkest, most crooked and broken parts of our own hearts. And yet, we know that our total, too-good-to-be-true forgiveness is real, it is eternal, and there is NOTHING that can separate us from it because it was earned by Jesus Christ and sealed with His Spirit.
Praise be to God!!! Shout praise to Him today! Weep for joy because of the forgiveness you've been given! Let Him wash over you with His oceans of oceans of oceans of grace today! Splash around in the waters of mercy, and pour forgiveness over everyone around you!
