Monday 27th May
Read Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIVUK)
Where debts are outstanding relationships can’t move forward. The forgiving of debts is an essential precursor to peace. Forgiveness lies at the heart of blessing. Some have read the Lord’s prayer and seen a conditional aspect to forgiveness; we are forgiven only if we forgive others. What Jesus intends though is probably best captured by an old(ish) prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi that captures the nature of a heart that has been forgiven.
This prayer is a recent addition to the faith (1912) but has brought comfort to many and captures both the thoughts of Francis of Assisi and the spirit of the gospels themselves.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
