Beginner lesson · Matthew 6:12, 14–15
How Does Jesus Connect Prayer and Forgiveness?
A source-linked reading of the forgiveness request in Jesus’ prayer and the words that follow it.
The quotation below is Scripture from the World English Bible. The labeled sections that follow are Embergrain’s editorial framing: they describe the passage, offer an interpretation and paraphrase, and name what these verses do not explain.
Scripture quotation
The verse-numbered excerpts below are Scripture. The context, interpretation, paraphrase, and application that follow are Embergrain commentary.
Scripture · WEB
World English Bible · Matthew 6:12, 14–15
12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
14For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Read this source text before the Embergrain commentary below.
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Context
Context
Matthew 6:5–8 gives teaching about prayer. In verse 9, Jesus introduces a prayer; its forgiveness line appears in verse 12. After the prayer, verses 14–15 return to forgiveness. These observations describe the sequence in Matthew 6:5–15.
The wording in the source card is Scripture. This section describes where those verses appear and is not an additional quotation.
Interpretation
Interpretation
Embergrain’s reading is that the prayer connects asking for forgiveness with forgiving other people. Jesus’ words in verses 14–15 stress that connection. This is an interpretation of the passage, not a quotation or a settled account of every theological question about forgiveness.
Paraphrase
Paraphrase
In plain language: the prayer asks God to forgive us in a way that is connected to how we forgive people who have wronged us. This is a paraphrase of the relationship, not Scripture and not a quotation.
Differing views
Differing views
Readers interpret the force of verses 12 and 14–15, and how they relate to one another, in different ways. This lesson offers Embergrain’s reading without claiming that every reader or tradition understands the connection identically.
Uncertainty
Uncertainty
These verses do not themselves give a complete procedure for reconciliation, trust, repentance, justice, or responding to every kind of harm. The passage makes a connection about forgiveness, but does not spell out how each situation should be handled.