Daily Devotion for November 18, 2005

Seven-Day series on the Lord’s Prayer - Day Four

 

The Courage Needed To Pray

 

Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.'" Amen. Luke 11:2-4

 

"Give us each day our daily bread." Think of the manna in the wilderness. God provided enough bread for each day's needs. No more, and certainly no less. Pray for enough to meet our need. Trust that God will provide enough. Just what we need. That may turn out to be far more than we expect!

 

Do we dare pray the next petition? "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us." "Sin" is a high-tech theological term that's not as easy to grasp as "debt". We may not understand what it means to sin against God, but we know what it's like when someone owes us money, and how we feel when we owe money!

 

We can pay back our loans, but all we can say to God is, "Forgive me." There are times when we are unwilling to forgive even people who have repaid us. An unforgiving spirit is closed to God's mercy.

 

When we pray for forgiveness we must be honest with God and ourselves. Jesus challenges us with this discipline: to expect God to forgive us only to the degree that we are willing to forgive others. Praying with that in mind might just change our lives!

 

Pray the Lord's Prayer from Luke 11 slowly, savoring each phrase.

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