The Lord’s Prayer - "And Forgive Us Our ——"

The Lord’s Prayer - "And Forgive Us Our ——"

I can still recall a time when I was in Junior High, having an argument with a friend over the words “debts” and/or “trespasses” in the Lord's Prayer.

"It’s not debts, it’s trespasses,” my friend said. “My dad says it's supposed to be trespasses.”

"It’s debts,” I would reply. “You guys are wrong.”

See how Satan works? He distracted us from real prayer. We actually got into a fight over the smallest and most insignificant detail of this verse. Jesus is teaching us how to pray. It's not about which word we use to describe our sin. The point of this part of the prayer is that there is forgiveness! Think that through ... God will forgive you. Can you think of anything more important?

You can call it whatever you want. Sin. Debt. Trespass. Transgression. Violation. Disobedience. Guilt. Obligation. Error. Iniquity. Indiscretion. Wrongdoing. Vice. Shortcoming...

Name your own rebellion against God. What is it that you have done? He will forgive you! Ask Him. Confess it. He has promised it to you.

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This is the true miracle of the love of Jesus. He is holy when we are not. He is righteous when we are not. He is faithful when we are not. But, in spite of our failings, the holy, righteous and faithful One loves us and He will forgive our unholiness, our unfaithfulness and our unrighteousness.

It’s right there in the Lord's Prayer, yet we skip right over it and argue about which words to use, like debts and trespasses. When we do stuff like that we miss the blessing that comes when we pray!

We call our message the Good News for that very reason. God forgives us! That’s pretty good news, isn’t it? Do you see why Satan would like to distract us from it?

Psalms 32:5

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Rejoice, people! Let that sink in and thank Him for it today.