This study was first taught on October 6, 2010

Topic: The Believer’s Responsibilities (2): Prayer (10)

No audio available for this study.

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Background
Last week we saw that one major daily prayer is that of asking for the Holy Spirit in our lives; to lead, guide, and direct us. We observed that while God expects us to ask for the Holy Spirit; many do not ask because they do not know His significance in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ.

We saw that the Holy Spirit is so significant to the believer, that without Him we cannot do anything that will count in the kingdom of God: without the Holy Spirit we cannot be born again; we cannot be called children of God; we cannot live as God wants us to; we cannot minister acceptably unto God; we cannot know truth; we cannot defeat the devil when he attacks; and so on.

We noted that those who had gone before us depended on the Holy Spirit, including our Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostles after Him. We also must therefore, pray to God on a daily basis for the Holy Spirit to operate in and through us.

Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 6:12; Luke 11:4a
Our petition in prayer continues with our request for forgiveness from God; which is basically dependent on our first forgiving others.
Forgiveness can be likened to debt cancellation. If we therefore want our debt of sin to God to be cancelled, we must first cancel the debt of offence that others owe us. When we come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness for our sins, we are forgiven. God expects that we would now go and forgive those who have similarly offended us (usually far less than we have offended God)! The believer’s responsibility in prayer must therefore include forgiving others.
Mark 2:3-12; John 5:2-9, 14; 8:3-11; 1 John 1:7-10; Psalm 32:1-5; 51:1-19; Proverbs 28:13; Luke 7:36-50; Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26; Matthew 18:15-19; Luke 17:1, 3-5; Matthew 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:32; Psalm 130:3-4; Romans 12:17a, 19-21; Proverbs 25:21-22.

Conclusion
Forgiveness is fundamental to a Christian’s life. We need it from God; we need it from our fellow brothers; and, we need to dispense it to those who offend us. Since transgression is not something a person can totally avoid, we can ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive us. However, some think that they can never sin and so do not expect others to, hence, when people offend them, they do not forgive. Some others do not forgive because they want to have their ‘pound of flesh’ from the person who has offended them.

This is God’s teaching on forgiveness: before we could be saved, He had to forgive us our sins; afterwards therefore, He expects us to forgive those who have offended us. God makes it clear that without our forgiving others, He will not forgive us. And if God does not forgive us, then we are in deep trouble; for calamities will befall us without remedy. Therefore, we must of necessity forgive others; no matter how many times they offend, so long as they ask our forgiveness.

We have seen the power of God’s forgiveness: salvation, deliverance from long standing problems, joy, healings, deliverance from evil men and their deeds, prosperity in every sphere of life, etc. If we are to benefit from the power of God’s forgiveness, we must ourselves forgive others and leave the matter of vengeance to God. Forgiveness for the believer in Jesus Christ, who must make heaven, means going further to show kindness to those who have offended you!

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