In the Lord’s Prayer, we are encouraged to ask for God’s deliverance from the temptations that come to us from Satan. For the Prayer says, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (or, as we should say, “the evil one”).

Is it not true that God has assured us in advance of this full forgiveness precisely to keep us from sinning? Certainly it is. For no sooner has John written, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," than he goes on to say, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." In other words, God says that the truth that will most keep us from sinning is the promise that we will be forgiven by God even if we do. 

Most Christians will immediately see the need for the distinction between the two types of forgiveness. Unfortunately, there have always been some Christians who have felt that sin could be eradicated in the Christian during this life. And since they generally apply this to themselves, they therefore come to believe erroneously that they at least no longer need this forgiveness. This is wrong, of course, and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ directed all of His disciples to ask for forgiveness refutes it. 

We have seen in John 6 that Jesus is the source and sustainer of life. But we must add to this that Jesus will fill us with abundance of spiritual life only as we give some of what we have received to others. We come to Christ for filling, but we must share some of what we have received if we are to receive more at His hands. 

When we say that this prayer is a simple prayer for the things that we have need of every day and that God invites this type of praying, certain great truths emerge from it.