Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.                           (Luke 11:4)
 
There are curious differences in the way Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer. Some Christians pray, “Forgive us our trespasses” while other pray, “Forgive us our debts.” No matter which of these we use, we understand that we are not talking about literal trespasses or literal debts. Rather, these are metaphorical ways of talking about sin. Well, in Luke 11:4 Jesus complicates things even further by teaching us to pray, “for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
Though the language may vary, what remains constant is the instruction of Jesus that we ask for God’s forgiveness when we pray. Though we know that we are forgiven through the work of Christ on the cross, and that God’s forgiveness doesn’t depend on our efforts, if we are going to experience that forgiveness, we need to ask God for it. As it says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We will enjoy the benefits of forgiveness when we tell the Lord what we have done wrong and ask Him to forgive us.
Today, many churches feature a Prayer of Confession in their times of worship. On the other hand, in a wide variety of churches, one is struck by how rare a dedicated prayer of confession has become in many congregations. It is difficult to say why this is, because these churches don’t shy away from talking about sin. But the regular corporate confession of sin appears to have been set aside, along with repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
One of the things we miss when corporate confession disappears is the experience of admitting in public our own sin, not in words others can hear, but in my participation in our shared confession. Something essential happens when brothers and sisters can say together, “Lord, we have sinned. We need your forgiveness.” It is as if for a few moments we let down our guard, we stop pretending, and we agree together that we need God’s grace in our lives. Moreover, something equally essential happens when we hear together that we are forgiven. If we take this seriously, it will help us to offer forgiveness to each other, something vital for healthy church life.
I wonder if we are not being taught enough to confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. Given what we learn from 1 John 1:9, not to mention the Lord’s Prayer, this is concerning. I wonder if some who have been saved by God’s grace through faith are missing out on the discipline and joy that come from regular confession of sin.
You and I are both free and encouraged to employ the model prayer of Jesus in our personal communication with God. We should regularly confess our sin – and our specific sins – and ask the Lord to forgive us. This can happen in a variety of ways and forms. I have friends who employ the ACTS model of prayer in their devotions: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. This is just one of many ways to include confession in our personal communication with the Lord.
I also find it helpful to confess in relationship to the biblical passage upon which I am reflecting in my devotions or study. Often times, at the end of a devotion, my prayer includes a confession that responds to the biblical text I am meditating on. Again, I’m not saying this is the only way or the best way. But it is one more way we can include regular confession of sin in our prayers.
I want to encourage us to consider our own prayer life as we respond to the simple line, “And forgive us our sins” (11:4). Consider ways confession plays a part in your worship experience as well as in your personal devotions. Think and pray about how you might add this practice into your life./
 

​By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are    and to dust you will return.                                                                                                                              Genesis 3:19
 
“Dust you are and to dust you will return.” That is one of the most familiar lines in all of Scripture. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, a season of honest reflection, to slow down, pay attention, and let God reshape the inner terrain of our lives.
Ash Wednesday is a special day for many Christians. Some Christians do not recognize Ash Wednesday or Lent because Scripture does not require acknowledgment of these special days. Yet, the themes of Ash Wednesday and Lent are deeply shaped by biblical revelation. In particular, Ash Wednesday is a day to remember our humanness and mortality. It is a day to begin the season of Lent, a time for reflection, penitence, and preparation for Easter.
If you are not familiar with Ash Wednesday, many churches hold Ash Wednesday services, complete with the imposition of ashes (placing ashes on people’s foreheads) with the pastor saying, “Dust you are and to dust you will return” to the congregants.
Ash Wednesday begins with bad news. As you may recall, the line “Dust you are and to dust you will return” was spoken by the Lord to Adam after he had sinned. Whereas Adam once enjoyed the reality of deathless life in God’s perfect creation, now his body would die. In time, he would return to the dust from which he was made.
This was bad news for Adam. And it is bad news for us. Like Adam, we have come from dust, and to dust we will return. Throughout our lives, our "dusty" bodies remind us of our mortality: we get sick, our bodies are not perfect, they age, sometimes they stop working altogether. Often, our bodies are the instruments of sin, rather than of God-honoring work and worship.
Of course, many good things come from our bodies, including new human life, fulfilling work, loving embraces, and acts of charity. The inherent goodness of our bodies has not been obliterated by sin, though it has been tarnished and twisted.
Nevertheless, Ash Wednesday invites us into a time of extended contemplation and contrition, to consider just how much we need God to save us from our sins.
But Ash Wednesday also signifies hope. The ashes that are imposed on our heads form the shape of a cross. Sometimes these crosses are obvious; at other times, subtler. But the very stuff that symbolizes our mortality and sin also alludes to that which will set us free. It reminds us that God has entered into our human condition to break the power of sin and welcome us into the fullness of life.
Ash Wednesday is not Good Friday. It is not a day to focus on the cross so much as a time to begin to realize just how much we need the cross. Thus, Ash Wednesday points ahead to the Holy Week that comes at the end of Lent, and most of all to the cross of Christ. Jesus took upon Himself our “dustiness,” our mortality, even our sin, so that we might experience the fullness of life, abundant life, eternal life through God’s grace.
Consider
What reminds you of your mortality, your “dustiness”?
What might you do in Lent, the next 40 days (plus six Sundays) to prepare for a deeper experience of the reality of Good Friday and a more joyous celebration of the truth of Easter?
 
Prayer
Gracious God, may this Lent be, indeed, a time for me to grow in my relationship with You. May I be unafraid to look at myself honestly, especially those “dusty” parts of my life. May I be prepared to celebrate the amazing news of Good Friday and Easter.
All praise be to You, O God, because You have not abandoned me in my mortality. All praise be to You for the hope that You give. Amen.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.        Psalm 34:18
 
In 1990, the song “From a Distance” streaked to the top of the charts. Bette Midler’s moving version of this song sold millions, winning a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991. The lyrics celebrated a peaceful world seen from far away: “From a distance, we all have enough, and no one is in need. And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed.” The chorus introduced God into this idyllic existence: “God is watching us. God is watching us. God is watching us from a distance.”
I liked the sound of this song, but its lyrics never worked for me. Why was it encouraging to know that God was watching us from far away? Wouldn’t it be better if God were close at hand? Don’t we want God to see where the world needs healing and justice? In fact, wouldn’t it be even better still if God actually entered our world to help bring an end to violence, war, hunger, and suffering?
According to Psalm 34:18, God is not watching us from a distance, at least not when we are hurting. Rather, the psalm affirms: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” But, we might wonder, isn’t God always close at hand? Isn’t God always with us? So why is it necessary to say that God is close to the brokenhearted?
One reason is that when our hearts are broken and when we are weighed down with discouragement and sadness, it can seem as if God is far, far away. There are times in my life when it seemed as if my prayers simply bounced off the ceiling, going nowhere beyond my room, heard by nobody else but me. I had no sense of God’s presence. And, in those times, my life didn’t provide much obvious evidence of divine grace. More than ever, I needed the reassurance of Scripture, the promise of God’s presence and care. I needed to know that God was with me even when I didn’t feel as if this were true, and even when I doubted that God was with me.
But God isn’t close to the brokenhearted only in the sense of being nearby. God is also emotionally close to those who hurt. God’s own heart is moved by our suffering. The God whom we know in Jesus is a God who feels our pain, even as God also brings comfort. God is close to the brokenhearted in the sense that God’s own heart is open to ours and is broken along with ours. Thus, when we are overwhelmed by grief or despair, we are comforted by the fact that God is not watching us from a distance, but is present with us to join us in our pain and to comfort us.
The fact that God is not just watching from a distance also reminds us to draw near to those who are hurting. In this world, we are the body of Christ. Through our hands, God will feed the hungry and heal the sick. With our arms, God will embrace the suffering. Thus, the fact that God is close to the brokenhearted encourages us to be with those who hurt, opening our hearts to share God’s presence and love with them.
In life, as we allow ourselves to acknowledge how our hearts are broken, we also pay closer attention to the pain experienced by others. As we become more aware of the suffering in our lives and our world, we rejoice in the fact that God is close to us. In Christ, God is Immanuel, God with us. Through the Spirit, God dwells in us. God is not just watching us from a distance. Rather, God is closer than we can possibly imagine. God is with us when we hurt, and God is with us when we rejoice.

Luke 11:1 
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God has led us and launched FECC into this season of focus on prayer. Lord, Teach Us to Pray is our heart’s desire as we seek to grow in our relationship with God. We look to Jesus to give us the instruction and direction for prayer, but even this simple request can reveal important prayer values. Our approach and posture in prayer will help guide our spiritual direction.
 
When the disciples approached Jesus about prayer, they addressed him as Lord. They recognized Jesus as the lord and master. I believe they also recognized Jesus as a master in prayer. Jesus knew how to pray and the disciples came to him as the expert. In our own approach to prayer, we need to come to Jesus as the one who is lord and the one who is the master at prayer. Our recognition of Jesus as the ultimate prayer person, will help us prioritize what he says about it.
 
Secondly, the disciples ask Jesus to teach. Not only did they recognize Jesus as the master in prayer, but they brought in a posture of learning and humility. If we are to grow in prayer, we must also come to Jesus with humble hearts and a teachability to follow his lead. It does not help if we recognize Jesus as a prayer expert but we are not willing to learn. We must always take on this receiving attitude especially when it comes to our spiritual growth.
 
Thirdly, the disciples ask that Jesus teach them as a collective when they use the word ‘us.’ Their learning how to pray was something to be done communally as a group of followers. When it comes to growing in prayer, we grow individually and collectively. I would add, our individual growth in prayer is directly influenced by our praying together with others. We were not meant to be alone and praying with others adds a different dimension to prayer we may not have when praying by ourselves.
 
Lastly, in their request of Jesus, the disciples ask him to teach them ‘to pray.’ Out of all the things the disciples could have asked Jesus to teach them, they ask for his help with prayer. They could have asked Jesus to teach them how to heal or how to read the Law or how to preach. But in the Bible, it is recorded that they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. The question we can ask ourselves is how much do we desire to grow in prayer? Can we be like the disciples and deeply desire to grow in this specific practice? Jesus must have been different in the way he prayed as compared to the other rabbis. Can we ask for God to give us a growing desire to grow in prayer?
 
As we read in the rest of the passage, Jesus honors the disciples’ request and teaches them how to pray. May we take on this same mindset and attitude as we learn to pray. If we truly desire prayer and humbly come to Jesus to learn from his ways, I believe that he will honor that desire and show us how to pray. Let’s continue to ask God to form our hearts so that we can truly grow in prayer this year.