We continue our journey through the Lord’s prayer and the subject areas of prayer it highlights. The entire prayer is again below.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: 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 forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9–13 (NKJV)
Here we turn two verses. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Praying for our daily bread has the obvious focus on our material needs. Yet there are other inherent implications. One is that we need to pay attention to today. That doesn’t mean we don’t plan or prepare for other days, that is basic practical wisdom. However, this is summed up in an old Sanskrit saying I recall reading a number of times over four decades ago, ‘Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vison of hope.’ How we live today affects our tomorrow. I know that to live today well I need both physical and spiritual nourishment. The physical I receive through my diet, the spiritual I received through my diet! In this case the diet is daily time spent in scripture, prayer, worship and sitting in His presence. So let’s pray for both natural and spiritual provision each day.
We now turn to forgiveness. In Matthew we have the word ‘debts’ while Luke’s version (Luke 11:4) of this prayer has the word ‘sins.’ Which makes sense given that our greatest debt in life is our sin debt. In our fallen world we have conflict and disagreement, which often leads to sin. Having been involved in mediation for over three decades and having trained hundreds of adults in conflict resolution processes, I am very aware of conflicts that require forgiveness. Yet we need to be clear on what scripture teaches regarding forgiveness. Thankfully Jesus tells us the most important piece right after giving us His model prayer.
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14–15 (NKJV)
Jesus is clear that forgiveness is not an optional aspect of our Christian walk. What is most important here is understanding whether we choose to simply freely forgive or whether forgiveness depends on repentance on the part of the offending party. To answer that question, we need to look to scripture, not our personal preferences.
Jesus ties forgiveness to repentance. We may choose to forgive apart from repentance but that modern practice has arisen out of a therapeutic model and seems focused on the emotional impact on the offended party. However, that is an expression of Moral Therapeutic Deism, not scripture. Look at what Jesus said.
3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Luke 17:3–4 (NKJV)
Jesus, Peter and Paul all called people to repentance as the way to received forgiveness, we are called to do the same. Should we pronounce forgiveness without repentance on the part of the other they are not held accountable for their sins and we may actually be hardening rather than softening their hearts. So yes, forgive freely, when others repent and acknowledge their need for it. Note, I am not suggesting this is a simple process. Depending on the offense it may be a gut-wrenching difficult process. However, Jesus doesn’t ask us whether we feel like forgiving, He calls us to forgive because He has forgiven us and we are called to be like Him!
