Healing

Luke 11:1-6

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples spoke to him. “Lord,” he said, “teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus said to them, “When you pray, this is what you should say:
“’Father, may your name be honored.
May your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, As we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.’”

“’Father, may your name be honored. validation - what makes life worth living.

May your kingdom come. motivation – what drives us to keep going.

Give us each day our daily bread. provision – what gives us the stamina to complete the task.

Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us. healing – what removes the obstacles that keep us from moving forward.

Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.’” growth – what increases our ability to honor the Father.


We’ve looked at validation, motivation, provision and now healing.

Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

Once I understand that the Father makes life worth living and I have the motivation to get up and go advance the Kingdom, and I understand that I have been given everything I need to go and have Kingdom impact, what is it that keeps me from going? What is it that keeps me from being everything God created me to be? The answer is simple. Our sin keeps us from being everything God created us to be. I find Jesus’ words “forgive us our sins”, summed up in Matthew 7:1-2 “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For with the judgment you judge you will be judged. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged.” (NLT) If I don’t forgive my brother who offends me, I stand as his judge. I judge him for the wrong he’s done (and in many cases, he doesn’t have to offend me and I still stand in judgment of the wrong I believe he’s done). If this scripture is true, how I measure him, I will be measured. I believe what Jesus is saying here is this. We do the same things we stand in judgment over people for. The old saying, we hate in others what we do ourselves, comes into play here. But I believe there is a spiritual law at work here. Even if I have never done what I judge my brother for, I bind to myself, by that judgment, to do it. So if I judge you as a dirty rotten stinking liar, I will become a dirty rotten stinking liar. With the same measurement I used, I will be measured and found to be the same.

The implications are huge here. Only God can see the beginning from the end and really know if someone really is a “dirty rotten stinking liar”. I don’t have enough information to make that judgment and my ability to judge is impaired by my own wounds and sins. So Jesus tells us to forgive those who sinned against us. Let Jesus do the judging. It’s His job, not ours. Healing happens in our lives when we let the Holy Spirit show us where we’ve hung on to our “right” to judge others. When I understand that I’m hanging on to this “right” for an offense done to me, I can truly say, “Jesus, forgive me, I’ve judged my brother, I’ve done him wrong”. It is then I can give to Jesus my right to see justice done. He’ll be the judge, not me. I can trust that He’ll work it out. He’ll make it right. This is how I can forgive my brother. Not ignoring the wrong done to me, but taking that wrong and giving it to Jesus to work out the right. Let Jesus bring judgment to it.
I’m convinced that it’s these particular offenses that often keep us bound to our sin. Our unwillingness to let Jesus be the judge and bring justice to our situations is the very thing that binds us to repeat the cycles and patterns of sin in our lives. Our unwillingness to let Jesus search our hearts and show us where we are hanging on to these, our own judgments, keeps us bound to our cycles of sin. Freedom comes when I first deal with my own sin, “Forgive us our sins” and let Jesus deal with those who’ve sinned against me “as we also forgive everyone who sins against us”.