Very subtly there is a new message being inserted into the Gospel, and it is the message of prosperity and wealth. There are some people who are coming to our churches because they believe that by doing so they are putting themselves in a position for God to bless them. This is a theology that inverts the role and relationship between God and the world. Instead of coming into the presence of God with our hands lifted up to worship him and to become subordinate to his will, people are now coming into the presence of God with their hands out to receive some material benefit as the payoff for their devotion. Such people may be saying the words of the Lord's Prayer, but I very much doubt that they are listening to what they are saying.

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The next clause of the prayer says; forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. When we really listen to the Lord's Prayer we discover that forgiveness is a two-directional transaction. God is willing to forgive us of our sins, but only when he sees that we are willing to forgive the sins - debts - trespasses that others have done against us. All of us want God to forgive us, and let there be no doubt that God is able and willing to do so. However, that forgiveness is conditional and not automatic; it comes to those who are willing to hold no grudges, harbor no resentments, cling to no hatreds and withhold no love from others because of what they may have done to us in the past.

The character of Jesus was never more on display than when he was nailed to the cross at Calvary. Has there ever been a worse moment in human history? The sinless Son of God was whipped and beaten like a common criminal, and then put to death by the most torturous method then known to man. What would you or I say to God about people who did much less to us? We would file a false arrest lawsuit, seek criminal and civil damages, and ask for restitution for the suffering we endured. Now listen to what Jesus said as soon as the cross had been raised into position; "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Forgive the Romans who crucified him, and the Jews who schemed to put him to death, and the disciples who left him to face death by himself? Was Jesus asking God to forgive all of them? Yes! He asked God to forgive all of them! And in this prayer he tells us that if we expect his forgiveness to extend to us then we must be willing to forgive others just as he did that day on the cross.

The next clause is good advice for all of us, because it says that we want God to keep us from any temptation of this world that we are not strong enough to resist. When the prayer says, lead us not into temptation, we must also recall the words of James 1: 13-14 that says that God never seeks to tempt any person. In truth, "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desires he is dragged away and enticed." Therefore, in the Lord's Prayer we are not asking God to refrain from placing temptations in our path. On the contrary, we are asking to help us from falling prey to the temptations of this world that we in our sinful weakness cannot resist by ourselves.