{"id":684,"date":"2018-10-09T05:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=684"},"modified":"2018-10-08T11:50:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T11:50:09","slug":"684","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/10\/684.html","title":{"rendered":"The Most Difficult Part of the Lord’s Prayer (10 Steps to Freedom Week 5 Day 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoBen
Ben White<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP FIVE: day 2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Release your hurt through <\/i>forgiveness<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In Matthew 6 Jesus gives the famous Lord\u2019s Prayer which starts with \u201cOur Father in heaven<\/i>.\u201d When he finishes a few verses later he chooses only one part of the prayer to explain further, perhaps it\u2019s because it\u2019s the one part of the prayer he knew we would struggle with the most. It\u2019s the part about forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd forgive us our debts,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>as we also have forgiven our debtors . . . For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.\u00a0But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 6:12, 14-15<\/span><\/p>\n

Verse 12 literally reads in the original language \u201cforgive us our debts in proportion<\/i> to the forgiveness we show our debtors.\u201d So if we come to God with unforgiveness in our hearts, hurts that we refuse to move past, then when we pray we are essentially asking God not to forgive us, because we have refused to forgive others. Jesus doesn\u2019t teach this because he\u2019s trying to hold us hostage to forgiveness, but because he knows how it is actually unforgiveness that holds us hostage. God\u2019s not trying to manipulate us, He\u2019s trying to motivate us. God knows that unforgiveness imprisons the unforgiver much more than it imprisons the unforgiven. Jesus wants us to forgive others because he wants us to be free from the pain, bitterness, rage and anger that come from unforgiveness. You can\u2019t be free until you are able to forgive others for the hurt they have caused you, and until you are able to forgive yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

1. If your forgiveness from God is directly tied to your forgiveness of others, how much forgiveness are you experiencing from God right now? How much unforgiven hurt is currently weighing you down?<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Read Colossians 3:13. Forgiveness is never easy, but it is absolutely necessary. What is the biggest reason holding you back from truly forgiving others in your life?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP FIVE: day 2 Release your hurt through forgiveness In Matthew 6 Jesus gives the famous Lord\u2019s Prayer which starts with \u201cOur Father in heaven.\u201d When he finishes a few verses later…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[114,64,65,343,91],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-forgive","tag-forgiveness","tag-jesus","tag-lord","tag-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Most Difficult Part of the Lord's Prayer (10 Steps to Freedom Week 5 Day 2) - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jesus teaches us to ask for seven things in the Lord's Prayer, but there is always one that stands out as the hardest.\" \/>\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=\"The Most Difficult Part of the Lord's Prayer (10 Steps to Freedom Week 5 Day 2) - 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