We often pray to get God to do those things we can’t do for ourselves, which isn’t bad, by the way. God loves to do the impossible in our lives. And He loves hearing us ask in faith. In Scripture we find that God can forgive us. We seek forgiveness from God through prayer. This is one of the purposes of prayer, and we find it throughout the Bible. I’d say most prayers include asking God for forgiveness. Many times it is teamed with asking for something else they want, but regardless, forgiveness is sought through prayer. Jesus even taught that we should do this. But He also expounded on the idea a bit. When training His disciples on how to pray, Christ said, “You should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13) We are breaking that prayer down in our devotionals this week. Today we look at the fourth part of the prayer. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Forgiveness comes from outside. One of the things we can’t do for ourselves is forgive ourselves. We often hear people say things like, “You have to be able to forgive yourself if you want to move on.” Well, that’s good humanistic theology, but there is no Biblical basis for ‘forgiving yourself.’ Forgiving yourself has no weight or value because you are the offender. You don’t have the authority or position to forgive your own wicked actions. Someone steals a car, and then later they drop it off at the rightful owner’s house. Then the thief looks in the mirror and says, “I’m not going to hold this against you. You are free to live your life as if this never happened.” That doesn’t work. The thief is still guilty because the offended party has not forgiven them. So we seek forgiveness from God. Every sin is an act against God. We are guilty before Him. We have broken His order and laws, so we must ask Him to set us free from the guilt and judgment hanging over us. He is faithful, and will forgive us. But we must be honest before Him. It has been said that, “We owed Him a debt we could not pay. He paid a debt He did not owe.” It is in this transaction that we find the power for forgiveness. We have multiple debts before God, but His single act of pure sacrifice carries enough payment for every one. Forgiveness correlates to what’s on the inside. God’s forgiveness cannot be earned. It is free. We cannot forgive ourselves. But apparently there is a connection between the way we forgive and the way God forgives. This is very powerful, and is meant to change us. Jesus says that we should seek forgiveness from God for our debts/trespasses/sins. But we are to pray that God forgive us in the same manner that we forgive others. Woah… hold the forgiveness train. God’s forgiveness of us is tied to our forgiveness of others? That seems to put a burden on us. If we are forgiven according to the way we forgive others, that could mean that we may not be forgiven of some things. That isn’t how God works, is it?!? Actually, it is exactly how it works. And here’s why… The only part of this model prayer that Jesus revisits is this part about forgiveness. After completing the prayer, He tells His disciples, “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.” (Matthew 6:14-15) Could He be any clearer? Our vertical relationship is a clear reflection of our horizontal relationships. If we are going to call ourselves disciples of Jesus, we need to act like Jesus. Even in His dying breath, Christ was forgiving the very people who were killing Him. Here was a pure and perfect man forgiving wicked people. If a man who has never done wrong can forgive wrong people, it should be easy for people who have done wrong to forgive other people who have done them wrong. If I am slow to forgive others, God will be slow to forgive me. If I am quick to forgive others, forgiveness will come quickly from God. That is crazy enough. But in the prayer, Jesus kind of makes this a part of our request of God. He doesn’t say, “Please help me forgive others as you have forgiven me.” He says, “Forgive me in the same way as I forgive others.” We aren’t just to ask God to forgive us. In the asking, we are to take inventory of how we treat others. We may think that is crazy. But it would be crazier for God to forgive people who aren’t forgiving people. There is a phrase that goes like this, “Hurt people hurt people.” The idea is that people who have been hurt have a natural propensity to do the same thing to others. What if we said, “Forgiven people forgive people”? Today you will have the opportunity to forgive someone who owes you a debt (financial, emotional, spiritual). You will also likely be in a position where you will need forgiveness from God for a debt you owe Him. When that person who hurt you asks for forgiveness, please remember that you will be in the same position with God at some point. Respond to them as you want Him to respond to you. If we forgive others freely, God will forgive us freely. If we hold things against others, God will hold things against us. How cool is it that God will forgive us? How cool is it that He will empower us to forgive others? If you are struggling in receiving forgiveness from God, look to your own life. Are you struggling to forgive others? Ask God to give you a forgiving heart today, because He has a forgiving heart, and there’s plenty to go around. Here is a little extra reading from Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness… Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed $1,000,000.00 was brought before him. Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him $100. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ “At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35) [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Most people pray when they get in a jam. For some people, that is the only time they pray. The reality is, in a fallen world, we are basically always in a jam, right? It is good that people realize that they can call out to God, but it is bad that they think they can handle most of their life without Him. Prayer is not a way to get what we need from God so that we don’t have to have faith. Prayer is a way to seek and receive from God so that our faith is strengthened. Jesus was the Son of God. He was God in the flesh. He could create whatever He wanted to. Yet He prayed. He prayed to His Father so that He could be who He was supposed to be, not so the resources of heaven would make Him more independent. We have a tendency to pray to God so He can get us out of a scrape. Jesus knew this about us, so on a couple of occasions Jesus gave us prayer template. He basically said, “You should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13) We are breaking that prayer down in our devotionals this week. Today we look at the third part of the prayer. “Give us today our daily bread.” Sustenance is a gift. We were designed by God to work. Work is good. It gives us value. God told Adam in the Garden of Eden that he was to tend it. After the great sin and banishment, God told Adam that he would work harder for his sustenance. The ground would yield its fruit, but it would be much more difficult. The book of Proverbs is full of challenges for people to be hard workers and not slothful. We are to take care of our families and responsibilities. Even in the New Testament the apostle Paul told the early Christians that men should work hard to make a living to support themselves and their families. In fact, he went pretty strong on this, “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat. For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others. Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ that quietly working, they may eat their own food.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12) In another place he said, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, that is his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8) Those are strong words, and likely not well accepted by slackers. But the fact that we are to work hard and provide for our families does not mean we need to rely less on the gift of God that is our sustenance. The food we eat ultimately came from God. Sometimes we are in a place where nothing is working out for us, and we go broke. We lose everything. Perhaps due to a disaster we find ourselves with nothing. We cry out to God for help, and all of a sudden people help us out with free food. It is easy to see that as a gift. But even when you work hard and act responsibly, your food is a gift from God. God gave you the strength, talents, and opportunity to work hard, make money, and provide for your family. Faith in God is a great reward in itself. So no matter how successful you become, know that every day, every breath, every meal is a gift. Prayer is a daily act. If sustenance is always a gift from God, and we need sustenance on a daily basis… we should pray every day. Sometimes we may pray that God will take care of our future, and that is alright. But our daily need should keep us before Him on a daily basis. The Bible tells us that we should, “Pray constantly.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Some of us eat constantly. And if every meal is a gift, we should be praying regularly. We like to be independent. Most of us don’t like to have to ask anyone for things. And none of us would want to go back to the same well every day to get what we feel like we should be able to get on our own. People pray more when there is no food in the cupboard. And when God provides money for them, they usually stock the pantry. No one has $10,000 in the bank and goes grocery shopping every day. But we should be praying every day. We already breathe freely, inhaling and exhaling thousands of times per day without stopping to pray for each one. So is it that much of a burden to go to the Lord every day and talk to Him about the things you are thankful for as well as the things you need? Some people can go days or weeks without praying to God. But they sure know how to find Him in a crisis. If the only time you pray to God is during a crisis… your life will probably be one crisis after another. You need God’s help every day. Pray every day. Daily provision is transformational. We really aren’t wired to be dependent on the resources for food every day. But in this prayer Jesus refers to ‘daily bread’. Now in the Old Testament we find that there was a period of time in the nation of Israel as they came out of slavery in Egypt heading to the Promised Land where they woke up every day to find their daily food. This was a special kind of food with a special warning. Each person was to get their food from in front of their tent every morning. But they were only supposed to get enough food for that day. If someone had the bright idea that they would get enough for three days, they would wake up the second day to find that their food had spoiled. (On Friday they were to get enough for Friday and Saturday, as Saturday was a holy day to them and there would be no food outside their tent.) So when Jesus mentioned ‘daily bread’, the Jewish disciples listening understood the concept. We might get scared if we had to be focused every day on getting food for that day. It may seem like a better plan to ask God to give us our monthly bread, or our yearly bread. “God fill our bank account so we never have to worry about food again,” may be a prayer most people would like to pray. But even in that prayer we find worry. And worry is not of God. Faith is. We pray so God will build our faith, not our bank account. When our bank account is full, and our pantry is stuffed, we tend to trust more in those things and less on God. Daily bread is a way for God to build our faith. If God filled your pantry for a year, how often would you ask Him for the gift of food? How often would you even thank Him for the gift of food? 72 days into your year-supply, would you be as thankful? Would your faith be stronger? “Daily bread” is a way to build our faith and keep us thankful. When you pray today, pray for today. God is active in the today. Tomorrow is not promised, but the same One who cares for the daily needs of birds, cares for yours as well. This life is a gift. Recognize your Provider. Ask Him to supply your daily needs. Watch Him do it, and watch your faith grow. Don’t get nervous. The same Jesus also said, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink… Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (parts of Matthew 6:25-34) [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Prayer is a part of everyone’s life. People in every religion pray. People who aren’t religious pray. Perhaps the only ones who do not pray are atheists, But praying and praying successfully are two entirely different things. I think most people would pray more if they saw greater results from their prayers. Jesus prayed, and He invited others to pray with Him. But prayer is a spiritual act, and is often times part of a spiritual conflict, On a couple of occasions Jesus gave this prayer template. He basically said, “You should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13) We are breaking that prayer down in our devotionals this week. Today we look at the second part of the prayer. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God has a kingdom. This points to the dominion of God. Not only is God our Father as we saw yesterday, but He is a King, with a specific area of authority. Now, we know that God is the King of kings. He is the King of the universe. There is nothing over which he cannot exercise dominion. But there are apparently areas that are not naturally His to rule. God is the King. But He is not the King of evil. He is not the Lord of darkness. In fact, at one point Jesus Himself said, “My Kingdom is not of this world… My Kingdom does not have its origin here.” (John 18:36) That doesn’t mean that God has no authority on earth, or in Kingdom’s that are not His. In fact, one day in the future we will see, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15) As it is now, Satan is the “god of this age.” God has allowed the Devil to have dominion over a section of the universe. This is where we live… in this world, and in this age. But Christians are people who God, “has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” (Colossians 1:13) As believers we live in a place where Satan rules many people and systems. So we call upon God to release His rule in and through our lives. In that way God’s Kingdom doesn’t just come by force, but also by willingness through His subjects, who are also His princes and princesses. When we pray for God’s Kingdom to come, we are asking for a transfer of power and authority to reclaim what has been lost. And God is more than happy to do it. God has a will. This points to the desire of God. God wants things to be and go a certain way. He is perfect, and He knows how things should be. Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden we seem to be playing ‘hide and seek’ with the way things are supposed to be. We are deceived by the enemy into thinking things should be one way when God never intended for them to be that way. We should be praying that God’s will be done. Prayer is not a place for us to command God to do things according to our will, but a conversation where our will is surrendered to His will. When His will becomes our will, a transformation occurs in us. The apostle James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.” (James 4:2-3) We can pray more effectively when we ask God what His will is rather than praying according to what we think is the right thing. The apostle Paul challenged believers in this way, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2) God wants to do great things in our midst. He wants to restore. But part of our prayer should be that this actually happens. It may seem like it should go without saying, but prayer is an opportunity for us to step into the process of changing everything. God responds to our prayers. Much of His will is accomplished through people who ask for and are willing to do His will. God has a mission. This points to the direction of God. God is in heaven. That is where His Kingdom is sourced. If His Kingdom does not originate in this world, it must originate somewhere. That place is heaven. Things happen in heaven as they should happen. It is a whole other realm. The will of God goes and comes as it should in heaven. We long to be in heaven because we know that everything we despise about earth does not go on in heaven. God’s will has free reign in heaven. His kingdom is the only kingdom in heaven. While there is conflict with God’s kingdom, there is no conflict in His kingdom. The ‘Lord’s Prayer’, as we call it, is found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This sermon is a revelation of the way things are in God’s kingdom, and an encouragement that His people can live out that reality even in a foreign land. Wherever God’s people are, God’s kingdom is. His mission was earth. Jesus came from the kingdom of heaven to the land of darkness in order to transfer authority and power to this realm. He did that through His own work on the cross, and in the lives of Christians. God is still saving this world. It is a continuing mission from heaven to earth. The world sees what heaven is like when it sees us living as if we are from another kingdom. During one teaching Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; for you see, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17:21-22) So when you pray today, don’t just pray that good things happen. Pray to the ultimate Authority, asking Him to bring His Kingdom and overthrow the current regime of death with the power of eternal life. Pray for and according to His will. And realize that if you pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, it is very likely that He is going to do it through you. It has been said, “Don’t pray a prayer if you aren’t willing to be part of God’s answer.” [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Prayer is an interesting thing. A lot of people talk about it, but most people struggle to actually do it well. Prayer often peaks during or directly after a crisis. Very few people can pray as long as they can eat. We say we believe in the power of prayer, but at a certain point we have to question that, since prayer is such a minute part of our daily lives. Jesus prayed, and He talked about prayer during His earthly ministry. At one point He even gave sort of a model prayer for His disciples to have a guideline for effective prayer. We call it ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ though it isn’t a prayer He would have prayed to the Father. Rather it was a way for Him to teach us how to pray. On a couple of occasions Jesus gave this prayer template. He basically said, “You should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13) We will break that prayer down in our devotionals this week. The first part of the prayer gives us a reference point to where and who God is. “Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.’ God is our Father. This points to the patriarchal nature of God. He created us. As believers, we also recognize that He has re-created us. He gave us natural life, and He gave us spiritual new life. He is in authority over our lives. In a comedy routine, Bill Cosby joked that a father at his wits end may say to his rebellious child, “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” God literally brought us into this world, and He can and will take us out of it. He is the ultimate authority in the human family, and in the family of believers. God gives us the rules to live by, and enforces those rules. He loves us, provides for us, delivers us, and disciplines us. God is our Father. God is in Heaven. This points to the position of God. He is above us. He is not earthly, and subject to the things of earth. He is above earthly. He is in another realm that is beyond us. We can’t even imagine what life is like where God is. Our best attempts at explaining heaven must fall terribly short. God’s presence defines the wonder of heaven. Being enthroned in heaven gives God a great view of things on earth. He sees our existence with what we may call a ‘bird’s eye view.’ If you’ve ever flown in a plane, you know the different perspective you get of earth at 10,000 feet. Things are the same, but you see them differently. From heaven, God can see at once what it takes us a lifetime to see as we move around on this planet. God is exalted above us. He sees what we don’t because He has the perfect position. God is holy. This points to the perfection of God. God is not tainted by sin. In fact, He can’t allow sin in His heaven. He is so pure that sin cannot be near Him, and He cannot be near it. Not only is His nature incompatible with sin, His holiness makes everything about Him perfect. His judgment is perfect because He is holy. Sin does not impair His judgment. His actions are perfect because He is holy. He never does anything that is not good. His motives are always perfect because He is holy. He never thinks or acts out of impure thoughts. He deserves honor because of His perfection. Have you ever seen a bride on her wedding day? She is wearing that beautiful gown. It is perfectly white with intricate detail. There are people dedicated to helping her walk around because they want no evil to befall that dress. It is too wonderful to come into contact with dirt, or the possibility of ripping. It is pristine and deserves proper attention simply because of what it is. The same is true with God. He is holy… perfect, and that means we treat Him differently. So when you pray today, don’t just launch into a ‘wish list’. Prayer isn’t just to be a 9-1-1 call. Your prayers will be more effective is you initiate your conversation with God by acknowledging that He is the One who gave you life. Recognize His position of loving authority and unique perspective to know things you don’t. And bow before the reality that God is holy, perfectly beyond us, never touched by sin. When you address God properly, it becomes a worshipful start to a holy moment that can move heaven and earth. This isn’t about ‘buttering God up’ in order to get what you want. It is about looking up and seeing God for who He is, to be who we need to be. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. It is Father’s Day. We live in an age when being a father is often treated as a joke. Being a man ain’t what it used to be, and that is easily seen throughout culture. Many think you can have a normal family experience without a father. Many single mothers think they can fill the role of father. These ideas are false. But that does not mean we have no hope. Our picture of God often comes from our view of our father. That may not be fair, but it is true. I think that was God’s original plan. And if all things had remained equal, it wouldn’t have been a problem. In a world untainted by sin, human fathers would be a clear picture of God the Father. Of course, that ship sailed in the Garden of Eden. Adam was created in the image of God. Adam messed up. The image was broken. We are now made/born in the image of Adam. So we still look somewhat like God, but we are broken enough that we resemble Him less and less as time goes on. Some fathers are just horrible excuses for human beings. They are abusive and lazy. It is interesting that even children in these families, especially daughters, often try to find some redeeming quality they can hold onto. Some of these fathers actually leave their family high and dry. This shattered image of God causes many children who grow up in such a scenario to reject the Holy Father who actually created and loves them. They just can’t get past the earthly view to accept the reality of God. Other fathers are stellar… even perfect. They spend the right amount of time earning a living for the family and spending their life with the family. They sacrifice and even provide a spiritual foundation. They instill character and integrity in their sons and daughters by living it out in front of them and teaching them along the way. This perfect father is extremely rare. And he has become the target for mocking by a culture that has largely grown up without the perfect father. Then there is the father who loves God, loves his wife, and loves his kids. He does the best he can, except when he falls down. He wants to be the stellar father, but he is determined to not be the horrible excuse father. He bumps his way through fatherhood. He has high ideals, and those keep him on the right path. But sometimes he misses the mark. He loses his temper. He stays too late at work. He doesn’t always praise the children as he should. And he hates himself every time he messes up. Over time he ends up apologizing for his mistakes and making adjustments. Late at night he worries that his shortcomings will overshadow the overarching theme of his life as father. He asks God to smooth out his jagged edges of parenting. He never does not love his children, but he doesn’t always love as well as he would hope. This humbles him almost to the point of humiliation. This father simply desires children who will grab hold of the Godly things he offered and offer him grace in those areas where he failed. You probably grew up in one of these households. Each father reading this probably identifies with one of these fathers. If you are the perfect father, I should probably get you to write the devotional for next year’s Father’s Day edition. If you are the first or last father described, there is hope. While you cannot go back, you can go forward. There is forgiveness, mercy, grace, and redemption. The fact that we have fathers affirms the idea that there are new beginnings. Don’t beat yourself up. That is Satan’s job. Look to your Father in Heaven and trust in His ability to perfect you. He will cause you to become the father you desire to be, and were created to be. Do not let the culture turn you away from your calling. Don’t let your failure define you. Your failures may be a part of your record, but they are not a forecast. This world desperately needs great fathers. God created each man with the ability to be a great father. If you aren’t the ‘perfect father’, it is okay… Someone already took that role. While you won’t be perfect, you can be solid. God is not as concerned with your perfection as He is with your participation in His parenting program. Regardless of what your father was like, or what kind of a father you have been, I invite you into relationship with the Father who never lets you down, and always gives life. The apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians, “All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:14-17) Fathers, we aren’t perfect, so there is no reason to act like we are. Kids, fathers don’t have to be perfect for you to respect them. I believe I am the third father in this devotional, born of the second father in this devotional, who showed me the ultimate Father through his devotion. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. |
AuthorMy name is David, and I want to know God more, and help other people find Him. Archives
March 2019
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