Main idea: We should pray that God will forgive our sins and we should pray that God will protect us from evil.
- We should pray for forgiveness, v. 12
- We should pray for protection, v. 13
Everyone on earth has done something bad. We may be reluctant to admit that we have done things that are wrong. We may not even be willing to admit to ourselves that we have sinned, but the fact is, everyone has sinned. The Bible says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).”
We have all sinned. The only person who never sinned is Jesus. Jesus never had to pray for forgiveness because Jesus never sinned, but as for the rest of us, we are all guilty of sin. People in all cultures and societies and religions understand that they commit sin, and because they are guilty of sin, they seek forgiveness.
For example, in the Hindu book the Bhagavad Gita 11:42, Prince Arjuna asks the Lord Krishna for forgiveness, saying: “In whatever way I may have insulted you in jokes, while playing, lying in bed, sitting, or at meals, when alone, or in front of others; O Krishna, I implore you for forgiveness.”
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, understood the need for forgiveness, and he prayed to God, saying, “Our Lord, do not lay upon us what we have no power to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, be merciful towards us (Qur’an 2:286).”
The Bible also tells us that we need God’s forgiveness. In the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew chapter six, we read that we need God’s forgiveness. In Matthew 6:12-13, we read that we should pray that God will forgive our sins and that God will protect us from. Let’s read the whole prayer, and then we’ll look specifically at verses 9-13.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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 evil (Matthew 6:9-13).
We should pray that God will forgive our sins, and we should pray that God will protect us from evil.
First, we should pray for forgiveness, v. 12: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
We should pray that God will forgive our sins.
The Lord’s prayer as recorded by Luke in his Gospel says: “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us (Luke 11:4).”
But the word Matthew uses is the word for debt. Matthew writes, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
A debt is an obligation that is due or a debt that is owed. Primarily, when we think of debts, we think of financial debts. We owe someone money.
This prayer to God for forgiveness is not a prayer asking God to wipe away all our financial debts. We’re not asking God to miraculously pay off our mortgage and car loans. We’re not asking God to pay off our credit card debt.
We can ask God to give us wisdom about how we can pay off these debts or, better yet, to give us the wisdom to keep us out of debt, but God isn’t going to miraculously pay off our financial debts.
Another kind of debt is when we owe someone a favor. Our friend has helped us out, and we owe them. Now when they need help, we have an obligation to reciprocate and help them in their time of need.
Another kind of debt is moral obligations. As members of society, we all have a moral obligation to care for each other. We are responsible for the welfare of our fellow human beings. Jesus said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, and then he gave the illustration of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan went out of his way to help someone who was a complete stranger. Why? Because we have an unwritten social law that obligates us to one another to help each other in a time of need. As members of the human race, we have a moral imperative to watch out for each other.
A few weeks ago in France, a Muslim terrorist began shooting at passengers aboard a train. Fortunately, some of the passengers were able to subdue the terrorist before he could kill anyone, but the men who stopped the attacker were injured.
On September 11, 2001, four passenger airliners were hijacked by Muslim terrorists. Three of the planes were deliberately crashed into buildings. Two planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City; one plane was crashed into the Pentagon building, but the fourth plane never made it to its destination. When the passengers aboard the fourth plane learned what had happened to the other planes, they began to fight back against the terrorists. The plane did crash, but because the passengers fought back against the terrorists, the plane never reached its destination—the White House in Washington, D.C.
These are only two examples of people who understood their moral obligation to society and took a stand against evil. We should not and cannot just stand by while people are hurting or in trouble.
So financial debt is not the kind of debt we need forgiven, nor is our moral debt and responsibility to our fellow human beings the kind of debt we need forgiven. What we need forgiven is our sin.
Sin is pictured as a debt to God. We are responsible for our sins. Our sins are a mark against us, and the only way to get rid of this stigma—the only way to remove the stain of sin is for God to forgive us.
God sent Jesus to die on the cross so that we could be forgiven.
Forgiveness begins when we trust in Jesus as our Savior, but even after we have had our sins forgiven, we still need forgiveness.
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).”
We need God to forgive our sins, and this prayer that Jesus gives us reminds us that when we pray, one of the most important things we need to pray about is forgiveness.
Then Jesus says something remarkable. He says that in order for us to be forgiven, we have to be willing to forgive, v. 12: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
We must be willing to forgive others if we expect God to forgive us.
Jesus is telling us that our vertical relationship with God in heaven is dependent on our horizontal relationship with people on earth.
We should not expect to be forgiven if we are not willing to forgive, but we’ll talk more about this next week when we look deeper into verses fourteen and fifteen.
We should pray that God will forgive our sins, and we should pray that God will protect us from evil. v. 13: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
We should pray for protection. This is a prayer for spiritual protection against spiritual evil, especially protection from Satan, the evil one.
I want to ask you a question. Do you really believe that Satan is real? Do you believe that there is a powerful spiritual being called the Devil?
Let me give you some common beliefs about Satan.
- Satan is not real; it is only a religious myth.
- Satan is real, but Satan is not a living being; it is only the personification of evil.
- Satan is a real living being who is evil, but I rarely think about him.
- Satan is a real living being who is evil, but I know God will protect me from him.
- Satan is a real living being who is evil, and I’m afraid he is trying to hurt me.
Which one of these do you think is closest to the biblical attitude? The one that is closest to the Bible is number four: Satan is a real living being who is evil, but I know God will protect me from him.
Why do we need protection from Satan?
If you are a child of God, can Satan harm you? Just listen to the words used to describe Satan. First of all, in Hebrew, Satan literally means “adversary”. Satan is our adversary, our opponent, our enemy. The Greek word Σατανᾶς, from which we get devil, means “accuser”. The devil laughs at us and works against us to undermine and slander us.
The Bible says that Satan is the tempter who tries to get us to sin and disobey God. He is our enemy who wants to destroy us. Satan is called the evil one. He is the father of lies. Jesus says that Satan is a murderer.
The words used to describe Satan depict this evil creature as someone to be feared.
Many Christians want to know if it’s possible for a Christian to be possessed by a demon. I don’t believe that Satan or demons or evil spirits can possess a Christian. The Bible doesn’t give any examples of believers being possessed by demons. Unbelievers can suffer demon possession, but there seems to be no evidence that a Christian can be possessed by a demon. Christians can, however, come under attack by the devil.
The Bible says: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him (1 Peter 5:8-9a)”.
One of Satan’s primary means of attack is deception. The Bible says, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).”
Since Satan’s primary means of attack is deception, we must be prepared for his attempts to deceive us. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:10-13
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
We cannot fight the devil alone. We can only stand against the devil in the power of God, and so we pray for God’s protection: v. 13, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Even though we cannot fight the devil alone and we need God’s help and protection, we should not be afraid. The Bible says, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4).”