5 Habits - Prayer #3
Welcome to Everyday Devotions. These daily Bible readings and Prayer Pathways are designed to help you go deeper with God each day in response to what you are hearing at the Everyday Church services and Life Group gatherings.
Wednesday 15th January
In this week’s Everyday Devotions, we are learning some Prayer Pathways – some simple structures that God has given us to help us to marshal our thoughts and our focus whenever we come to him in prayer. Today we will finish looking at the most famous of those prayer pathways – the prayer that Jesus taught us, which is known as The Lord’s Prayer.
Bible Meditation
Matthew 6:5-13
5 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9 “This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
1) Jesus refers to our sins against God as our ‘debts’ towards him. Why is this a good way of putting it? What would it take for us to pay off our debts to God?
2) Jesus insists that forgiveness is a two-way street. Just as a tap cannot receive more water unless it lets the water flow through it, so too we cannot receive God’s forgiveness unless we are willing to give it away.
Matthew 6:14-15
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.
3) What does Jesus say will happen to our own sins if we refuse to forgive others?
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g] 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled 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.”
4) These are pretty sobering verses, but the logic is impeccable. If we refuse to forgive people for sinning against us, then how could God be just and yet forgive us for our far greater sins against him.
5) Who do you find it hardest to forgive? What action might God be stirring you to take towards them today?
Prayer Pathway
Now that we have looked at The Lord’s Prayer together for three days, end your Everyday Devotions today by using the whole of The Lord’s Prayer as a prayer pathway. Take some time to worship and pray, using the following headings to structure your prayers:
OUR FATHER: Joyful thanks to God that today you can run freely into his arms as your Dad.
IN HEAVEN: Faith-filled proclamation of the truth of Psalm 115:3 – ”God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME: Speaking God’s Name back to him from the Scriptures, asking him to be true to his Name and to make all the world confess his Name is holy.
YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE: Pray specific prayers for the will of God to be done in your own life, in the lives of your family and friends, in the lives of your nonbelieving friends, in your workplace or college, and in your nation.
GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD: Be specific with God in your answer to his question: “What do you want me to do for you?” Bring focused, specific and faith-filled requests that he will provide for all your daily needs.
FORGIVE US, AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS: Confess your specific sins to God, including the sin of withholding forgiveness from others.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: Ask God to grant you strength to resist sin, the flesh and the Devil. Ask him to help you grow in holiness, living as the new creation that you now are in Jesus.
FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER: End with a time of praising God for his greatness and that he has heard your prayers.
AMEN: Before you stop praying, connect your prayers to the rest of what you have planned for today. Receive a commissioning from God to get up off your knees and to become the answer to many of your prayers.
OUR FATHER: Joyful thanks to God that today you can run freely into his arms as your Dad.
IN HEAVEN: Faith-filled proclamation of the truth of Psalm 115:3 – ”God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME: Speaking God’s Name back to him from the Scriptures, asking him to be true to his Name and to make all the world confess his Name is holy.
YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE: Pray specific prayers for the will of God to be done in your own life, in the lives of your family and friends, in the lives of your nonbelieving friends, in your workplace or college, and in your nation.
GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD: Be specific with God in your answer to his question: “What do you want me to do for you?” Bring focused, specific and faith-filled requests that he will provide for all your daily needs.
FORGIVE US, AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS: Confess your specific sins to God, including the sin of withholding forgiveness from others.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: Ask God to grant you strength to resist sin, the flesh and the Devil. Ask him to help you grow in holiness, living as the new creation that you now are in Jesus.
FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER: End with a time of praising God for his greatness and that he has heard your prayers.
AMEN: Before you stop praying, connect your prayers to the rest of what you have planned for today. Receive a commissioning from God to get up off your knees and to become the answer to many of your prayers.
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Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service
Connect: We’d really like your feedback on how these Everyday Devotions are helping you and how we might help you even better. Talk to us by emailing: devotions@everyday.org.uk
Continue: your connection with us by attending our Online Church Service