God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:1-4).
8 Things God has given to us in His Son
1 He has spoken to us in His Son.
2 He appointed His Son to be the heir of all things.
3 Through His Son He made the world (the ages).
4 Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory.
5 Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature.
6 Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power.
7 Jesus made purification of sins (our sins).
8 Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Here is the petition that is the most needed to maintain our relationship with God. It is the petition that helps to keep our mind and soul pure so that we can commune with Him in prayer. Hence this petition for daily forgiveness makes it possible to be satisfied with our daily bread, and also makes it probable that He will guide us and deliver us from evil when we ask Him.
The forgiveness that we ask for is according to our debts to God. For God has given us His laws and we have not obeyed them, we have not been righteous as He requires. Thus, because of our sin against God, we owe Him a huge debt of consequence. How can we pay this debt? It is so immense, so gigantic that we will never be able to pay it back. Therefore, all we can do is…
Here is the first of three petitions that describe our own personal needs. The first three petitions are for God’s desires. The next three are for our needs. And we must always remember to pray for His requirements first; then He will show us what our real needs are, and He will lead us to pray for those things. Moreover, when we concentrate on His priorities first, He gives us a true and right perspective on things; hence, He shows us what our priorities should be, and He puts us in a better mind to pray for ourselves and for our friends.
This first of these personal petitions is for our daily bread, and is normally thought of as a petition for all our daily, physical needs—for our food and shelter, etc. For the most part, I think this…
As we pray for God’s name to be hallowed, and for His kingdom to come, with the same breath we should pray also for His will to be done. For the holiness of God and the kingdom of God is established by the will of God.
Here we are praying that God would do His good will to overcome what is sinful and evil in the world, that He would do whatever He wishes to do, so that the earth would be as heaven. And since He wishes that all would be saved, and thus be conformed to His image, this prayer is really a prayer for the salvation and sanctification of all those in the world.
Now, since God has given all men and women a choice, we know that many will choose not to be saved and to go…
[When wisdom comes to you it] will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness (Prov. 2:10-13).
If you are wise, your soul will be pleased with God’s knowledge. If you are wise, discretion will guard you and understanding will watch over you and deliver you from evil.
If Christians weren’t bombarded with the sins of the world and with all kinds of false messages, the Christian life would be relatively easy and a joy. But the way things are, we have plenty to confuse us and get us off-track.
After thinking on this, I think we may see the Christian life in two parts: 1) Christian living in relationship with God and in the family of God, and 2) Christian living in relationship with God but also in contact with the world.
1 The Christian in Relationship with God and in the Family of God
This is where the Christian life starts. We learn that we have a loving Father and a loving Savior—Jesus Christ. And we also learn that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. And along the way we learn the value of prayer and God’s word. And we learn of God’s forgiveness: that there is positional forgiveness, which means that our sins from the start of our life are forgiven, covered by the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7-8); and there is also practical or conditional forgiveness, meaning that if we confess our sins every time we sin, God will cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9). And that means that we no longer have to carry any quilt of sin with us.
The more we study the word and pray, and the more we keep confessing our sins, with a view to please and obey God, the more we will grow in our relationship with Him and with His Son.
Another aspect of living in the family of God is learning the value of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is so important to know how to encourage each other with love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25). And all of us who are true believers have been given spiritual gifts and talents from God for the purpose of building up one another: gifts of service, encouragement, teaching, preaching, etc. (Romans 12:6-8). It is so important to discover your gifts and to be involved in some ministry that God has called you to. It is sad that many neglect this and miss out on a great blessing that God has for you. Remember, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
2 The Christian in the World
It is unfortunate that every Christian must live in a sinful world, a world full of evil and where demons hide in the darkness, waiting to attack us, and where sinful things constantly tempt us. I am not trying to be over-dramatic. I am putting it like it is. This world is the devil’s and full of evil and lusts. But as 1John 2: 15-16 tells us,
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
But good news! Colossians 1:3 tells us that God has rescued us from the domain of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Now since we are not of the world but are living in the world, we must…
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world (Phil: 2:14-15).
Again, as Matthew’s gospel tells us, “You are the light of the world… 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14, 16).
Besides our being lights in the world, you may have the special gift of evangelism, or you may have the calling of church planting, or any similar service. We all can share our testimony of how we came to Christ, and we all can share a few verses of Scripture to a lost one as to how they can be saved. This seems very hard to do for some. And that is because Satan is coming against you. Therefore, you must be diligent to pray every day for God to make you victorious in this area, and that Satan will not hinder you. You can pray for me as well. It is hard for all of us, but I know that He will help us.
Here is the petition that is the most needed to maintain our relationship with God. It is the petition that helps to keep our mind and soul pure so that we can commune with Him in prayer. Hence this petition for daily forgiveness makes it possible to be satisfied with our daily bread, and also makes it probable that He will guide us and deliver us from evil when we ask Him.
An excerpt from my book 
Stephen Nielsen 