Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

This is not talking about money debts owed here but rather the debt we owe to God because of our sins – this is why some bibles use the word sins rather than the word debts.

The type of things we fall short of all the time are love, obedience and gratitude.

If we fall short of these things toward God, then should we not expect to see these shortcomings from the people around us?

We need the grace extend forgiveness to others just as we expect God to extend His grace and forgive us!

Matthew 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

Each and every day we need our input from God, be it listening to others or reading it ourselves, we need to be refreshed so we can face another day.

This can be paralleled with the time when the Israelites would have to gather their manna each day, just enough for that day, not to store it up; each family would have to gather their own manna.

We cannot leave it to the priests or church leaders to do our reading for us – we have to hear that message from God because He alone is the author and finisher of the Gospel!

Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

The Jews used to pray something like “the kingdom of thy Messiah come” before Jesus changed the wording to show them the Messiah had already come and now they should look forward to heaven!

This is all about the success of the Gospel – the message being spread far and wide – just as it would be echoed in heaven.

We need to take heed of what Christ has taught us and continue to pass the same message on to all people around us, not just sharing it with other Christians, but everywhere!