If someone attempts to teach you how to pray, beware, God gave us the "way" to pray, not the specific words. Here is how God told the Apostles to pray: Note, it does not take a seminar or thick books to learn how to pray. Christ gave it all right here in these few verses. If someone is attempting to draw you into rules and methods of prayer they are introducing you to meaningless traditions concocted by man. Ignore the man-made rituals and do as Christ commanded. God's way is so much easier than the detail of human rules made because of their pride.
Matthew 6:9-13
The Lord’s Prayer
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'"
We address our Father in heaven
We praise and honor Him
We ask for His will to be done
We ask for our needs and desires
We forgive those who have wronged us when they
are repentant
We ask that we not allow the temptation to get hold of us and we ask that we be delivered from evil.
The reason I added the words "when they are repentant" in reference to forgiveness is that God told us to forgive as He forgave us, that was when we were repentant.
Luke 17:3-4 "…3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”"
"And returns to say; "I repent." So many people ignore this phrase in Scripture because they have been taught wrongly the concepts of psychology.
We are told not to do revenge to those who harm us, even to bless them, but this is not forgiveness.
What is forgiveness? It is letting go of offenses when someone is repentant in order to reconcile the relationship. If someone is not sorry and continues to harm then they should not be forgiven, the relationship cannot be reconciled unless both parties participate, one being repentant and the other being forgiving.
The Bible never states anywhere that if you forgive before they are repentant it will soften their heart and yours.
Isaiah 26:10 "10Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD."
Merely being friendly and pretending to forgive a wicked man does not change his heart. More than likely it rulther hardens it when he realizes he never has to be sorry for anything.
When we cannot forgive because someone is not sorry we can pray for them, continue to treat them respectfully when we are with them but keep our distance until they are ready to obey God in repentance.
I took this one aspect of the Lord's prayer to take a look at because nearly everyone has the wrong idea about forgiveness in our culture that only ends up enabling the sinner, removing their guilt and shame causing hardness of heart in them.
It is amazing how the devil will claim it is wrong to follow God's Word and endorse the ways of men based on psychology. This is common now in our culture, psychology is so entrenched that it is rare to find believers who understand forgiveness and its purpose.
There is no scripture that says we are to forgive for our own sake, that comes from a passage taken out of context and embellished to fit man's desires, or rather Satan's lies.
That phrase is "Matthew 6:15
"But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
If you read the entire rest of the chapter and in the context of the rest of the Bible we discover that forgiveness God's way is always associated with repentance. God never forgives those who are not broken over their sin, and neither should we.
This does not mean that we treat the offender badly or completely ignore them, it does mean that the relationship remains broken. We never have a good reason to sin against someone else in action or attitude. We do have the freedom and even commands in scripture to remove ourselves from those who walk disobediently.
Ephesians 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
If we have to remove ourselves from someone who walks disobediently in attitude or action, we pray for them to see the truth and that one day the relationship is mended through repentance.
The Pharisees were admonished because of their lengthy and ritualistic prayers. In this way perhaps the mentality that says; "I forgive even if they are not sorry, is a prideful stance.
1 Corinthians 5:1-2 "1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?"
The Corinthian people were proud of how tolerant of the people who were sinning, this is the same mentality when we will not confront sin and require repentance. Our forgiveness becomes about ourselves to feel better and superior, rather than about reconciling the sinner to God and to others.
The reconciliation God's way is far more important than our feelings.
Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
"9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
We must stop focusing on our feelings, how people will view us, and psychology and begin seeking God for His ways.
