Wednesday

Related Verses
Matt. 6:11-13, 14-15
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also;
15 But if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.

Matt. 18:21-22
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?
22 Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven.

Col. 3:15
15 And let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body; and be thankful.

John 17:15
15 I do not ask that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them out of the hands of the evil one.

2 Thes. 3:3
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

Related Reading
This prayer [in Matthew 6:9-13], as a pattern, cares first for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, then second, for our need. This reveals that in this fighting prayer the Lord will still take care of our needs. According to verse 11, we are to ask “today” for our “daily bread.” The King does not want His people to worry about tomorrow (v. 34); He wants them to pray only for today’s needs. The term daily bread indicates a living that is by faith. The kingdom people should not live on what they have stored; rather, they should live, by faith, on the Father’s daily supply. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 251) 

In His prayer the Lord covered our daily necessity. He taught us to pray…only for today’s needs. When I was younger, we co-workers in China sometimes came to the end of our material supply, and we did not know how we would live the next day. Something always came to meet our need for that day. The Lord is faithful to take care of the supply of our daily necessity. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 538-539) 

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Matthew 6:12 says, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This prayer, as a pattern, cares…for the kingdom people’s failures before God and for their relationship with others. The kingdom people should ask the Father to forgive their debts, their failures, their trespasses, as they forgive their debtors to maintain peace. Verse 12 indicates that in this fighting prayer we must admit and confess that we have shortcomings, mistakes, and wrongdoings. We are in debt to others. Hence, we must ask the Father to forgive us as we forgive others for the Father’s sake. 

Verse 13 says, “Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” This prayer, as a pattern, cares…for the kingdom people’s deliverance from the evil one and evil things. The kingdom people should ask the Father not to bring them into temptation but to deliver them from the evil one, the devil, and from the evil that is out of him. Sometimes the Father brings us into a situation where we are tried and tempted. Thus, as we pray to the Father, we must recognize our weakness…It is better for our prayer to indicate to the Father that we know our weakness. We should say, “Father, I fully realize that I am weak. Please do not bring me into temptation. There is no need for You to do that, Father, for I recognize my weakness.” Never say to yourself, “Whatever happens, I am confident that I can stand.” If that is your attitude, be prepared to be led into the wilderness to confront temptation. Instead of having such an attitude, pray that the Father would not bring you into temptation but that He would deliver you from the evil one. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 251-252) 

In the Lord’s prayer we see that we need to take care of our relationship with others. As we ask the Father to forgive us our debts, we should forgive our debtors. We are in debt with God, and we also have debtors who owe us something. To maintain a peaceful relationship with others, we have to forgive them. Thus, we have to clear up any separating factors between us and God and between us and others. 

Sometimes our God, who is faithful and who takes care of us, brings us into a situation of temptation to test us as the Spirit of God did the Lord Jesus (Matt. 4:1). But because we know our weakness, we should pray, “Do not bring us into temptation.” This indicates our knowledge of our weakness. To pray for deliverance from the evil one is to deal with Satan. The Lord’s prayer takes care of the Triune God, of our daily necessity, of our relationship with God and with others, and also of Satan. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” p. 539) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 11