Jesus, let “hallowed be Your name” be a time for me to see how forgiving, understanding, loving, gracious, and merciful my heavenly Father is. Let it be a time of learning how to feel guilt about something I have done wrong and still WANT to come to Him and let Him help me with it. Help it be a time for me to appreciate that He NEVER sins against me. Help me appreciate that He has chosen to always be holy, generous, forgiving, loving, and sinless.

Jesus, let this be a praise time for me to tell God how much I appreciate His purity, grace, and mercy. Heavenly Father I appreciate it that You aren’t allowing me to get by with hurting myself, others, and Your reputation and plan; but, I also appreciate it that You aren’t condemning (separating Yourself from me) or rejecting me either.

Jesus, when I have done something that I feel God shouldn’t forgive me for; or, I have repeatedly failed in some area and feel God should give up on me, let that be a time for me to learn to appreciate how patient, loving, and forgiving He REALLY is. Empower me to bring my disappointments and frustrations about my failures to God so I can realize just how wonderful He is. Help me appreciate that He keeps loving me even when I don’t deserve it (grace and mercy).

Jesus, help me do what Peter did in Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) Then Peter came to You and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” You answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Help me be willing to forgive seventy-seven times so I can be forgiven at least that many times; I’m sure I am going to need it.

Jesus, like Peter, I think I am being very gracious when I forgive someone for a sin against me, if I forgive them seven times. But, show me a grace and mercy that is much greater than anything I have ever seen. And allow that grace and mercy to flow in me and then flow through me to other people.

Jesus, there came a day in Peter’s life where he denied that You were his Lord. He not only denied You once, he denied You three times. Let me feel the guilt he felt from that moment on. Show me that it was so intense that Peter thought You would never forgive him or ever accept him as Your friend. Now, allow me to see that it was Satan who was lying to Peter and telling him that You would never accept such a sin. Help me understand that it was good that Peter felt guilty about what he had done; but, help me also understand that Satan was ADDING an intense guilt to Peter’s healthy guilt from God. Teach me the difference between Satan’s destructive guilt and Your guilt that brings me to repentance.

Jesus, let me go back to Peter’s discussion with You in Matthew 18:21-22. It was about Him thinking he should only forgive someone seven times for them sinning against him. Let me remember how You said seventy-seven times. When it was Peter forgiving others, seventy-seven times sounded like too much.

Jesus, when I, like Peter, have committed a horrible sin, that seventy-seven times will sound wonderful to me. Show me that, that is how big and how powerful God’s grace and mercy are for me. I will make a lot of mistakes, have a lot of failures, and hurt myself, others, and God’s plan many times; everyone does. But, teach me that if I continue to WANT to stop doing these things, God will continue to forgive me. I ask You to keep training me and empowering me to sin less and less.

Jesus, I appreciate these two gifts of grace and mercy; and, I now say: “Hallowed be Your name” to my heavenly Father.