Forgive Us Our Sins: Teach Us To Pray

All right, yesterday was amazing. Yesterday we hosted the men's Summit. We had just shy of 100 men in attendance, and I tell you what, it was a Yeah, it was good. I you know, if you, if you're a guy and didn't come, I don't want to scare you, but yesterday was an intense day of conviction and challenge and connection, and it was so awesome. And thank you guys for attending those you did, and a special thanks to Tara of our church and her breakfast crew started us right, and that was amazing. Really thankful for Pat and Leslie kind of providing some great technology to be a part of it. And guys, if you didn't get to be here, those sessions will be available online in about a week or so, and we'll make make you aware of that. It's just it was so good. And I tell you what, our preachers, especially Adam and Austin,

honestly, I was hoping I would wake up sick today. I and I would have to call Austin and be like, bro, you need to preach yesterday's sermon today, and I'm telling what you need to hear it. It better be next. Actually, you're preaching next week, right? And it won't be next. But anyway, it's so good. And I'm actually surprised it didn't snow eight inches last night. We only had two cancelations this whole winter, and both times, guess who was slated to preach. I'm like, Lord, if you don't want me to preach.

I used to preach here quite often, if you if

we've never met. My name is Mark. I used to preach here quite often, and now I get to preach here occasionally, and this is still our home church. This is still the place we serve. And I am so thankful to be here. I want to commit to I want to be here at least once a month, because I miss you and I miss this, but I want you to know that I am now a regional catalyst for waypoint church partners. A waypoint is a ministry that targets the Christian churches, churches of Christ in the mid Atlantic region. And we exist to plant new churches and to help existing churches who need help, and we do that through coaching and consulting and connection and care, and my Focus is all of Delaware and Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Yeah, and really, my role, my role is, really, I

get to be a pastor to pastors, and that's so cool,

and I have some open doors to come alongside churches who admit they need help, and I get to come along and help them find some help to maybe better thrive with the mission of Jesus. And if I wasn't preaching

here, that's a perfect job for me. I would welcome your prayers

for wisdom and provision to just allow me to advance the kingdom that way. Thank you.

One day in a certain place, Jesus was praying. When he had finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray. Like John taught his disciples to pray. He said to them, When you pray, say Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom. Come Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we also forgive the. Others when they sin against us, Lord Jesus, would you bless the giving and the receiving of your word in this place today? Amen. And I just want to say thank you, front rowers. Thank you. You. The most remarkable thing about this passage in my book happens in verse one, where it says Jesus was praying. Jesus was praying.

Do you know who Jesus is? He's the son of God.

Jesus is the fullness of deity. At the same time he's the fullness of humanity. Jesus is the intersection of heaven and earth. Jesus is God in the flesh, and he was praying church, if Jesus found it necessary to pray you,

it ought to point out how desperately you and I need to learn to pray. Lord teach us to pray too. And so he's the expert here, being fully God, he knows how to answer prayer, and being fully human, he knows how to offer prayer.

And so the best place to learn how to pray is at the feet of Jesus. Am I right?

Somebody say, let's go. Let's go. Now. You already know. You already know this is not the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is found in John chapter 17. It's the whole chapter, and it's amazing. And that's the Lord's Prayer. This isn't the Lord's Prayer. In fact, Jesus couldn't pray this prayer.

I mean, he could pray the first line, but nothing else in this applies to him when you think about

No, this isn't the Lord's Prayer. This is the disciples prayer. In fact, can I just tell you, remind you Adam's already said it? This isn't a prayer at all. It's a template. It's like an outline, you and I should be using when we pray. It's not a prayer at all. It's more of a template, an outline. And my outline for this outline is simply this confidence, reverence and dependence. I think you'll see it. Confidence, reverence, dependence, first of all, confidence in him, you and I can have the confidence to approach Almighty God as a father, like a good, good father who loves us and our confidence is in him. Hebrews four says this, let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and receive grace in our every time of need, confidence in him and then reverence. Hallowed be thy name. Like holy be thy name, exalted. Be Awesome. Is your name, right? And then And Lord, Your kingdom come reverence, and then dependence, physically and spiritually, like we are relying and dependent on him for our every need. Lord. Give us today our daily bread. Give us today what we need, right, physical and then spiritual, forgive us our sins.

That's my outline of the outline. And Can I remind you today that you and I

aren't developing a prayer life. We're developing a praying life totally rooted in our confidence and reverence and dependence on Almighty God. Phew. My assignment today is. Is verse four. Adam says, Hey, Mark, I want you to I want you to write a sermon on just verse four. Father, forgive us our sins, for we also forgive those who sin against us. I just want you to write a sermon on that one verse. Okay. Challenge. Accepted. You. And so the lens that I want us to see this one verse from is the lens of confession up next, and to conclude this series, is confession, which obviously you didn't expect, because you showed up today. I mean, Bruce, if you knew us about Confession, would you be here right now? Yes, you would. Confession. Oh, we don't like confession. Nobody likes confession. Children hide broken lamps. Coworkers cover up their mistakes. Husbands usually minimize their failures. Why? I tell you why? Because confession feels like losing. But in this passage, Jesus teaches the exact opposite. Confession is how we win. In fact, in this template, in this outline, Jesus makes an assumption here, and he assumes that his disciples will sin and that they will confess. So that tells me, confession is not the mark of a failing Christian. Confession is actually the mark of a healthy one. It's how we win. So from this passage, quickly, let me share with you three types of confession. All right, there are three types of confession. The first is the confession of admission.

I admit. It the confession of admission. Father, forgive us our sins.

It really is going to come down to this confession. Here's the confession he wants. I'm a sinner and in need of a Savior. It's the confession of admission. It's It's you and I going before the Almighty God with a raw, honest I did it. I it, or with regard to the sin of omission, I didn't do it,

just raw and honest. Lord, I'm guilty. So the first type of confession is confession of a mission. Can I share with you that the second type of confession is really a confession of agreement in a very positive sense, confession is good, in a very positive sense, confession is I agree, and you're saying I agree with God. That's what confession really is getting to I agree with God, and I first of all agree with God that I'm a sinner. In fact, you cannot receive forgiveness until you first start with your need, need for it. You admit your need for it, and you agree with God, I'm a sinner, but you also agree with God that Jesus is the only Savior, that Jesus is Lord and Savior and the great Forgiver of all of our sin. Amen, it's a confession of agreement, but this text indicates that confession is also a confession of commitment,

verifying tones.

Confession. Of commitment like this is a commitment. This is what I will do. Father, forgive us our sins, for we also will forgive others when they sin against us. Oh, will you? Yes, you will like, if you value your life, you will. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus, in the sermon of the mount, said this, brace yourself. If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will not forgive you, all right, then I will be a forgiver. It's the plea, Father, forgive us our greatest need, forgiveness, our agreement that Jesus is the Forgiver. Is our greatest truth, as we will forgive others when they sin against us, our greatest resolve. I'll be a forgiver. So here's the truth forgiven people forgive. Forgiven people forgive. When you understand how much the Lord has had to forgive you, you're willing to extend it. In fact, I want to say the real proof that you've received His forgiveness is that you're willing to extend it. And a bonus lesson here, please understand, please hear this. Forgiveness does not mean immediate trust, and it doesn't mean instant reconciliation, and it doesn't mean that we just ignore the pain. Forgiveness simply means I release the right to retaliate. It simply means I'm not going to

make you to keep paying for this. I'm turning it over to God. It's

a confession of commitment. This is what I will do. Here's why this is so important, right?

There's three types, confession of admission, confession of agreement, confession of commitment, and here's why this is so important. Number one, when you are regularly confessing to the Lord, it really indicates that you're dealing with reality. Think about this if you are frequently going to be stepping into the presence of Almighty God, and you are going to pray Lord, Your kingdom come, does that not immediately set you into a state that you Remember my own need to confess my inadequacy and my sin, does it not? I think, I think every time it ought to be a little bit there ought to be a little sense like Isaiah, woe is me when you step into the presence of God like Isaiah, woe is me, for I'm a man of unclean lips. Thank you. Tom seriously when you're standing in the presence of God, what do you think about yourself? What was me? So it indicates that you're actually dealing with reality and confession initiates forgiveness. Here's why it's so important, confession actually initiates forgiveness. First John one nine, If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness, hallelujah, right? If it initiates forgiveness. Can I also remind you why this is so important is that confession restores fellowship.

If a teenage girl lies to her dad, I mean, rarely would that ever happen, but if a teenage girl lies to her daddy, it doesn't totally ruin the relationship a boy, does it, strain it and stunt it? If a little boy lies to mama, doesn't ruin the completely ruin the relationship, but it stops progress. Right?

And when there's a confession, we can move on. And a confession basically clears the air. It clears the air so that we can move on.

I know the need to clear the air sometimes with your spouse and your child. Oh, the need to clear the air with one of your co workers and one of the church members, and with the Lord Himself, and it clears the air so that we can move on. A fourth reason why this is so important is that confession produces mercy. Confession produces mercy. Father, forgive us our when we sin as we will also forgive others when they sin against us. Now I tell you what, when you fully grasp how much the Lord has had to forgive you, you will stop keeping score with other people, and you'll just offer mercy. And that's why, that's why the church needs to be the most forgiving place on this planet, because we get it. It produces mercy. And one more reason why this is so important, confession, regular confession stabilizes your own soul when you're involved in normal like regular confession. Three things you know, really it does. First of all, your heart is softened to God. Pride and hidden sin hardens your heart toward God. You know that, but regular confession makes it tender. Under to him. A second thing it does is that confession that your your relationships are stronger, your relationships are strong stronger. I tell you what hidden sin destroys relationships, but regular confession restores them, and then it

your soul experiences freedom. They say confession is good for the soul. Oh, yes, it is hidden.

Sin brings guilt, confession brings grace, and ushers in freedom for your soul,

freedom so I'm kind of glad you didn't know about this subject today, because I'm glad you're here.

But what we want the most is freedom for our soul, and it's all ushered in through confession. So I want to challenge you right now.

Some of you need a confession session with the Lord. Some of your greatest need today is a confession session with the Lord, and you need to find some time. I wouldn't even wait till tomorrow. It needs to be today where you're going to step into the presence of God and you're going to be real, and you're going to practice daily honesty with him, and you're going to be real, and you're going to be raw, and you're just going to be totally honest, and you are going to confess your sin to him now, not like this. Lord, forgive me for all my sin, ain't nobody think that's real. I'm saying you're going before the Lord, and you're being honest with him about your heart, and you are telling him very specifically about your. Sin, and when you confess your sin, can I just remind you he already knows when you confess your sin, you're not informing him of anything. You know that, right? You pretend like you don't. Confession is not it's confession is not God rubbing your face in in this in the dirt, confession is God lifting a weight off your soul. You're not informing him of anything you're clearing the air so that you can move on.

You think he doesn't know. Oh, my goodness, some of you need today

a confession session with the Lord, and be very specific. You. Uh, maybe even harder, some of you today need to have a confession session with somebody else

and have it out. And when I say have it out, I mean, some of you need to go to somebody you know you've hurt

and ask for forgiveness because you want to clear the air so you can move on. And some of you today need to offer forgiveness with a simple I forgive you.

A little bonus lesson. I'll just put this in for free. If somebody comes to you this week

and ask for forgiveness. They want to clear the air. And when somebody comes to me and asks for forgiveness, I've made it a point in my life. Here's my commitment, my life commitment. I always respond this way. I have forgiven you already because I don't want resentment to grow and I want grace to have the final word.

I know that confession feels like we are losing, but in the kingdom of Jesus, confession is how we win, because it indicates you're dealing with reality. Here, it initiates forgiveness, right? It fosters intimacy and fellowship. It produces mercy, and I tell you what, it ushers in freedom for your soul, freedom for your soul. That's how we win, and that's the life I want to live. You too. Pray with me. Whoo, Lord.

We feel like confession, Lord is that is a mark of failure. But I love what you've taught us this morning, that it's not a mark of failure, it's it's a mark of health, and I know that there are some in this audience, whether in person or online, who desperately need a confession session with you, and I pray that that would happen today, that we would bow before you, and that we would Be Real and honest, and that we would pour out our heart and very specifically talk to you so that we can clear the air

and move on. And I know there's some in the audience today

who need to plan a confession session with somebody in their life that either that they they know they've hurt themselves, or maybe they've been deeply hurt, and either to offer ask for forgiveness or to offer it. And Lord, that would take great strength and great courage. And so we need your Holy Spirit. In fact, maybe we just need a heavier dose of understanding how much you forgave us so that we can extend it to others. Lord, empower us through this message today, through this one verse, teach us to pray in the name of Jesus. We do pray. Amen. You. You.