Mat 6:12-15 When we pray Mat 6:12, and we have not truly and completely forgiven from our heart those who have sinned against us, what are we actually praying? If we forgive only begrudgingly, and hold in remembrance the offense so that if the person does it again we can hold it against them, are we not asking God to do the same in regard to us? Cf. Mat 18:21-22. What does this teach us about the importance of freely and completely forgiving others? What is the great danger of not forgiving others their sins against us? See Mat 6:14-15, 18:23-35. Besides forgiving others and asking for forgiveness, what two other things are necessary in order to receive forgiveness? Cf. the “C” and “R” in the ACTS and PRAY acrostics, and see 1Jo 1:9, Psa 32:3-5, Pro 28:13, Dan 9:4-19, Mar 1:4-5, Act 19:18. Is it necessarily to God only that we confess our sins? See Jam 5:16. Does James say that we must confess our sins to a religious authority? What sort of sins need to be confessed to others and what sins need only to be confessed to God? Cf. Mat 5:23-24. What is the relationship between a sin and a debt (Luk 11:4)? In regard to our sins, what is it that is owed and that we have failed to pay? If a person owes a debt and cannot pay, what is the just and legal recourse of the creditor? See Mat 18:25. To what taskmaster are we sold? See Rom 7:14. What does that taskmaster force us to do? See Rom 7:15,19,23. Does one have any chance of paying off a debt of righteousness when enslaved to a master that forces him to sin and so incur an even greater debt? See Rom 7:24. What is his only hope? See Rom 7:25, Gal 3:13, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 1:18-19. What does this analogy teach us about the importance of repentance and complete deliverance from sin to the gospel message? See Joh 8:34, Rom 6:15-18, 1Co 6:20, and again Tit 2:14.
Mat 6:13 Is it God who tempts us to sin so that we need to pray that He “lead us not into temptation”? Who and what does tempt us? See Mat 4:1, 1Co 7:5, 1Th 3:5, 1Ti 6:9. Are Satan and the world the only ones who tempts us? See Jam 1:13-14. Note: the Greek word for temptation is also that used for testing or trial; does the Lord allow us to be tested or tried? See Heb 11:17, Jam 1:2,12, 1Pe 4:12, Rev 2:10. Why is this? See 1Pe 1:6-7. What insight does this give us about how we are to pray that He “lead us not into temptation”? See Mar 14:38. Is it possible through prayer to be victorious when confronted with trials in order that they not become temptations that lead us into sin? See 1Co 10:13, 2Pe 2:9. Is it possible through prayer to even be delivered, at least in some measure, from testings/trials that might become a source of temptation? See Rev 3:10, Luk 22:40,46, Jam 4:2c, Mat 7:7-11. What is the connection between asking the Lord to lead us not into temptation and asking Him to deliver us from evil? From what evils that might tempt us to sin or fall away from God in any regard should we pray the Lord to deliver us? Hint: what three things did we see above that tempt us? In addition to the evil one (Satan), the world, and our own evil hearts that tempt us, in what way do the manifold evils of this life such as sickness, disease, cancer, violence, injury, natural disasters, etc…, tempt us to sin against God by trusting in men, rather than in God? Cf. Pro 29:25[1], 2Ch 16:12, 2Ki 20:1-7, Jer 17:5. What is our part after asking the Lord to deliver us from the evil of our own hearts? See Jam 4:8. After asking Him to deliver us from the evil of the world? See Deut 7:26, 2Co 6:17, 1Pe 1:14-16, Rev 18:4. After asking Him to deliver us from the evil of sickness and disease, violence, injury and harm? Cf. 1Co 6:19-20, Mat 4:6-7. After asking Him to deliver us from the evil of Satan and the powers of darkness? See Eph 6:10-17. Although the bracketed words in Mat 6:13 do not appear in the oldest manuscripts, in what way are they a fitting doxology to the Lord’s Prayer? See Mat 6:9-10.