The Lord's Prayer: How not to condemn yourself

…And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Thus reads the Lord’s Prayer.

I have spent the greater lengths of today mulling over what to write in the blog but nothing came to mind. When, out with a friend, a thought occurred to me: The Lords prayer, but particularly that line: …

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

What is it about that particular line that strikes your mind when you mention it in prayer?

The first really important thing I wish to say is that, by the very inclusion of this line where the Lord compels us to ask for forgiveness, what the Lord is here saying to us is that in our daily lives, there will always arise situations and circumstances that require us to forgive each other.

The second is that forgiveness is not an easy thing, that much is true, and Mahatma Gandhi put it all so well, noting that:

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong

As difficult as it is, nonetheless, forgiveness is the first requirement for self-freedom. Many of us go through life trying to forget the really bad experiences we encountered before, trying forget the people who hurt us, but it never really works out .

The reason is that we have not forgiven them. And so we are kept enchained. To become free, we need to forget the hurt, and to forget the hurt, the first important step is to forgive those who hurt you.

It is in essence an admission of the inevitability of conflict in our relationships, and it is for the requirement to remain in relationships that the LORD here endears us to Forgive.

So we ask still: what is it about that particular line that strikes your mind when you mention it in prayer?

As in many portions of scripture, God speaks to us differently, and in this write, I am compelled to note down my thoughts, which I believe with the whole of my mind, to be God inspired in regard to that particular line of the Lord’s Prayer.

For years I have prayed the Lord’s prayer, mindlessly, I have to admit, and many of us do that daily.

By mindlessly, I mean, have you considered what every line of that Lord’s Prayer means? Because in each of those lines starting from the “Our father”, is found a deeper meaning with far deeper implication to our daily lives than we ever get to understand.

Today I am compelled to share my thoughts on that particular line of forgives. And one particular thought strikes me:
Let us take in the two half which I find to complement each other, in such a manner that, the fulfillment of one depends on the other.

The first part: And forgive us our trespasses.

The second part: as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In the first part, the Lord compels us to ask God to forgive our trespasses, however, and this is the really revealing part that most of us miss, the second part: as we forgive those who trespass against us…

I will say it gain: As we forgive those who trespass against us...

Here you caveat yourself, it could be rephrased as: on condition!

Have you forgiven those who trespass against you? That is the question; the answer in the affirmative (yes) is what qualifies you to be forgiven by God, while the answer in the negative (no), condemns you.

Moral: When it comes to the Lord’s prayer, for your prayer to be effective, make sure before you pray that you have forgiven those who trespassed against you on that day and before.

May God bless YOU