Forgiven to be Forgiving: A Prayer

Today’s prayer “Forgiven to be Forgiving” is the sixth in a series of prayers working through the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6v9-13 and Luke 11v2-4. The Lord’s prayer is a teaching from Jesus on how to pray and provides us with a framework for living life with the Father. You should begin by reading the prayers “Father,” “In Heaven,” “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done” and “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.”


Father,

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Thank You for forgiving us our sins, Father.

Thank You for making the way for us to seek and receive forgiveness.

Thank You for acknowledging that we do sin but can come to You for forgiveness.

Help us to receive Your forgiveness.

Humble us to accept Your grace.

We need it. We need You, for You are both just and justifier.

May we be captured by the humbling reality of who You are, of Your great forgiveness and grace.

May the reality of what You have done for us become the reality that we share with others.

For what we believe has been done for us is what we do to others.

Forgive us our sins. Let us know and experience the freedom of that forgiveness.

And help us forgive those who sin against us. Let us share the freedom of Your forgiveness.

We confess that we don’t know Your forgiveness nearly as deeply as we should.

We confess that we don’t show Your forgiveness nearly as freely as we should.

But we ask and pray wanting to want what You want…

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Remind us of these words when we are hurt by others in this life.

Remind us of the forgiveness we have received from You.

Remind us that You were preparing us to face wrongdoing, to respond to sin against us when You taught us to pray…

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Forgiveness is at the heart of who You are.

And we who profess You want to live with hearts like Yours.

Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus didn’t say this so that we could grudgingly grumble “I forgive you” to others.

Jesus didn’t say this so that we could do the right things to make sure God will forgive us.

Jesus said this so that we might know the Father’s forgiveness.

Jesus said this so that we might learn to freely give as we have freely been given.

Jesus said this so that we might know that we belong to the Father.

Because those of us who are the Father’s will be like the Father.

Jesus, You want us to be like our Father. 

You want us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Which means forgiving and being merciful as our heavenly Father is forgiving and merciful.

Because when we do so, we come to know You more, Father, and to deepen our intimacy with You and to mature into Christ-likeness through the Spirit.

And as we’ve already prayed…

We want to know You—our Father in heaven.

We want to enjoy Your company. Hallowed be Your name.

We want to do what You do, to be like You. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Father, forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us. 

May we know Your forgiveness and freely share it with others.

May we freely forgive as we have freely been forgiven.

We choose to forgive, for we are the forgiven.

Amen.


Author:

Keagan

K

Hi, I’m Keagan! Some of my friends call me “Keags” though! My wife, Charity, is the C to my K. I am loved by Jesus and am in love with Jesus! I am passionate about others fully knowing and loving Jesus and living life in His unforced rhythms of grace. Read more of my writing here.


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Featured Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels

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