Pray Graciously Series

HoHum:

It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but it’s real. In recent years, scientists have discovered a kind of bacterial infection called necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly called flesh eating bacteria. Once this bacterium enters a human body, it can multiply rapidly. Within 24 hours, its victim begins to experience flu like symptoms, severe thirst, and extreme weakness. Within 3 or 4 days, the limb or area of the body most affected will being to swell, and dark blisters filled with blackish fluid will appear. At 5 days, the victim’s blood pressure will drop severely, and he or she will go into toxic shock. If it’s not discovered early and treated quickly and aggressively, it can consume a person’s health and well being from the inside out and eventually take that person’s life. Now before we panic, we can relax. Flesh eating bacteria is rare, fewer than a thousand cases a year in the US. Flesh eating bacteria has its parallel in the spiritual realm and just like its physical counterpart, this spiritual affliction can fester and grow. If it’s not discovered early and treated quickly and aggressively, it can consume a person’s spirit and soul from the inside out and eventually rob that person of his or her spiritual life and vitality. Hebrews 12:15: “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Had a professor who agreed with these statements but would add that having unforgiveness in any area does not affect a person’s salvation. We all have things that we struggle to forgive and if this disqualifies us for salvation, then we are all condemned. I have issues with this thought especially as we consider the teachings on this subject from Jesus. As I look at my experience in life with forgiveness, I also hope this professor is correct as far as salvation. Keep considering this as I teach on this subject.

WBTU:

When Jesus taught His followers to pray, He linked the petition for daily bread with the petition for forgiveness. Look at Matthew 6:11-12 and then Luke 11:3-4. My hesitation with debts but we see here that these are linked together in both Model prayers. I think this is intentional. I think both the plea for bread and the prayer for forgiveness are supposed to be daily requests because we need both, every day; food and forgiveness. We should pray for both, every day. That same professor said that we should pray this not so much as a petition but as a reminder that all of our sins have been forgiven. Okay, but Jesus’s words appear like a petition to me. Notice that Jesus said “Forgive us as we forgive” (Matthew 6:12 brings this out the best). That is the biggest 2 letter word imaginable- as. It can be taken several different ways. That is intentional because each of the possible meanings contained in that little word is instructive and potentially life changing.

Thesis: In what ways are we to forgive?

For instances:

1. Pray to forgive willingly

“Forgive us as we forgive,” teaches us that our forgiveness of others somehow activates the Father’s forgiveness for us. This can be taken to mean, “Forgive us in the same way we forgive others.” It can be understood as a suggestion that our forgiveness of others will set the tone for the Father’s forgiveness of us. Jesus said as much. Jesus gives more comments on this teaching in Matthew 6:14-15 (Read). I don’t know how He could be any more straightforward. On another occasion, Jesus told a parable to get across this point: Matthew 18:23-35 (Read it). I don’t know how Jesus could make it any clearer: forgiveness is a big deal. This is a big deal because it is bad for us. It’s a soul eating infection. It will eat away at us from the inside out, and it will short circuit our experience of forgiveness. James Mulholland asks this question, “Do we want God’s forgiveness to be diminished or our mercy to be expanded?” Jesus teaches us to pray for our mercy to be expanded. The answer to our prayers is implicit in the prayer itself. “Forgive us as we forgive others.” I don’t want God to forgive me grudgingly. I want God to forgive me willingly. I want Him to run to me as the father of the prodigal son raced to his son, meeting him, embracing him, even interrupting his confession with grace! So when I pray, “Forgive us as we forgive others,” I am saying I want my mercy to be expanded. I want to forgive willingly because that’s the kind of reception I want from God. I don’t want God to measure out my forgiveness in human ways; I want to measure out forgiveness to others in big ol’ God ways, I want to be willing to forgive, I want to be quick to forgive. I want to turn that phrase from the Lord’s Prayer around and “forgive others as God forgives me,” which is exactly what Paul later wrote in Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”