The model prayer continued

Matthew 6:12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Now in the prayer Jesus moves into confession of sin. Confessing sin should be a regular part of our prayer life. For the believer, understand that confessing sin is not a matter of salvation. That is already settled for a truly born again person. It is a matter of relationship. When we do things that displease the Lord, in order to restore our relationship, we need to confess those things to Him. I personally believe that there is nothing else that will determine how our relationship with God goes more than regularly confessing our sin to Him. Confessing sin shows that we are conscious of the things in our lives that please and displease the Lord. Confessing sin will make us more sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Confessing sin is a key to spiritual growth because it causes us to remove things from our lives that need to go.

Jesus also teaches in this model prayer how important forgiveness is. People are sinful and they do hurtful things. Jesus is teaching us to forgive in light of the fact that we want forgiveness from the Father. When someone does something to hurt you, take that pain to the Lord. Then forgive them....declare to the Father that you are forgiving them.....it will release you and prevent bitterness from settling into your heart.


Jesus is teaching us two more very important elements to our prayer life: 1) Confession of sin 2) Properly dealing with those who have wronged us in our prayer life. Do you have sin in your life that you need to confess to get your relationship with God back to where it needs to be? Do you have hard feelings toward others that have mistreated you that need to be taken to the Father? If so, confess your sin. Pray for the Lord to help your attitude toward the person that wronged you. Pray for God to bless them today. In the process, you will feel a weight lifted from your soul, and you will experience deeper intimacy with the Lord.