20) Praying For God's Forgiveness! Series

TEACH US TO PRAY

Part 5 – Praying for God’s Forgiveness.

TEXT: Matthew 6:9-13

Introduction

Verse 9:

9 After this manner therefore [in this way, and following after this example]…

Pray ye: Jesus said - And then He begins by simply praying this:

Our Father / which art in Heaven, / Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Please take careful note - The Lord’s Prayer begins with but one focus,

As Christ seeks to simply Reverence God.

In this example of prayer, Christ’s entire focus, at least initially…

Was solely on the Lord as opposed to being on Himself.

He starts by Reverencing the God

And then He Focuses on God’s Kingdom

And then He after Seeks God’s will.

And no matter how you look at it,

This prayer begins by acknowledging God and the things of God.

However, Christ’s Prayer of course continues

And we begin to see a subtle shift in focus,

And a change in how Jesus is prays.

Whereas the first two verses were all about who God is

And what God desires for us,

Now Jesus begins to address who we are…

And outlines some of the things we in turn need from Him.

Lets sum the next three verses up real quick – verse 11:

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

Jesus Prays first: “Lord FEED US”.

Verse 12: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

The next thing Jesus prays is: “Lord FORGIVE US”

And then on into verse 13 He says:

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

In other word’s Jesus prays: Lord stand with us, Lord protect us...

Or perhaps another way to put this is “FIGHT WITH US”.

Remember, the Scriptures teach that we are all involved in a Spiritual struggle

In fact, there is a spiritual battle going on right now around us

And it’s one we can never hope to win on our own in the Flesh.

We need the Lord’s help, we need God’s deliverance

And we need Him to fight with us…

And we’re going to study this in more detail through the weeks to come

Review & Recap

Our whole focus last week was on verse 11.

Jesus prayed: Give us this day our daily bread.

“Lord Feed Us.” – That’s what Jesus prayed.

And there are two parts to this prayer.

Firstly, there is a physical aspect to what Christ is praying,

As He requests of the Father daily provision for the sustenance our bodies require.

You see, physically speaking, our bodies need...

A consistent intake of food in order to survive.

Give us this day our daily bread – Jesus prayed

And do you know something?

God does provide for us in this way– and He always has.

Remember, last week we found ourselves back in Genesis

Where we saw very clearly how God created the herbs and crops of the field

Along with all the animals and fruit trees…

Which He in turn gave to mankind for our food.

And I love the words of the Psalmist found in Psalms 37:25:

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread.

This does not mean that we as Children of God will not struggle,

Or face physical problems and hardships in our lives.

No – this verse merely attests to the fact

That God has always provided for what His people need physically.

And Jesus teaches that we ought to pray for God’s provision in this regard,

Saying, Give us this day our daily bread - Amen to that.

Of course, there is more to God’s provision in our daily lives…

Than just what He provides for our physical survival.

In fact, in Luke Chapter 4 Jesus acknowledges

How God not only provides for us physically…

But how He also provides for us spiritually as well.

In fact, as He was being tempted of the Devil in the wilderness He said:

Man shall not live by Bread alone – but by every Word of God

Here Jesus reminds us all that there is so much more necessary…

To our daily life and living than mere physical sustenance.

In fact, Jesus says we need His spiritual sustenance in our lives too.

And spiritually speaking – this is to be our “daily bread” (The Bible).

The Word of God is what feeds us spiritually.

In humble recognition of our humanity…

This is the first thing Jesus teaches us,

It’s that we would all simply learn to pray that God would provide for us everyday…

The things we need both physically and spiritually in our lives.

In verse 11, Jesus says: Lord Feed Us…