In that blessed prayer our Savior taught us to pray, one of the requests seems to be conditional. In Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer the condition is more explicit than in Luke’s account.

Note Matthew 6:12 . . .

“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Then observe what Jesus adds to this in verses 14-15 . . .

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Luke’s account of the prayer is shorter at this point, for in 11:4 Jesus simply adds,

“for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.”

The conditional nature of this petition has sparked many debates among the experts as to its meaning. On first observation, it would seem to indicate that our being forgiven by God is grounded upon our having forgiven others for their sins against us. However, as we will see on Sunday, there are some very good reasons for not reading the prayer this way. So what, then, is the connection between our experience of God’s forgiveness and our granting forgiveness to others?