A Prayer of PERSONAL REPENTANCE
(Borrowed from Anne Graham Lotz and Puritan prayers from *Valley of Vision)
Merciful Savior,
I am so slow to learn, So prone to forget, So weak to climb I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights; I am pained by my graceless heart,
My prayerless days, my poverty of love, my sloth in the heavenly race,
My sullied conscience, my wasted hours, my unspent opportunities, I am blind while light shines around me: Take the scales from my eyes,
Grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
For the glory of Your name. Amen.
*******
To aid in your repentance, read the following check-list three times all the way through. In the third reading, repent of the sin that God brings to your attention.
Ingratitude: Neglecting to thank God for an answered prayer or a blessing.I repent.
Neglect of Bible reading: Keeping the Bible closed, or reading it without focus. I repent. Unbelief:
Doubting who God is and what God has said. I repent.
Prayerlessness: Spiritually chattering, daydreaming, and fantasizing instead of fervently praying. I repent. Unconcern for the lost: Leaving evangelism to the “professionals.” I repent.
Hypocrisy: Pretending to be more spiritual than I am, or anything I am not. I repent.
Pride: Impressed with my own reputation and accomplishments; offended and resentful when someone else receives more attention. I repent.
Envy: Jealousy of those more gifted and fruitful and recognizable than I am. I repent.
Critical spirit: Finding fault with someone because he or she doesn’t measure up to my standards. I repent.
Slander: Telling the truth about someone, with the intention of causing others to think less of him or her. I repent.
Lying: Making a statement, exaggerating, or inferring something that is contrary to the unvarnished truth. I repent.
Cheating: Not doing to others what I expect or demand them to do for me. I repent. Robbing God: Exercising my gifts or spending my time, money or energy on things that have a selfish goal, without asking God first. I repent.
Fear: For being so afraid of what others think and say that I remain silent, hiding the light of Your Gospel under the basket of intimidation. I repent.
I repent of ____________ Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse,’ the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath. Show me the enormity of my guilt by the crown of thorns, the pierced hands and feet, the bruised body, the dying cries .Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God, its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought. .Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
I am so sorry. Amen.
*******
Psalm 51
A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
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