Entrusted with the Gospel

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

This is the moment where you ask God for all your needs…and for the desires of your heart. Some might argue that you should constrain yourself to the first category. Go ahead if you want.

But if you do, recognize that your supplications (requests) will be limited to what Paul delineated in 1 Timothy 6: “If we have food and clothing, we these we will be content”. Okay, maybe you can add living indoors to the list along with bread and clothes, but beyond that, what else is necessary? 

No, I think we are fine to take our clues from the rest of Scripture when it comes to deciding what we ask God for. The saints throughout history have asked for safety (Ezra), salvation for those they love (Paul in Romans 10), favor from a ruler (Esther), healing (James 4), restoration of joy (Psalm 51), peace (Romans 15), children (Hannah)…and just plain old blessing (Jacob and the angel). And that’s all I came up with off the top of my head. Surely, we could come up with a 100 more kinds of requests.

God’s word teaches that we should. (See also, Is It Okay to Ask God for Personal, “Selfish” Things?)

“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

For 8 years, I led a prison Bible study at the maximum-security men’s prison in the center of our little Wisconsin town, affectionately known as “The Walls”. It was a unique situation, and I don’t mean the location, or the men I led in the study, but unique because I shared leadership of the study with some men I would never meet. I came on the second and fourth Thursday, and another team of teachers would lead the same group of guys on the first and third. The other group came from Milwaukee, as I remember, and occasionally, I heard what they were espousing. As far as I could tell, they were two degrees away from orthodoxy. 

One Thursday afternoon, a guy in the study had a question for me, “What would happen if I sinned and didn’t ask forgiveness before I was suddenly killed?” Apparently, the Monday-Wednesday folks were warning them of eternal damnation if this happened.

I answered, “That would make no difference. If you are a Christian when you die – whether you have thought to ask forgiveness for the most recent – or every other sin you’ve ever committed – you will still be welcomed by the Lord into heaven. What matters is that you have been justified, a.k.a., declared righteous by Jesus through faith in Him.” (See Romans 3:20 – 28). It was a good teaching moment (until the next week when they would likely hear my correction…get “corrected”). 

My answer brought the guys in my study relief…but for our purposes here, it begs the question: if we are justified in Christ, that is, holy in his sight, then why does Jesus teach his disciples to pray daily that their sins would be forgiven? Perhaps I should ask – what if we don’t regularly pray this prayer? 

Well, what if you said something to your earthly father that was dishonoring or hurtful? In the aftermath, you see that he is clearly wounded, and therefore so is your relationship. But if he is a healthy, growing Christian, he surely won’t stop loving you, and he certainly won’t disown you. 

Then again, you will still want to apologize, largely so that your relationship with him will continue to be sweet. Now, your Heavenly Father is a Person; His Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Therefore when you sense that you have sinned against him, this is the time to confess it, and ask him to forgive you – not so you can be his son again (the relationship never ceased), and not because your recent sin created some sort of permanent separation between you and Him, but because there is nothing sweeter than knowing Him and walking with Him with no barriers.

Sometimes at this point in the prayer, I have turned to David’s helpful cry in Psalm 139…

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

Guard against morbid introspection here (Church history tells us of Martin Luther’s infamously long sessions of confession, which took place before he understood the gospel and the meaning of justification). No, no, in this moment, you don’t need to bring everything you’ve ever done wrong to your Heavenly Father, any more than you do that when apologizing to your earthly father. Simply bring to him what has come to mind in answer to your Psalm 139 prayer. And then press on.

And while you’re asking the Spirit to show you your grievous ways, this part of the Lord’s prayer is also a fine time to ask Him to bring to mind anyone you haven’t forgiven or are simply feeling a little salty toward. Leviticus 19:13 says that if you bear a grudge against your neighbor, it’s a sign that you are not loving them as much as you love yourself. (That’s the second greatest commandment, you know. And don’t forget, according to Jesus…your neighbor is everyone you meet: see Luke 10:25 – 37).

We should expect the sweetness of our relationship with the Lord to be restored as we are willing to restore relationships with those around us.

The fourth and final installment of this series is next week. (And, if you’re interested, I say a little bit more about prison ministry here.)

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)