Day 9 – Lord, teach us how to pray – Step 4

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven (left, remitted and let go of the debts and have given up resentment against) our debtors.”

A few days ago, we spoke about hindrances to our prayers. Unforgiveness is one of them. Jesus emphasizes forgiveness because even after He ends the model prayer, He goes on to discuss why forgiveness is important.

Unforgiveness is a binding force that places the person in bondage to the person who wronged them. Unforgiveness grows into resentment and eventually bitterness, which is a proven cause of many sicknesses. Forgiveness, on the other hand, will set you free from all of that. Jesus specifically says that our Father will forgive us if we are willing to forgive those who wronged us.

In our prayer, forgiveness is a two-way event: we ought to ask forgiveness for any sin or offense that we may have in our lives; and we need to forgive anyone who have caused us harm or offense.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Your character shows Your merciful heart toward us. Thank you for the primary example that Jesus set when He chose to forgive each one of us, whose sin put Him on that cross. Please show me if there is any sin in my life right now, and please forgive me. I also choose to forgive the following person/people who have wronged me … Set me free from this anger/bitterness/grudge, please Lord. Amen.

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