The Holy Spirit is your provisions and power for bringing the life and ministry of Jesus into your life and ministry.

Give us TODAY our DAILY bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

It becomes immediately obvious that if we pray this prayer, the Lord gave us to pray, and we only ask for bread today, this must be a daily prayer. By saying: “Give us TODAY our DAILY bread” we will have to pray this prayer again tomorrow in order to ask for its bread for the day. These things we are studying are vital for each and every day. Through this prayer, we are turning to God as our source for everything we need.

Each day we run into things that we think, feel, say, and do that need God’s forgiveness. And, during our daily relationships with other people, they think, feel, do, and say things that we need to forgive them for. God’s forgiveness is vital to our eternal relationship with Him. Mat 6:14-15 (NIV) For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. When you have these requirements presented as being vital to our getting God’s forgiveness, then our forgiving others is very important.

Mat 18:21-22 (NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Jesus is teaching us to not only forgive each individual person that we experience some kind of evil from, are offended by, or are holding a grudge against, but He is teaching us to forgive each one of those individuals for as many times as is necessary. However, if they become dogs, hogs, or wolves in sheep’s clothing, then we need to forgive them and then get away from them (Matthew 7:6; 15).

Mat 18:23-25 (NIV) Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

When Jesus says, “the Kingdom of heaven is like . . . .” He is taking earthly examples to help us understand what eternity is going to be like. That is a very important illustration for us to take special note of. He is trying to use our experiences here on earth to help us understand and get ready for God’s eternal Kingdom.

One day we will be standing before Jesus and He will be opening all our records and settling accounts. Every person who has ever lived will have all kinds of things they have done that could be held against them, as it relates to their thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds on this earth. God knows and has a record of it all. And it could cause every one of us to spend eternity without God in the lake of fire. The slightest sin that remains resident in our life can keep us out of His Kingdom. He cannot and will not allow any contaminates to enter in there.

Mat 18:26-27 (NIV) The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

There was no way this servant was going to be able to pay back this debt. That is the same way it is for us. There was nothing we could do to save ourselves from the penalty of sin. So, by using Jesus’ sacrifice, our heavenly Father forgave us of all our past, present, and future sins. Our debt was cancelled, we were make one of His children, and a citizen of His Kingdom. Those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord, Savior, and King on a permanent basis, have had our debt erased and have been given a special grace period for getting God’s power into our lives so we will be able to forgive others their debts and sins against us. Eph 1:7 (NIV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

Through Jesus, God has forgiven every person on this planet for every sin they have committed. But, only those who accept Jesus as their Lord, Savior, and King will be able to appreciate this provision and be able to take advantage of it. Jesus died for everyone. Anyone who wants to can come to Him, hear His message, and apply His power to their lives (Luke 6:46-47). Luke 17:3-4 (NIV) So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.

Mat 18:31-34 (NIV) When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

This is why we need to want, study, pray, believe, and take faith-action in our forgiveness of others. Col 3:13 (NIV) Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Our first encounter with Jesus was like the servant’s first encounter with his master. His master was his savior. The servant’s last encounter with his master was as a judge. Condemnation and judgment was pronounced against him because he failed to be able to forgive. God wants to empower us to be able to forgive everyone.

One of the reasons we sometimes don’t want to forgive is because we don’t realize how much we have been forgiven of. We may need to go to God and let Him show us how bad we really were. Luke 7:47 (NIV) Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. The truth is, none of us have been forgiven of little. We just sometimes try to minimize our sins because our self-esteem rather than God-esteem keeps us from being willing to see how bad they were.

Mat 18:35 (NIV) This is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

God knows what is real forgiveness from the heart and what is fake forgiveness from our mouth. That is why we need God’s help through prayer and faith. He is the only One Who can give us the power to forgive from our heart.

Luke 6:36-38 (NIV) Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

This passage deals with what kind of a gift we give and how big of a gift we give. The principle of prayer-giving appeals to God for a supply of things we can give to others so it will open the door for us receiving more from Him. We need the power to be able to forgive everyone from our heart. So we ask for it and get it so we can give it. When we give this powerful gift that God gave us, we go around forgiving all kinds of people of all kinds of abuses, mistakes, shortcomings, debts, and sins. As we yield to this power to forgive, God forgives us of everything we have, are, and will ever do that is wrong.

Mat 12:30-32 (NIV) “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Those found in Hebrews 6:4-8 will eventually speak against the Holy Spirit and cut themselves off from all possibility of being forgiven. These become dogs, hogs, and wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:6; 15).

They are the ones God gave them over to a depraved mind. (Romans 1:28). These are the ones who have committed the sin of death. 1 John 5:16-17 (NIV) If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. This is the sin found in Hebrews 6:4-8 and described in Matthew 12:30-32.