Jesus' Prayer RecipeSample

Confess

Jesus instructs us to Confess and ask forgiveness for our shortcomings in verse twelve; "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." As sinful creatures in a relationship with a sinless God, confession is vital to maintaining this relationship (1 John 1:5-10).

The need for forgiveness is presented as a debt. Yet for a debtor to ask a creditor to wipe clean his debts is outrageous! Surprisingly, this is the way Jesus teaches us to approach God (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15). We have no basis for obtaining God’s forgiveness through merit or charitable deeds but only by God's unmerited grace towards us in Jesus. This ongoing debt creates an ongoing need to request Jesus’ unending grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In our request, we are not only reminded of our need for forgiveness but also our need to forgive. This portion of the prayer is not the basis for our debts being forgiven, but rather highlights Jesus’ expectation that His followers will seek to reflect the grace and kindness they have received from God (Luke 7:47; Colossians 3:13). This deep well of forgiveness, from which Christians have tasted, should be drawn from when forgiving others. No Christian can therefore say that what was done against them is beyond their ability to forgive (Ephesians 4:32).

The prayer pattern’s order is important. At this point of the pattern, we are instructed to ask for our needs before we confess. This counters the teaching that we must first confess for God to hear our prayers. This approach is taught in the extremely popular ACTS prayer pattern (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and encourages us to confess our sins before we can present our requests to God. But this is not Jesus' teaching. The right to come into God’s presence in prayer is based on Jesus’ sacrifice, not because of our confessions.

After taking time to Recognize, Encourage, and Ask, spend some time confessing those things that displease God. In Jesus' name, ask for God's forgiveness. Also, take the time to forgive those who have wronged you.