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Pray for ONE Reading Plan | Week 2 | Day 4

Prayer

Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Thank God that He forgives your sins and shows you mercy and grace every day!

Bible Reading: Matthew 6:9-14

Read these verses three times slowly.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Reflection & Questions

In our walk through the Lord’s prayer, today we have reached the lines,

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

If you think about it, it may be surprising that it took Jesus this many lines in HIs teaching on prayer to get to talking about our shortcomings. The way many pray is to begin with their shortcomings and unworthiness and just hope that God will listen to them. While beginning with our sin is not a wrong way to pray, it may betray a wrong view of how God sees us.

While Jesus doesn’t begin with our sin, He also doesn’t ignore it. This is a very important principle about our relationship with our Father. He loves us and wants us to experience His kingdom. He wants us to be dependent on Him for the little things. And he wants us to know that we can come to Him acknowledging freely the ways we have fallen short and He will be eager to forgive us. He is not a judge that we would fearfully hope that he doesn’t find our debts. He is a loving Father who wants us to have a healthy and transparent relationship with.

The reality is we fall short in living for God every single day. We’re not to cower in fear, hiding that fact. We’re not to ignore it, thinking it doesn’t matter. Instead, we’re to come often to our heavenly Father, confessing our sin, asking for His mercy and grace, and enjoying a healthy real relationship with HIm.

1. Do you confess your shortcomings when you pray?
Would you say you have a healthy relationship with God, especially when it comes to acknowledging and confessing sin? If not, how does the Lord’s prayer encourage and challenge you in that?

Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?