FAQs Mondays: What Do We Pray for in the Fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer

Last week, we focused on the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer. You can read that article here. This week, we are looking at the fifth petition.

What do we pray for in the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer?

In the fifth petition, which is, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12), we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.  Jesus warned, "So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brothers from his heart" (Matt. 18:35, HCSB).  Mark 11:25 states, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing." David states,

Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. . . . For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. . . . Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:1, 3, 7, HCSB).

Summary

The fifth petition is for forgiveness.  Through this petition, we seek the grace to extend the forgiveness to others that we so desperately seek for ourselves.  This request reminds us of the reality that it is impossible receive the forgiveness of God, and not extend forgiveness to others.  God's forgiveness transforms the heart so that it gives as freely as it gets.  Next week, we answer the question, "What do we pray for in the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer?".