Teach Us To Pray
The Mandate to Forgive

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.   Lily Tomlin… Actress/Comedian

The past cannot be changed, it can only be healed.  Jesus wants us to have that Healing. That is why He commands His Followers to understand and practice of Forgiveness!

Let us take a look at the most famous prayer in the history of the World.

Matthew 6:9-12

“‘9 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 temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.

1. 
   

   The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to have already forgiven others when we come to God and ask for forgiveness for our sins.

This teaches us to practice what I call  “The Lifestyle of Forgiveness”!

Sir William Temple correctly observed that “Only one petition in the Lord’s Prayer has any condition attached to it. It is the petition for forgiveness.”

“I must forgive others if I expect God to forgive me.”

2. 
   

   If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us!

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14 & 15

Embrace forgiveness and do what Jesus taught us to do.  How?

3. 
   

   The truth sets us Free.  The truth is painful but necessary in order to be set free.

Holding onto resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for you enemies to die.  Nelson Mandela

4. 
   

   When we live in un-forgiveness and hurts keep recurring, we may develop hyper-sensitivity that may cause us to transfer a buried hurt or devastation to another person who has also hurt us.

This is called “transference” or “projection.”

5. 
   

   When we live in un-forgiveness and hurts keep recurring, we may develop hyper-sensitivity that may cause us to transfer a buried hurt or devastation to another person who has also hurt us.

Forgiveness will give us the ability to get rid of all the negative emotions like hate, resentment, hurt, feeling unloved and devalued, angry, bitter.  All  these negative emotions will loose their hold in us when we reach the state of Forgiveness.

Model Forgiveness Prayer:   

• 1. In the name of Jesus Christ, I choose to forgive _____________ for________________.
  2. I don’t feel like forgiving ______________,  but I choose to do so out of obedience to Jesus Christ.
  3. I choose to forgive by my will because The Lord wants me to and I want to be more like Christ in every way.
  4. I understand that I forgive for Christ, not because _____________ deserves     it or wants it.
  5. Since I am choosing to forgive, I affirm that _____________ did hurt me. He/She/They is/are guilty of hurting me, but through Christ I choose to forgive him/her/them.

In the name of Christ I pray this prayer.  Amen!!