Lord, Teach Us To Pray: Week Six

Matthew 6:9-13

And you, who were dead in your trespasses…God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14

PRAYER PROMPTS

  • What have I done for which I need to seek forgiveness? 

  • What have I left undone for which I need to seek forgiveness? 

“A man can as well go to hell for not forgiving as for not believing.” - Thomas Watson

“Unless you have forgiven others, you read your own death-warrant when you repeat the Lord’s Prayer.”  - Charles Spurgeon

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  Matthew 6:14-15

PRAYER PROMPTS

  • Whose sin against you do you need to forgive? 

  • What debt against you have you “forgiven” but not forgotten? 

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have offended against thy holy laws, we have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, spare thou those who confess their faults, restore thou those who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord; and grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy Name. Amen. 

-Book of Common Prayer

Life Group Discussion Questions

  1. How does the Lord’s Prayer define sin? Why does a person need to confess daily sins after he becomes a Christian?

  2. What is the relationship between forgiving and being forgiven? How can unforgiving Christians rightly be called hypocrites (or worse)?

  3. For what past, present, or ongoing sins do you most struggle to believe that you are forgiven (in Christ)? Why?

  4. What patterns of sin - either sins of omission or sins of commission - are you most prone to tolerate or accept in your own life? How can the regular practice of prayerful confession correct this tendency?

  5. How have you struggled to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven you? How has this affected you?