Give and Forgive

Give and Forgive

(Matthew 6:9-13)

Yearly Theme:  “Goodness is… Governing”

Series Title:  “The Goodness of Prayer”

August 18^th, 2024

Something to think about:

GOD’s provision for our daily, weekly, and monthly needs comes in so many different ways.  If we trust Him with our lives, He is abundantly willing and able to supply us with what we need.  Even the Psalmist declares,

Psalm 55:22 (NIV),  Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

As we continue in our series on the LORD’s Prayer, we come to verses 11 and 12 that shift in focus from GOD to the believer.  In these two verses Jesus instructs His disciples to pray for daily provision of physical (and many scholars would agree, spiritual) sustenance.  In addition, the prayer continues with a focus on the central theme of forgiveness from GOD toward us, and from us toward others who have hurt and/or offended us.  Let’s take a closer look again today:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT),

⁹ Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be kept holy.

¹⁰ May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us today the food we need,

 ¹² and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

¹³ And don’t let us yield to temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

Key Point:  “Our trust in GOD is the means for provision from Him and forgiveness in Him.”

What are the requests that Jesus tells His disciples to pray for in this specific verse?  Let’s see:

•    .
  

•  of our  , as we  those who  against us.

Something to take home:

Consider this illustration as we close:

“When someone hurts you, you've been robbed.  Because that's what the enemy does (Jn 10:10), and that person is acting as an agent of the enemy.  But if you don't forgive, you will continue to be robbed.

“Picture it this way:  Someone comes and knocks on your door in the middle of the night.  You're sound asleep so you don't hear it.  But you have a guest, and they hear it and answer the door.

“‘I want to rob your house.’ says the robber.

“‘Sure,’ says the guest.  ‘Come on in.’  And with that, the guest goes back to bed.

“In the morning, you wake up and find out that the thief has taken all your valuables.  And worse, you find out that your guest is responsible.  Would you be angry?  Of course!

“So, you kick your guest out, and the next night, you're still so angry that you can't sleep.  Before long, there's another knock at the door.  This time you answer the door.

“‘I want to rob your house.’ says the robber. 

“‘Sure,’ you reply.  ‘Come on in.’  Then, you go back to bed.

“In the morning, you wake up and find out that the thief has taken all your jewelry.  Who's to blame this time?  You are. 

“If someone hurts you, it's not your fault you've been robbed of your goods, your reputation, your innocence.  But, when you refuse to forgive, you open the door and let the enemy just keep robbing you.  That’s when it becomes your fault.”

We can never forget that when GOD forgives us of our sins, He doesn’t hold what we’ve done against us anymore.  It’s gone, never to be brought back up again.  And that forgiveness that GOD gives is directly tied to the death and resurrection of Christ as a person surrenders their life to Him with complete abandon; holding nothing back.  If then, GOD can forgive us of our sins, how then can we not forgive others who have sinned against us? 

The great 20th-century Welsh minister and author, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, writes the following about this particular verse in the LORD’s Prayer:

“I say to the glory of God and in utter humility, that whenever I see myself before God and realize that even something of what my blessed Lord has done for me, I am ready to forgive anybody anything.  I cannot withhold it, I do not even want to withhold it.  That is what our Lord is saying here.  We have a right therefore to pray like that.  Pray to God and say, ‘Forgive me O God as I forgive others because of what Thou hast done for me.  All I ask is that Thou shouldst forgive me in the same manner; not to the same degree, because all I do is imperfect.  In the same way, as it were, as Thou hast forgiven me, I am forgiving others.  Forgive me as I forgive them because of what the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has done in my heart.’”[1]

Do you trust GOD for your daily bread?  Do you forgive others just as GOD through Christ Jesus has forgiven you?

[1] D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Studies on the Sermon on the Mount, (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids: Michigan; 1959-60), 349.