LEAD June 2026 | Page 27

pray about every day besides just requesting help and provision from God.
The Lord’ s Prayer reminds us what the human heart needs every day— we need God, we need to be forgiven and we need to forgive. Which means forgiveness is supposed to be as much a part of our daily lives as eating and sleeping.
But I will readily admit, I’ m not even sure I’ ve ever done this weekly, much less daily. And maybe that’ s the very reason I often have an unexplainable heavy feeling inside of me.
We live in a day and time when being offended almost seems to go hand in hand with being alive. Almost everyone is epically offended by something. Almost everyone has relationship troubles. And I would guess almost none of us are truly praying daily with confession and forgiveness like Jesus taught us.
I’ ll be the first in line to raise my hand and admit this is me. I’ m too easily offended. I’ m too quick to get defensive. I’ m too slow to turn to prayer. I’ m very rarely confessing. And I’ m too often not forgiving.
But I want to change this. I want to mature in this.
I know I won’ t do this perfectly. But that doesn’ t mean I don’ t try it at all.
Recently, someone I’ ve been trying to help completely blindsided me with a reaction that felt extremely out of character and honestly undeserved. I was hurt. All I wanted to do was pull back from helping and give way to a full unleashing of my hurt on her. I could feel bitterness rising up.
But instead of immediately reacting, I remembered how, earlier that morning, I had prayed the Lord’ s Prayer and confessed several things to the Lord in which my own heart
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