{"id":421,"date":"2014-10-17T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=421"},"modified":"2014-09-30T04:39:30","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T04:39:30","slug":"matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Forgiveness is a crucial element of The Lord\u2019s Prayer, and it always carries both vertical and horizontal applications. \u201cForgive us our debts\u201d Jesus said in Matthew 6:12\u2014a vertical, us-to-God appeal. Then he said, \u201c\u2026As we have also forgiven our debtors\u201d\u2014a horizontal, us-to-others commitment.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus emphasized this dual application immediately after ending his prayer, saying, \u201cFor if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you\u201d (Matthew 6:14). That seems to be a lot riding on an attitude of forgiveness! So what does it mean to forgive?<\/p>\n<p>The Greek word translated \u201cforgive\u201d in Matthew 6:12 of our English Bibles is <em>aphi\u0113mi<\/em>. Its literal meaning is, \u201cto send away.\u201d The image, then, is that of God picking up all the wrongs we&#8217;ve done and <em>hurling<\/em> them into nonexistence. This is something the Old Testament refers to as God sending our sins \u201cas far as the east is from the west\u201d (see Psalm 103:12). It\u2019s as if, when we pray \u201cForgive us\u2026,\u201d we ask God to perform a miracle, flinging our sins like a cosmic baseball so far away that they cease to exist, therefore absolving us of the required punishment for those sins. And that\u2019s what he does in response to our prayer.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s even more amazing about this miracle of forgiveness is its ability to transform everything and everyone it touches.<\/p>\n<p>When God pours his forgiveness over the life of a man or woman, he not only answers the \u201cForgive us\u2026\u201d plea found in Matthew 6:12, he also empowers that man or woman to fulfill the second part of that verse, \u201c\u2026as we have also forgiven\u2026\u201d We are <em>transformed<\/em> by the experience of God&#8217;s selfless\u00a0forgiveness, which in turn opens the door for us to be <em>changed again<\/em> through the act of forgiving others.<\/p>\n<p>What this means for you and I is this: The shackles of our hurtful experiences aren&#8217;t ones we have to wear. We can \u201csend away\u201d that pain by seeking God\u2019s forgiveness first\u2014and then gratefully choosing to forgive others in turn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/workscited.html\">Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>[VCE, 250]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Bible Study Nerds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-for-bible-study-nerds.html\">About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Mike Nappa\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-mike-nappa.html\">About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0<a title=\"Nappaland Communications Inc. official website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nappaland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forgiveness is a crucial element of The Lord\u2019s Prayer, and it always carries both vertical and horizontal applications. \u201cForgive us our debts\u201d Jesus said in Matthew 6:12\u2014a vertical, us-to-God appeal. Then he said, \u201c\u2026As we have also forgiven our debtors\u201d\u2014a horizontal, us-to-others commitment. Jesus emphasized this dual application immediately after ending his prayer, saying, \u201cFor&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,15],"tags":[183,16,180],"class_list":["post-421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matthew","category-wordstudies","tag-forgiveness","tag-jesus","tag-prayer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Forgiveness is a crucial element of The Lord\u2019s Prayer, and it always carries both vertical and horizontal applications. \u201cForgive us our debts\u201d Jesus said in Matthew 6:12\u2014a vertical, us-to-God appeal. Then he said, \u201c\u2026As we have also forgiven our debtors\u201d\u2014a horizontal, us-to-others commitment. Jesus emphasized this dual application immediately after ending his prayer, saying, \u201cFor&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-17T12:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-30T04:39:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Nappa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study) - For Bible Study Nerds","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study) - For Bible Study Nerds","og_description":"Forgiveness is a crucial element of The Lord\u2019s Prayer, and it always carries both vertical and horizontal applications. \u201cForgive us our debts\u201d Jesus said in Matthew 6:12\u2014a vertical, us-to-God appeal. Then he said, \u201c\u2026As we have also forgiven our debtors\u201d\u2014a horizontal, us-to-others commitment. Jesus emphasized this dual application immediately after ending his prayer, saying, \u201cFor&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html","og_site_name":"For Bible Study Nerds","article_published_time":"2014-10-17T12:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-09-30T04:39:30+00:00","author":"Mike Nappa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html","name":"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study) - For Bible Study Nerds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-17T12:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-30T04:39:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/10\/matthew-65-15-prayer-word-study.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Matthew 6:5-15; Prayer (Word Study)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/","name":"For Bible Study Nerds","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Mike Nappa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575","name":"Mike Nappa","description":"Mike Nappa is an entertainment journalist at FamilyFans.com, a bestselling author\u2014and a notorious Bible Study Nerd. He's a former youth pastor who shepherded kids on staff at Chuck Swindoll's church in Southern California\u2014and he's a bestselling and award-winning author with more than a million copies of his books sold worldwide. Plus, he holds a degree in Christian Education with an emphasis in Bible Theology. So, you know, he\u2019s got that going for him. Mike is also a pop culture dork who watches too much TV, reads too many comic books, utters too many bad words, laughs at all the wrong jokes, and often gets in trouble because he says whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment\u2014like quoting an R-rated movie in the middle of a sermon. Yeah, he\u2019s a mess (just like you!), but he kind of likes it that way. Most of all, Mike Nappa loves Jesus, and he figures that covers over a multitude of sins. Learn more at nappaland.com\/mikenappa.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblestudynerds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/author\/mnappa"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}