“And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12
No matter how long you’ve been following Jesus, there’s always something new we can learn about prayer. As we approach God through the Lord’s Prayer, he invites us to pray for forgiveness of our sins, as well as pray for those who have sinned against us. In this week’s message, David Chan highlights two hindrances to prayer.
Hindrance #1: Sin
- Sin creates disconnection between us and the presence of God.
- So often we want to approach God on our terms, but the entrance to the presence of God is through holiness.
- We are living in the New Testament era of grace, but this doesn't mean that God’s standard has lowered.
- Condemnation almost always leads to isolation. The Lord doesn’t want to condemn us, but bring us back into relationship with him.
- We can boldly enter the presence of God because the sacrifice of Jesus attributes his righteousness upon us. see (Hebrews 4:16)
- Praying for the forgiveness of our sins helps us acknowledge the known and unknown sins in our lives.
- The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer not of salvation but of daily sanctification and consecration.
- We have never graduated from forgiveness and being transformed into the image of God.
Hindrance #2: Unforgiveness and Offenses
- Unforgiveness affects our prayer life and relationship with the Lord.
- There’s a relationship between faith and forgiveness. You can have all the faith in the world, but if you hold onto bitterness we are not effective when we pray.
- If we don’t learn how to turn offenses back to Jesus, it can begin to color our lives.
- It’s normal to have disagreements, but it’s important to guard our hearts.
- Through forgiveness, God is doing a deeper work in our hearts. When we release a transgression, we embrace love.
- It’s a sign of spiritual maturity to notice situations around us and release it back to God to prevent an offense from forming.
Dinner Party Questions:
- Are there any openings in your life that are allowing the enemy in your heart and prevent you from claiming victory?
- What does it look like to turn offenses back to the Lord instead of keeping it in our own hands?
- Are you quick to release offenses, or are you quick to forgive? How can you change patterns of unforgiveness and begin to embrace love?
