A PATTERN FOR PRAYER
WASH YOUR FEET!
"This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." (1 John 1:5-10, NLT)
"… and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us." (Matthew 6:12, NLT)
(SLIDE 2)
INTRODUCTION
A little fellow had been very naughty, so he was sent to his room to consider his actions. A short time later he emerged from his room and said to his parents “I’ve been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer.” Pleased with his attitude, his father sought to encourage him, “That’s wonderful. If you asked God to make you good, I know that He will help you!” “Oh! But I didn’t ask God to make me good” came the reply, “I just asked God to help you to put up with me!”
One of the hardest things in life for most of us is to admit that we are wrong, that we are to blame, that we have messed up or that we are the problem! That reminds me of that delightful ‘PEANUTS’ comic strip.
Lucy is throwing a tantrum. Her mother has cancelled her birthday party because she was disobedient. Linus, her brother, suggests to her that her strategy is all wrong, “The more you fuss, the worse off you’ll be,” he reasons with her “Why not admit it was all your own fault. Why not go to Mom and say to her that you admit you were bad and that she was right to cancel your party and that you are sorry and from now on you’ll try to be good… That’s much better than ranting and raving. All that does is to prove Mom’s point!” Lucy thinks about it, rehearses what Linus has suggested she should say and sets out to confess. She stops, thinks again and finally explodes “I’d rather die!”
It is never easy to humble ourselves and to admit the fault was completely ours. Repentance and returning is never easy! It takes a lot to say "I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you," (Luke 15:18, NLT)
Knowing this, our Lord in introducing us to A PATTERN FOR PRAYER now points us to the fifth petition of the prayer… "… and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
Thus far in the Pattern for Prayer … OUR LORD
HAS FOCUSED OUR ATTENTION ON:
• GOD’S PERSON … “May Your name be kept holy”
• GOD’S PURPOSE … “May Your Kingdom come soon”
• GOD’S PROGRAM … “May Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”
• GOD’S PROVISION … “Give us today the food we need”
OUR FOCUS IS NOW TURNED TO OUR NEED FOR …
• GOD’S PARDON … "… and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
In considering the implications of this petition regarding our need of forgiveness, THREE FACETS come into view…
• THE PROBLEM
• THE PROVISION
• THE PREREQUISITE (next week)
(SLIDE 3)
Firstly, THE PROBLEM…SIN
It is vital that we recognize that what is commonly known as the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ can neither be prayed by our Lord (specifically because of this petition for as the writer of Hebrews reminds us … “He was tempted in every way that we are, but He didn’t sin.” (Hebrews 4:15b, GW)); nor is the prayer for general use,this is a FAMILY PRAYER. We have addressed God as ‘OUR FATHER’ and only those who truly know Him as FATHER can meaningfully pray this prayer! This prayer is reserved for those who are in an intimate relationship with Almighty God, who have been
• Made right with God through Christ
• Who are being led by the Spirit
• Are able to call God ‘Abba Father’
This prayer is in no way a prayer for the sinner outside of Christ who has not accepted God’s Plan of Salvation! This prayer moves within the intimacy of God’s family.
If this is the case, that only genuine children of God, only those whom …"He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins." (Colossians 1:13-14, NLT), can pray this pray, this begs the question …
“If I am a Christian, and God has already forgiven me, why should I have to pray for His forgiveness daily?”
JI Packer poses the dilemma … “If Christ’s death atoned for all our sins, past, present and future (as it did), and if God’s verdict justifying the believer (“I accept you as righteous for Jesus’ sake) is eternally valid (as it is), why need the Christian his daily sins to God at all?” (JI Packer – ‘Praying the Lord’s Prayer’)
This is looking at sin and forgiveness the wrong way! Sin, though forgiven, is a reality in the life of a Christian. Writing to believers John says, as we read earlier … “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” (1 John 1:8, NLT).
When we were saved, we did not cease to sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He bore the punishment and won forgiveness for all our sin … past present and future.
The Bible says … "He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed." (1 Peter 2:24, NLT)
So … when we receive Christ as Saviour, the judgment of God for our sin (past, present and future) is placed on Jesus. That is why Paul can triumphantly say to the Romans
"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NLT)
Do you see! At the moment of our acceptance of Christ as Saviour, at the moment that we acknowledge that we are sinners who have transgressed or rebelled against God’s Plan and Purpose for us expressed in His Law, at the moment we ask for the gift of forgiveness brought about by His sacrifice on the Cross, at that moment
WE ARE SAVED FROM THE PENALTY OF OUR SIN
What glorious words from Horatio Spafford in his well loved hymn …
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious tho’t!—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Therefore our eternal position is secure …
"So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins." (Ephesians 1:6-7, NLT)
HOWEVER!!
Our daily practice is that sin still has power in our lives … Paul describes this struggle us in Romans 7 concluding …
"So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." (Romans 7:25, NLT)
That stubborn sinfulness that so dominates us, constantly cause us to make wrong choices that causes us worry, fear, anxiety, confusion, conflicts, broken relationships, depression discouragement and despair is so ingrained that only the power of God can conquer it. The GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS CAME and lived among us and died on the Cross not only TO FREE US FROM THE DAMNING PENALTY OF SIN but also TO BREAK THE DOMINATING POWER OF SIN over us. And the wonderful news is that one day Jesus will RELEASE US FROM THE DEFILING PRESENCE OF SIN. Because God came to redeem us, we are assured that those who trust in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord will one day go to be with him in Heaven freed completely from the defiling presence of sin.
Acknowledging this fact, Jesus includes this petition into our PATTERN FOR PRAYER … "and forgive us our debts" (Matthew 6:12, ESV)
It is interesting that whilst in the New Testament, five Greek words are used to describe sin each with its own particular aspect; the word Jesus uses in the Prayer that He taught us is …
‘debts’ – ‘opheilema’ – moral or spiritual debts
Whilst the other words highlight the aspects of sin as missing the mark, stepping over the line, careless slipping or falling or outright lawlessness … this word is particularly appropriate because it carries with it a sense of obligation as Children of God to live lives in accordance with our Fathers Will. Something incidentally that we have already prayed for when we prayed “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
In the light of what He has done for us … we owe it to God to obey His commands. Beloved, we need to be clear about sin; all sin … especially sin in the life of a Christian, has consequences and has to be dealt with …
If a child who misbehaves …
• It breaks the hearts of the parents,
• It disturbs the intimacy within the family circle and
• It causes a dysfunctioning within the home
However that child who misbehaves…
• never ceases to be a member of the family …
SO TO SIN …
• BREAKS GOD’S HEART
• BREAKS OUR INTIMACY WITH OUR FATHER
• BREAKS OUR EFFECTIVENESS FOR SERVICE
Sadly, whilst sin breaks the heart of God, it does not break our own hearts. It is amazing how quick we are to pick up on the sins of others but are slow to recognize it in ourselves. Quick to excuse ourselves…
A lady was vociferous as the preacher was touching on the sins of others often adding her vocal ‘Amen’, ‘You tell ‘em preacher’. However when the pastor touched on a sin particularly prevalent in her life, she jumped up and said “Aw! Preacher, you’ve just stopped preaching and now you have started meddling!”
BECAUSE SIN HAS TO BE DEALT WITH … THEREFORE
(SLIDE 4)
Secondly …THE PROVISION … FORGIVENESS
Here is Jesus’ wonderful provision, whenever we come before God, our Father in prayer, just as we are daily to seek His PROVISION so to daily we need to seek His PARDON
Jesus gave us a wonderful picture of this when He washed the disciple’s feet in the Upper Room. Do you recall as he came to Peter, Peter protested but when Jesus said unless He wash Peter’s feet, Peter could have no part of Him. To which characteristically over the top Peter tells Jesus "Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”" (John 13:9-10, NLT)
WE DO NOT NEED DAILY … A COMPLETE CLEANSING
That occurred at our rebirth…Past, Present and Future sins forgiven, cleansed…
BUT WE DO NEED DAILY …TO WASH OUR FEET!
HOW?
Remember John’s words … "If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." (1 John 1:8-9, NLT)
WE NEED DAILY TO ASK FOR GOD’S FORGIVENESS …
THROUGH CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE …
THIS INVOLVES:
• CONTEMPLATION
Charles Steinmetz, a genius of an electrical engineer for General Electric was called in on one occasion after his retirement to assist with a baffling problem. When he arrived, he walked around the machines and after a few minutes he took a piece of chalk out of his pocket and made a cross mark on one piece of the equipment. A few days later the company received a bill for $10 000 from Steinmetz. It seemed exorbitant, so believing it to be a mistake they requested an itemized account. After a few more days it arrived detailing:
Making one cross mark: $1.00
Knowing where to put it: $9 999.00
We need to know where to put the mark. Without this confession is dangerous leading either to self-condemnation and being paralysed by our guilt or glossing over the truly ugly stains of sin in our lives.
We need to allow the Holy Spirit to place the mark …The Psalmist says … "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you." (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT)
We need to take time to reflect on our thoughts, our words and our deeds of the past day. David says …"For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night." (Psalm 51:3, NLT)
We need to take personal responsibility for our behaviour, to own up without excuses, blaming others or our circumstances or even blaming who God made us.
Anne Russell characterizes this well …
I went to my psychiatrist to be psychoanalysed
To find out why I killed the cat
And blackened my husband’s eye
He laid me on a downy couch to see what he could find
And here is what he dredged from my subconscious mind
When I was one, my Mommy hid my dolly in a trunk
And so it naturally follows I’m always drunk!
When I was two, I saw my father kiss the maid one day
And that is why I suffer from kleptomania
At three, I had a feeling of ambivalence towards my brothers
And so I naturally, poison all my lovers
But I am happy now I’ve learned the lesson this has taught
That everything I do that’s wrong … is someone else’s fault!
We need to look at our sin through God’s eyes, see the effects of my sin, recognizing the consequences of my sin.
"What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?" (Romans 7:24, NCV)
• CONFESSION
A very short boy wanted so badly to play basketball. He even told his dad that he wanted to become a pro when he was older. Knowing that his son would never be able to play the game, the dad asked the local coach if there was anything he could recommend to make the boy taller. "You might take him down to the museum and put him on the old torture stretch rack," the coach said. Several weeks later the coach asked the father if putting the boy on the stretch rack had helped. "Well, it didn’t make him any taller, but he confessed to several things that I never knew."
God does not need my confession to find out what I have done wrong; nor does God need my confession to pry open His mercy and His grace. Confession is not for God’s benefit; it is for my benefit, It helps me to recognizes that God is right in judging my failure to keep His commands; it is agreeing with God by entering into the pain that sin causes, to Him, To others, to myself!.
"You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair." (Psalm 51:4, The Message)
• CONVICTION
Paul says … "For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death." (2 Corinthians 7:10, NLT)
We need to note that repentance is not synonymous with grief or sorrow over sin. To feel sorry about, to feel guilt for or to regret what has happened, is not to repent. These emotions may produce repentance; indeed they should, if we are in tune with the Holy Spirit.
So what is repentance? The Greek word “metanoeo’ means to change one’s mind or purpose. Therefore it is first and foremost the conviction that what we are doing is damaging our relationship with God and the conviction that by turning away from that behavior, that attitude, that habit – whatever it is – and positively taking up God’s way, we once again will grow our relationship with God.
The classic example of this in the Bible is that of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector and tax collectors in Israel got the job by bidding on it, in essence selling out their countrymen for their own personal gain. Rome didn’t care how much tax was collected – just so that they got their share. So tax collectors were notorious extortionists. But when Jesus encountered him and dined with him – something no self-respecting Jew would do out of fear of being defiled – Zacchaeus underwent a change of heart. Not only did he stop what he was doing – a legalized form of stealing – he also gave half his possessions to the poor and even made restitution to people he robbed through taxation.
So what can we learn about repentance from Zacchaeus?
Repentance is a change of mind and heart that involves both a turning from sin and a turning back to God. It is a conscious mindset that acknowledges that the behavior is wrong, destructive and abhorrent to God and determines to follow God’s way instead.
Therefore, the litmus test of the grief we experience over the sin committed is that it produces a turnaround of attitude and behavior. This differs from what Paul described as worldly sorrow, or ungodly grief which issues only in remorse that feels regret at being found out or having to suffer the consequences of the action.
This is so well characterised by the man who sent an anonymous bank cheque to the Receiver of Revenue for back taxes with a note attached that said…“I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes I had to send you this cheque. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the balance!”
• CLEANSING
This is the experience of God’s grace and forgiveness.
John says … “God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. ” (1 John 1:9, GW)
Remember God does not forget our sin, He chooses to remember it no more; to treat us just as if we had not sinned. What Grace? What Mercy?
… “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.” ” (Hebrews 8:12, GW)
“As far as the east is from the west— that is how far he has removed our rebellious acts from himself.” (Psalm 103:12, GW)
David knew the experience … "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!" (Psalm 32:1-2, NLT)
(SLIDE 5)
CONCLUSION
When you pray … “and forgive us our sins, …” WHAT GOD IS SEEKING IS BENT KNEES AND BROKEN HEARTS … "The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts." (Isaiah 57:15, NLT)
A little boy was visiting his grandparents on the farm. Playing with his slingshot he accidently killed Grandma pet duck. He hid it in the woodpile but unfortunately for him his sister Sally saw it all and held him to ransom. She made him do all her chores, while she enjoyed herself. If he complained, she reminded him of what he had done. Finally when he could stand it no longer, he confessed to his Grandmother. His Grandmother said “I saw the whole thing, because I love you I forgave you .But I was wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you!” God loves you, He went to the Cross to forgive you, are you going to allow Satan to hold you prisoner in your guilt.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night.
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray:
I woke—the dungeon flamed with light!
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. (Charles Wesley)
