Jesus, teach me how to go into The Lord’s Prayer, not as someone who needs to be born again; but, as someone who IS born again but has sinned. Teach me how to approach The Lord’s Prayer as a person who accepts the fact that I have done wrong, bad, or evil. Show me how The Lord’s Prayer helps me get the grace and mercy of my heavenly Father. Help me learn these principles NOW, so I can IMMEDIATELY come to my heavenly Father EVERY TIME I get the impression I need this prayer from the Bible, You, the Holy Spirit speaking to my conscience, or a friend pointing something out to me.

Jesus, this, then, is how I should pray (Mat 6:9): You are giving me this prayer and telling me that this is how You want me to pray to my Father, Who is in heaven. Help me have the attitude of the tax collector in Your parable, so I will be ready, right now, to do what You are telling me to do. Teach me that this, then, is how I should pray, when I have done something wrong and I am allowing myself to feel bad about it.

Jesus teach me this very important BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE: If I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me. If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Help me, teach me, and empower me to ALWAYS come to You ANY TIME I have ANY KIND of feeling that something may not be right, good, or righteous.

Jesus, the Pharisee was claiming to be without sin; the tax collector was admitting his sin and confessing it to God. Help me come to my Father in heaven with the attitude of the tax collector, because He is faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. Help me see why I should do what the tax collector did and not what the Pharisee did.

Jesus, all during my human life, I have been able to make mistakes, do bad things, and hurt others while getting by with most of it because I didn’t GET CAUGHT. I could lie, cheat, steal, gossip, bully, and mislead people; and, as long as I didn’t get caught by my parents, the authorities, or governmental officials, I was safe. Set me free from maintaining that attitude; help me not feel like, as long as NO ONE knows about it, I am safe. Make it clear to me that I am now dealing with God Who knows everything, sees everything, and is everywhere. I can’t get by with even the smallest word or deed; He even knows all my thoughts and feelings. Help me not try to fool Him.

Jesus, help me look at 1 John 1:8-9 (NIV) again: If I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is NOT in me. This indicates to God that I don’t want to keep Him as my heavenly Father. But, if I confess my sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. Help me understand that this is my way to let God know I want to keep Him as my heavenly Father.

Jesus, if I get involved in something I can’t get out of, help me turn to You to get me out; if I get involved in something I am struggling with WANTING to get out of, help me want to get out of it; if I get involved in something I am having a hard time feeling like it is all that wrong, help me see what is wrong with it; if I get involved in something I am trying to justify, explain away, forgive myself for, or that my friends are telling me it is okay, help me come to You and ask for Your help. Help me bring it before You and my heavenly Father. Help me allow Him to decide what I should do; let me be convinced that He will help me.

Jesus, since I am a human, I make A LOT of mistakes, do things I shouldn’t, and sin against myself, others, and God. Teach me that the Holy Spirit speaks to my conscience and helps me realize I have thought, felt, said, or done things wrong. Help me understand that this feeling of wrong is my warning that I need to take steps toward getting God’s help. I can’t change the fact that I make a lot of mistakes; but, I can allow myself to feel guilty so I will go to God. Help me realize that He will GRADUALLY change me and make me into a person who is more yielded to His power. However, I have to know what I need to do WHEN I do turn to my heavenly Father in order to get His help.

Jesus, the only way I am going to grow and change is to:

1. Admit I did wrong.


2. Allow myself to feel guilty about that wrong.


3. Want to change.


4. Come to my heavenly Father for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.


5. Allow Him to start working on the CAUSE for why I did wrong.

Help me do these things by praying The Lord’s Prayer as a sinning Christian.

Jesus, because I have accepted You as my Savior, Lord, and King, I am a child of God and a citizen in His Kingdom. Teach me that one of my rights and privileges is to come to God, as my Father, and ask Him to forgive me. And, I can join You so You can help me change. Teach me that The Lord’s Prayer is my path to forgiveness AND change. Show me that no matter how bad a word or deed I said or did, I not only CAN, I desperately NEED to come to God, as my Father, and start praying this prayer; I now ask You to help me pray it as a sinning Christian.

Jesus, teach me that the way to know it is time to come to God as a wrong doer is when He causes me to feel guilty about something. Help me see that if I feel strong guilt that tries to drive me away from God, then that is Satan and not my heavenly Father. Also help me understand that if I feel large quantities of guilt about a whole lot of things I feel, think, say or do, that also is Satan and not God. Teach me that God always only deals with one or two issues at a time. Help me so that no matter what kind of guilt I feel or how many issues I feel guilty about, empower me to take them ALL to God; help me understand that He will help me sort them out.

Jesus, if, because of some wrong doing, I am having problems FEELING a love and closeness to my heavenly Father, help me say: MY Father in heaven a few times until I am able to FEEL the relationship grow. So, I now say: “MY Father in heaven.” Then, once I am able to feel His love, show me that I am ready to start including the rest of my Christian family by saying: “Our Father in heaven.” So, I now say: “OUR Father in heaven.” Now that I have felt His love and have been able to address Him as “Our Father in heaven,” show me that I am ready to move on to the next step in The Lord’s Prayer.