May 7 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Forgive us our debts,

 

In the previous devotions I covered the following portion of The Lord’s Prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

Today we cover the next phrase in sequence:  

 

¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

 Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12

In the Jewish writings it is common to call sins "debts"; and the phrase, of forgiving, is used both of God and men. While we are to forgive the monetary debts of the poor who cannot pay, we are to forgive those have done us wrong and to pray to God to forgive them also.

I have always preferred to understand this phrase of The Lord’s prayer as follows: Lord, please teach me, help me, and strengthen me to forgive others in the same way You have forgiven me.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, inseparable, and everlasting love. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can forgive my debtors as You have forgiven me and to pray for them. Help me God to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Strengthen me so that I can clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. God, I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your holy name. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the mighty name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

April 30 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

 

 After Jesus had finished describing the wrong way to pray, He illustrated the right way to pray by using the following prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into testing,
    but deliver us from evil,

for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Mathew 6: 9-13

 

Of course, if this prayer is simply memorized and repeated without a faith, commitment, and sincerity, it becomes the same sort of babbling that Jesus had just condemned. 

 

‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ means to me: As angels dwelling in heaven follow God’s commandments we should follow His commandments on earth. We should carry out God’s plans on earth the same way it is carried out by the angels in heaven.  We pray for His perfect will to also be done on earth and in particular, in us believers in our lives. We should be furthering His Kingdom here on earth and share the good news of God’s love for humanity with all those we can, so that this world would be more like His Kingdom.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your deep, everlasting, and inseparable love. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can follow Your commandments and help further Your Kingdom here on earth and share the good news about Your deep love for humanity because You ‘want all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.’ 1 Timothy 2: 4-6  God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your holy name. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. In the name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray to You Father God. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein