10 Contemplative Days in the Lord's PrayerShembull

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. Help us not to give into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever. Amen

You are wrong. It helps to just admit it instead of dancing around in empty attempts to make yourself look or feel better than you are. You have done things that are wrong. You keep doing things that are wrong. You are wrong. Praise Jesus though that he got it right for you! Anything that was wrong about you died with Jesus. That was the cost of forgiveness, but he paid it and now gives that forgiveness as a gift to the places you need it most.

In praying “Forgive us our sins,” today, start with noticing how your sins have shaped yourself and others. You’re asking God to give you more than a list. Ask him to help you notice the picture that’s being painted by where you have lived in the wrong. As that picture forms, don’t be quick to mumble your apologies. Let your heart feel what it feels about that picture, and may that which is expressed on your heart be your prayer.

Notice Jesus, his cross, and the determination of love that took him there. Hold the picture of your sin next to your picture of Christ and the cross for your sin. Sit quietly in forgiveness (it’s always been yours, but you don’t taste the full flavors of it until you let it marinate).

Turn what you noticed into a prayer of truth. What is true about you, and true about Jesus, that needs to be said about your sin today? This prayer needs to be said out loud today.