The Lord's Prayer - Forgive Us Our Sins as We Forgive Those Who Sin Against Us

At the heart of the lord's prayer is this petition that jesus taught us to pray, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. I don't think jesus had any illusion that his disciples would outgrow the need to pray for forgiveness for sins. And therefore it does not follow from jesus teachings that we must be perfect without sin in order to have our prayers answered. The righteous person whose prayer avails is not the sinless person, but the repentant person. He is not the person who falls into sin, but the person who stays there and is content with his sin.