This prayer of forgiveness is about practicing the truth. Don’t hide your sin in the dark. Don’t withhold forgiveness from others. We are talking about Jesus teaching you to prayer and forgive in the same way God forgives you.

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Matthew 6:12-15 "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

You have a debt that is hidden in the dark. Each day Jesus wants you to ask Him to forgive you. He wants you to practice the truth. Every day you ask Jesus to forgive you, His answer will always be “Yes.” This daily prayer is about living in forgiveness, and bringing your mistakes into the light for God to see. The best verses for this are in John 3:20-21 where Jesus said, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” Bring your deeds into the light before God without fear, because you already know He will forgive you. Just so that there is clarity, this isn’t a prayer for salvation. The first time you gave your life to Jesus, He forgave all your sin and gave you God the Holy Spirit to live inside you forever. This prayer of forgiveness is about practicing the truth, and not hiding your sin in the dark.

Others have a debt owed to you too. We all have been sinned against by someone. Jesus wants you to forgive others in the same way Jesus forgives you. Always the answer should be “yes” for those who ask you to forgive them. Even if they never ask you to forgive them, Jesus is asking you to forgive them. Should you say “no” to Jesus? If you don’t forgive, then God will not forgive you either. That’s how important it is to forgive. If you don’t forgive, you are taking what Jesus did on the cross to forgive sin and throwing it away. You are denying someone the forgiveness that Jesus wants them to receive. If you throw forgiveness away for others, then you throw your own forgiveness away too.

“God don’t give me over to the other side. Set me free from evil.” I like the imagery of a fence. When you stand on the fence and you choose both sides, God will push you off the fence and give you over to the other side. He doesn’t want anyone to be deceived by half truths. You don’t get to choose both sides. Once you’re on the other side it’s dark and it will tempt you to stay in the dark. You will struggle to see. If you truly love Jesus, you will cry out for the side where you can see. This prayer is simply saying you don’t want to experience being tempted by evil on the fence or be on the other side bound by evil. You want to be free from evil.

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, forgive me today for what I have hidden in the dark. Forgive my sin and even the sin I can’t see. I choose to forgive others the same way You have forgiven me. I forgive those who owe me and those who have sinned against me.”

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, I don’t want to be stuck in the middle being tempted constantly by evil. I don’t want to be bound by evil. Set me free from evil.”