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Key Bible Verse: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. (James 5:16, The Message) Dig Deeper: Colossians 3:12-15

[Now] Jesus leads us into a critical part of the prayer, a touchy area: "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." If we want our lives to be propelled by God's breath and to move forward effortlessly, then our hearts must be right with God and with other people. One of the most liberating, energizing things we can do each day is go to our Father and ask his forgiveness.

In fact, I would encourage you to take it even a step further and pray, as David prayed in the Psalms, for God to search you, know you, and test your sincerity (see Psalm 139:23).

Ask him to point out any blind spots or areas that you may not realize need attention. If there's any part of your life that's offensive to the One you love the most, then you surely want to know about it and deal with it.

Not only do you need to ask God for forgiveness each day, but you also need to make sure you're right with other people. Jesus basically said, "You'll be forgiven to the degree that you forgive other people" (see Matt. 6:14-15). In the same way that you and I forgive each other, God forgives us.

—Chris Hodges in Fresh Air

My Response: Are there any sins I haven't dealt with in myself or forgiven someone else for?

Thought to Apply: Because we are the most forgiven people in the world, we should be the most forgiving people in the world.—C. J. Mahaney (pastor, author)

Adapted from Fresh Air (Tyndale, 2012) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2012 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Heavenly Father, teach me to pray with wisdom, grace, compassion, conviction, and humility.

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