Open this time in prayer, asking the Lord to reveal His heart to you.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12 NKJV)
Forgive us our what? Like our bank loans and credit card debts? Uh, no. Debts in this passage is a metaphor for our sins, the violations we have commited against God and His holy law.
Read Matthew 18:21-27. When the servant asked for leniency, how did his master respond (v 27)?
The master had compassion toward his servant and our Master is full of compassion as well. Psalm 145:8 tells us that “the Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.” Compassion is the feeling of sympathy towards another’s distress. It is also the desire to alleviate that distress.
Do you believe that God has compassion for you? Do you believe that He wants to take away your distress?
God is not callous, coldhearted, or heartless; all of which are the very opposite of compassionate. God did not send His Son to die on the cross so that He could boom down from heaven saying, “There! We took care of your sins for you. Now you owe Us.” No, if that was His reason for the cross that wouldn’t be forgiveness or compassion at all. That would be more debt and more judgement.
Read 1 John 1:9 and 1 John 4:9-10. Who receives forgiveness of sins? Why does God forgive us?
Today feel free to pray this prayer from Psalm 51:1-4.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight — ” This I pray in Your name, amen.
I realize we only covered the first half of Matthew 6:12 today. I plan to write about forgiving others tomorrow. I hope you will pop back on by to read that. In the meantime, what stood out to you today? Please leave a comment and let me know what God is speaking to you.
Only by grace,
Kelli
Did you miss a day or two in this prayer challenge? Find all the posts in this series here.