Get Connected: A Daily Pattern for Prayer
“God Forgive Me for My Sins”
Week 4
Matthew 6:12
We are learning what it means to pray to God and how to be more effective in our prayer life so that our prayers are not hindered but answered. The Lord is teaching us from Matthew chapter 6 a pattern of prayer for our daily lives.
Three weeks ago we looked at “God I praise you.”
Two week ago we looked at “God I want to do your will.”
Last week we looked at “God meet my needs.”
Today we are looking at Matthew 6:12.
Matthew 6:12 "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." NAS
"God forgive me for my sins."
Psalm 51:1 ‘Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.” NLT
David cried out to God for forgiveness. We need to cry out to God and say “God forgive me for my sins.”
Today is the issue of our heart and whether our hearts are right before a holy God. Are we walking in fellowship? Is there unconfessed sin? Is my heart right before the Lord?
Do an inventory of your heart. Where is your relationship with Christ today? Are you walking in fellowship with the Lord? Is there unconfessed sin? Have your slowly, maybe unknowingly walked away from the Lord?
It’s time to come back. It’s time to confess you sins. It’s time to walk in fellowship with the Lord again. Do you want that? You can have that today and everyday for the rest of your life.
i.e. - Rock illustration - Rocks between me and God. I must name them and God forgives them and removes them.
God more than anything else desires fellowship with His children. He desires that we walk in fellowship. Moment by moment.
What I must realize about my sin:
1. I must realize God wants to forgive my sins.
God hates our sins. Our sins separate us from God and His holiness. Our sins separate us from fellowship with God.
God’s greatest desire for you today is that you would walk in fellowship with Him.
That’s why God wants us to start our daily prayers focusing on His holiness. That He is without sin. There is no sin in Him. “God, hallowed be your name.” “Holy is your name.” ‘You embody holiness.”
“God help me to be holy like you are holy.” That’s His will for us, that we would be holy like He is holy.
So begin by focusing on His holiness and as I focus on His holiness that should point out to me any sin in my own heart and life. And as I recognize my sin, as God reveals to my heart anything that is not pleasing to Him. I realized that God wants to forgive me of that sin.
We need to realize when we sin it angers the Lord. That anger puts distance between us and the Lord.
i.e. – Children do something wrong. I let them know I am angry with them. Causes distance. Hopefully that distance will bring a desire to remove my anger and for the distance between us to be removed and fellowship restored.
Judges 2:12 “They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord.” NLT
Throughout scripture when the people of God sinned, it angered the Lord. God wanted them to know how unhappy He was with their sin. That His anger burned against them for their sin. He does this when we sin so we recognize our sin and seek forgiveness and restoration with Him.
Psalm 85:4 “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.” KJV
When we confess our sins to God, God forgives and the anger of the Lord is turned away from us. It ceases to exist. And God forgives us and fellowship with Him is restored immediately.
Micah 7:18 “Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant…You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.” NLT
Psalm 51:2 “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.” NLT
Daily we need to ask God to forgive us and to remove the guilt we feel because of our sin.
God delights in forgiving our sins. It gives Him great joy to stop being anger with us and to forgive us. I don’t find joy and pleasure in being angry with my children. I don’t like when I am angry. I believe that’s how God is, He hates being angry towards his children. It gives Him great joy and delight to stop being angry with us and to show us His love and forgive us. He wants to forgive our sins.
God alone has the power to forgive sins.
One day some men brought Jesus a lame man. And He told this man that his sins were forgiven. The religious leaders though that was blasphemy. “Only God can forgive sin.” Jesus wanted to show them He was God and He did have power to forgive sins, so he told the man to get up and walk.
Matthew 9:6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins…“Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” NLT
God has all power and all authority over everything including our sins. And He alone has the power and authority to forgive us of our sins.
Luke 7:49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” NLT
Jesus was out there looking for people to forgive. God wants to forgive people of their sins. God wants to forgive you of your sins.
Listen to what the Psalmist has to say in Psalm 86:5 “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.” NLT
God is a good God, He is a loving God, He is a compassionate God, He is a God that is so ready to forgive us for our sins.
Matter of fact when we ask Him for forgiveness, you know what? He has to forgive us. It goes against His nature to not forgive when we ask.
Psalm 65:3 Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. NLT
We can get overwhelmed by our sins. They can be so many we don’t know where to begin. Sin can cause depression, lack of motivation and can cause lack of purpose and meaning in life. Maybe there is a sin in your life that you are having a hard time asking forgiveness for, or maybe you don’t believe God could forgive you for it. There is no sin that you have ever committed that God cannot forgive. He forgives all of our sins. No matter how many there are, no matter what they are. God forgives them all. He has all power and all authority to forgive sins.
Psalm 103:12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. NLT
When God forgives our sins. He removes our sin as far as the east is from the west. He throws are sin away. It is forgiven. It is removed. It is no longer part of our life.
Micah 7:19 Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!" NLT
God is a loving, compassionate, forgiving God. God forgives us when we ask Him and He talks our sin and He throws it in the depths of the ocean and He remembers our sin no more.
Jesus is saying here when you pray to God ask for forgiveness because God wants to forgive us of all our sins.
You can be far from God today because of your sins. But you only need to recognize your situation, confess your sins and God will forgive and fellowship with the Lord will be restored.
i.e. – Prodical Son
2. I must daily confess my sins and seek God’s forgiveness.
God wants a daily relationship with us. That’s what He’s after. He wants intimacy with us. Just like God wants us to daily come and ask Him to meet our daily needs, He wants us to daily come to Him and confess our sins so we can be forgiven and continue in uninterrupted fellowship with Him.
i.e. - My relationship with my wife Michele. What if I do something to her that hurts her. I sin against her. But I don't go to her and confess that I have done something wrong. I don't spell it our and confess that I have hurt her. Is that going to help my relationship with her? Is that showing love towards her? Will cause lack of intimacy and fellowship with her? I have to make things right with her for the relationship to be right and so we can walk in unity and fellowship together. So I must go to her and tell her I have hurt her. I must name my sin and ask her forgiveness.
My intimacy with God is strained when I have when I have not confessed my sin to God.
Proverbs 28:13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. NLT
God tells us we will not be blessed and we will not prosper if we hide our sin and not confess it. Those who confess there sins will receive mercy and forgiveness from God.
I John 1:8-9 "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." NLT
Let’s be honest. We are all sinners. We sin everyday. We need to be sensitive to when we sin. We need to confess it and turn away from it.
Luke 18 – Pharisee vs. Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else.For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” NLT
Confess means - I say the same things God says about my sin. I acknowledge His perspective on my sin. I own up to my own sin. It is my sin. Not someone else’s sin.
When I confess something I verbalize it. Confession is a proclamation.
i.e. – Marriage/Baptism
Confession is telling God what I have done wrong. Verbally telling God what sin I committed.
Psalm 51:4 “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.” NLT
David cried out to God and confessed his sins. He owned His own sin. He knew it was wrong. He knew God had seen it all. He confessed it all to God.
God wants us to own up to our own sin. He wants us to say with our mouth what we have done wrong and to be specific about it.
i.e. - How we handle discipline with our children. Put them in a timeout. We ask them... "Do you know why we put you in a timeout?" We are wanting them to grieve over their sin. To understand the offense. To name it and understand why it is wrong and then confess it and not do it again.
That’s what God is after in our hearts. We are truly sorry for our sin. We know it was wrong. We know it hurt God and maybe others. We confess it, we verbalize it. And we ask God to forgive us and to help us not do it again.
“God please forgive me of my sin and help me to change and not do that sin again.” This has to be one of our daily prayers to God or we will slowly, unknowingly fall away from fellowship with God.
Sin hinders the work of God in my life. I don’t want anything in my life to hinder my relationship with God or His blessings to me.
Psalm 32:3-5 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. NLT
See what the Psalmist is saying? When we don’t confess our sins, we feel distance from God, we feel guilt over our sin. Our body wastes away and we lose our strength. Sin is taking it’s toll on us. God is not blessing our life and our prayers are being hindered.
We need to come to the point we understand what is going on and cry out to God, and we confess our rebellious spirit. And the moment we do, we are forgiven and the guilt is removed.
Psalm 51:7-8 “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me now let me rejoice. NLT
David cried out to be forgiven and to be cleansed from His sin. The moment we confess is the moment God forgives us and cleanses us and gives us back the joy we lost because of our sin.
Part of our confession is to God but we can’t forget or leave out those we have sinned against. The easy part for some of us is just to confess it to God. But God says that’s not enough. If we have sinned against someone else we need to go and make it right with that person.
Matthew 5 and coming to church to worship the Lord but we haven’t asked the person we hurt to forgive us for our sin against them. God is not going to hear our prayers until we go and confess to the person we have offended.
James 5:16 a "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed..." NLT
God even asks us to take our confession further than to Him. He tells us to confess our sins to our brothers and sisters. To tell others the sins we have committed. “Hey, I’ve sinned here, please pray for me, I need your prayers.”
God asks us to confess our sins daily and when we confess our sins we are forgiven.
Forgive - To send away, to dismiss, to remove their sins from them, to divorce, to expire.
i.e. - Scapegoat
Is there any sin that I could commit that God would not forgive? Only one.
Matthew 12:31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.” NLT
This is rejecting the Lord. Refusing to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Those who refuse to believe will be forever condemned for this sin. Because Christ is the only one who can save people from their sins.
I must realize God wants to forgive my sins. I must daily confess my sins and seek God’s forgiveness.
3. I must forgive others as God has forgiven me.
Matthew 6:12 "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." NAS
This is past tense. It implies that when we come to God we have already dealt with the issue of forgiving others. If we haven't we have no business asking God to forgive us for our sins.
And scripture is pretty clear here. That if we don't forgive others for there sins against us, God won't forgive us for our sins against Him.
Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." NAS
Luke 7:40-43 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied
Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt. “That’s right.” Jesus said. NLT
How much of your sin has God forgiven you? Does He hold any sin against you? Is there a sin He won’t forgive you for? No. Therefore we must forgive others when they sin against us.
How large is the debt God has forgiven you? Have you been forgiven much? Then you need in return to forgive much.
I believe only true believers have the capacity to forgive others when sinned against. They understand how much God has forgiven them.
When we truly forgive another person we completely remove the sin they committed against us. We liberate that person from their sin against us and no longer penalize them for it.
Eph. 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. NLT
Col. 3:13 "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." NLT
God will not forgive you of your sins if you are not forgiving others.
Don't say you love God and want to be forgiven, yet you're unwilling to forgive someone who has hurt you. If God has shown you mercy you need to show others mercy. Our love for others proves we are truly His children.
How often should we forgive another person?
Luke 17:3-4 So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” NLT
If someone sins against you seven times a day and each time says would you forgive me. We are commanded to forgive them.
And if God expects that from us He is trying to let us know that even if we sin against Him seven times in one day and each time we sin we confess it to Him, He promises to forgive us.
We need to be ready to forgive others. It is fruit in the life of a true believer. A person who has been forgiven by God forgives others. Because those that don't God says have no part in Him.
Listen…Have a ready spirit to forgive someone who sins against you today. Be on alert. Today, someone will probably do something to you that might hurt you. Have a heart ready to forgive.
Deut. 6:14-18 “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God all the laws and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors.” NLT
