STRUGGLING TO PRAY

Read Matthew 6:9-15

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12

I could not understand how someone I trusted could have committed such a horrible offense against me. That person had broken my trust so much that it seemed that everything I believed about the relationship was wrong. I was devastated and angry. Alone in my room, I tried to pray. "Dear God," I began, but I couldn't finish. The only thing I could do in my anguish was cry and moan. I spoke with my sister in law, someone who has also been a spiritual sister to me, about my inability to pray. She suggested that I try praying the Lord's Prayer until I was able to put what was on my heart into words.

Even though it was difficult to do, I recited the prayer. When I got to "Forgive us our sins, but we also forgive everyone who sins against us," I couldn't continue. I suddenly realized that I had done this very same thing to someone else years before. I wondered if that person had been as distraught as I had been in the past few days.

Too often I overlook the Lord's Prayer as something I say without really thinking about it. This experience helped me understand how important this prayer is, how hard it is for me to forgive others, and how much I need God's forgiveness. We need to forgive as much as we need to be forgiven. (Sarah Negroni)

Dear God, help us to remember the forgiveness you have shown us. Give us strength to offer that forgiveness to others as we pray, " Father, Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen

Jesus is Coming! Are you ready?