The Lord’s Prayer: Choosing Forgiveness from the Heart

Written By East Gate

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.”  14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6: 9-15

  • In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his disciples this prayer and once He is done teaching them to pray He doubles down on forgiveness.

  • Jesus teaches us to pray: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

  • In essence,when you pray, pray this: forgive us the way we forgive. If we forgive all the way, forgive us all the way. If we do not forgive, don’t forgive us. 

  • In case there is any doubt, Jesus adds this statement following the Lord’s prayer: 

    • 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Let’s Go Deep: 

Debt: 

  1. which is owed

    1. that which is justly or legally due, a debt

  2. metaph. offence, sin

Debtor:

  1. one who owes God penalty or whom God can demand punishment as something due, i.e. a sinner

“Sin is represented here under the notion of a debt, and as our sins are many, they are called here debts. God made man that he might live to his glory, and gave him a law to walk by; and if, when he does any thing that tends not to glorify God, he contracts a debt with Divine Justice.” 

 Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 

We all have debt that needs to be paid. We all commit sin thus making us debtors who owe God. 

BUT GOD: sent His son Jesus as the payment for that debt. Debts of yesterday, today or tomorrow. Through confession of faith in Jesus and repentance we can be FORGIVEN! 

Forgive:

  1. A debt that has been paid in full 

  2. to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit

In this broken world filled with imperfect people we WILL be sinned against. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray this way:

Forgive us our debts and we forgive our debtors…

  • Forgiveness is not just a gift we receive, it is also a gift we freely give. 

  • Freely you have received; freely give. OR You received without paying; give without pay. Matt 10:8 

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin/trespass against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins/trespasses, your Father will not forgive your sins/trespasses.

That word SIN is better translated as a trespass. 

trespasses : par-ap'-to-mah; from G3895; a side-slip (lapse or deviation), i.e. (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression:—fall, fault, offence, sin, trespass.

Whether the trespass was a willful error or a unwillful error, whether it was a lapse in judgment or a purposeful offense: FORGIVE! For if you don’t forgive, you will not be forgiven. 

This is why we say here at EG forgiveness is not an option. 

FORGIVENESS Jesus forgave so we forgive. The moment we stop forgiving, we stop reflecting the heart of the Father. Refusing to forgive is spiritual death for you and the people you lead.

  1. This is not an understatement. Forgiveness is essential to your spiritual HEALTH.

  2. If you do not operate in it, it will indeed lead to spiritual death. 

  3. The Lord will not forgive you if you do not forgive. 

Jesus illustrates it like this in Matthew 18:21-35

Matt 18: 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Forgiveness Begins in the Heart:

  • Here at EG we define the heart as your thoughts, feelings and desires.  

  • We must first choose to forgive in our thought life. 

  • Our thoughts, give birth to our desires and our desires, will give birth to our actions and our actions will eventually form our character. 

James 1:14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death

  • HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS: Each time we forgive, it makes it easier to forgive the next time. 

  • HERE IS THE HONEST TRUTH: Each time we choose unforgiveness, it makes it harder for me to choose forgiveness and easier to choose unforgiveness 

  • Do you entertain unforgiveness in your thoughts? OR Do you choose forgiveness in your thoughts?

JESUS IS THE MODEL FOR  FORGIVENESS: 

  • Jesus before we ever repented, before we ever asked for forgiveness… chose to forgive from the heart. 

  • And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. Luke 23:34 

  • Jesus chose to forgive from the right. Right away, all the way. 

  • Psalm 103: 10-12 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

  • 1 Cor 13:5  Love…keeps no record of wrong. 

East Gate it is time to choose to forgive from the heart. 

Practical Advice

  1. Choose Forgiveness 

    • TODAY WE HAVE A CHOICE!

    • I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live Deut 30:19

    • Abundant life is found when you choose forgiveness.

    • Choose forgiveness in your thought life.

    • Choosing forgiveness from your heart can sound like this: I will operate in forgiveness. I will be like Jesus! I will forgive from my heart. 

  2. Confess Forgiveness:

    • SAY it aloud daily in your daily secret place or when the memory comes up. 

    • You keep confessing forgiveness and then one day you will go to forgive and recognize the pain, the disappointment, the agony is gone. 

    • Confessing forgiveness sounds like this: Regardless of the pain, the heartache, I release the debt. I forgive. This person doesn’t owe me anything. 

    • You don’t need to feel like forgiving or have the capacity to forgive or even the desire to forgive. Forgiveness is a choice. 

Declaration: 

Jesus forgave so we forgive. We will reflect the heart of the Father and never stop forgiving. Forgiveness unlocks abundant life for us and the people we lead.


East Gate
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The Lord’s Prayer: Daily Bread