Six Prayers of Repentance
In chapter twenty-six of Soul Physicians, I outline a biblical theology of putting off the old manner of life (compare Ephesians 4:17-19). I embed within that theology a “Prayer of Repentance” related to each of six areas of our spiritual life:
• Our Relationship to God
• Our Relationship to Others
• Our Relationship to Ourselves
• Our Rational Beliefs/Mindsets
• Our Volitional Behaviors/Motivations
• Our Emotions
Today’s post shares these six prayers.
A Prayer of Relational Repentance: My Spiritual Relationship to God
“Father, I come home to You. I confess as sin my false lovers. I confess as sin living like the old person that I used to be. I confess as sin my spiritual adultery. I acknowledge to You and to myself that my false lovers are horrible lovers and that my pursuit of them is ugly and putrid. How foolish of me to ever believe that anyone but You could ever satisfy the longings of my soul. How shameful. How disrespectful. Forgive me my relational sin. I acknowledge that You alone are my Supreme Good. I acknowledge that You alone are gracious and compassionate. I return to You as my Forgiving Father. I return to Your Son as my Worthy Groom. I return to Your Holy Spirit as my Inspiring Mentor. I love You, Lord. Renew my vision of You as a totally competent and totally good God—boundless in holy love.”
A Prayer of Relational Repentance: My Social Relationships to Others
“Father, I confess as sin my living for self, loving self. I will put off shepherding myself and focus on shepherding others. I reject all the self sins: self-sufficiency, self-promotion, self-protection, selfishness, self-centeredness. I confess as sin my cruel, harsh, manipulative, demanding, shaming, blaming, maiming way of treating others. Most of all, I confess as sin how far I’ve moved from reflecting You and Your radically other-centered Trinitarian existence. I am putting off the flesh, the characteristic ways I used to relate and I’m putting on the Spirit, the new me created to relate like You.”
A Prayer of Relational Repentance: My Identity in Christ
“Father, I’ve been so like Adam and Eve. Running. Hiding. Defensive. Playing dress up. All because I don’t believe You are who You say You are—the Forgiving Father. What sin! I put off my shame identity. I reject my sense of abandonment, ruin, rejection, and condemnation. I put off my futile attempts to quiet my inner restlessness. Instead, I rest in You. I rest in who I am in Christ and to Christ. It’s ugly of me to try to beautify myself. It’s a slap in the face to Your Son, my Savior. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Enlighten me by Your Holy Spirit to grasp how much You love me and how loving You are.”
A Prayer of Rational Repentance: Putting Off My Old Beliefs and Mindsets
“Father, I’ve finally come to my senses. I confess as sin my foolish belief that I can make life work apart from You. I’ve arrogantly suppressed the truth of how perfectly well You care for me. I’ve denied Your fatherly love for me. I’ve sinned against You by believing Satan’s (the False Seducer) smaller story, fleshly mindset that You are not my Supreme Good. I’ve allowed my view of reality to become filled with contemptuous images of You. I’ve allowed my mind to be squeezed into the mold of this temporal world, living according to the dominant plot theme of the earthly story. I’ve been like a deaf man straining to hear the Gospel story. I’ve denied the Cross. I return to You now repenting of these idols of my heart. Though I am not worthy in myself to be called Your child, by faith I claim my adoption in Christ. Thank You for forgiving me.”
A Prayer of Volitional Repentance: Putting Off My Old Behaviors and Motivations
“Father, I’ve sinned against You by walking in the way of the sinner, by following the self-centered pathway of _______. I must put off choosing compulsively and put on choosing courageously. I must put off the old enslaved pathways and put on my new free, empowering pathways. Help me to quit coddling, cuddling, pampering, and spoiling my flesh. Empower me to be ruthlessly fierce in rejecting it and nailing it to the Cross. Reveal my secret sins, show me the patterns that I’m blind to, help me to detect my fleshly pathways. I reject my fleshly inclinations, patterns, and character. I put on the new characteristic of _________. I reject my characteristic approach to life of _________ and by Christ’s resurrection power I replace it with my new manner of life.”
A Prayer of Emotional Repentance: Putting Off My Old Mood States
“Father, I’ve sinned against You by worshipping feelings instead of worshipping You. My current mood state of _______ exposes how desperately I’m trying to live without You. My failure to face my feelings expose my distrust in Your ability to care for me. My refusal to soothe my soul in You exposes my doubts about Your goodness. I put off my emotional duplicity replacing it, in the power of Your Spirit, with emotional integrity. I will face whatever I feel and bring it to You. I put off my emotional lasciviousness. I put off indulging my fleshly passions. I confess as sin my addiction to ___________. I recognize it for what it is: a symptom of the deeper disorder within me, a spiritual, relational, mental, willful disorder. Forgive me. Empower me to manage my moods for Your glory and the good of others.”
The Rest of the Story
The Bible never tells us to put off without also telling us how God empowers us to put on the new person we are in and through Christ. Tomorrow we share six prayers of renewal.
Join the Conversation
Which of the six prayers hits home the most for you today? How would you word your prayer in that area?
Prayer of my identity in Christ…THANK YOU. I had just prayed that God would show His mercy to me today…and then I got on the computer to pay a bill…and THIS was one of the first things I stumbled upon. A prayer, written for the very thing I struggle with most…God’s forgiveness toward me. Thank you for the prayer!
Jeannie, PTL. God is good. He’s good all the time! His timing for you was perfect this morning. Bob
Thank you for your excellent and very convicting prayers. Thank you for being a Servant! The Prayers concerning the old Mindset and Moods convicted me greatly. How often we play games with ourselves … and with GOD! I have been guilty of that, of doubting the Father’s Goodness and giving into fear. Forgive me, Father! I repent according to Your Word – and call upon you to cleanse me now and forever of all unrighteousness! I plead the Blood of Jesus! Thank You, Lord!
The Prayer of identity in christ and relational are two that are very good for me to pray.God has blessed even when i have sinned to show me that i need o have faith and i have come to see today that its what he wants for me so these prayers help me retore the rleationship i do have with him and all the wronf things i do he remooves it and leanses me becuase i know he loves me i forget but he reminded me today and i am very thankful for him as my father and his son who is my savior and who also loves me i am not perfect but through him i am saved and yet even when i fall he will be there to raise me up and bring me to the right path that he has for me thank you father for youre unending love and support that you have and for youre son who dided on the cross for me so i could live wiht you forever.
Stephen
Thank you for providing these prayers… They helped me greatly in a desperate time of need, and I dearly hope my own personal sins will not continue to affect my relationship with God and of that with others.
Thank you for this prayer. God knows I struggle but thrugh christ I can accomplish anything. prayerof relational repentance
Thank you for giving me the words I found lacking. I will refer to this site often for each of these prayers are applicable depending on the season of my life. Beautiful prayers.
Thank-you for these prayer, they have him me where I was hurting the most , of my flesh and adultery and knowing that’s has forgiving me for my sins
this prayer has changed ma life thank u
lord thank you for forgiving my sins am now a new creature in christ old things has pass away
Eish,indeed you are God sent.I thought I knew how to pray but with this prayer I found out that am just too far,needed smone like you to show me the way.
Thank you for those prayers. They really touched my spirit and put me in a place of repentance and worship. All those prayer touched me in some area in my life. I NEEDED THOSE, so I continue to pray:
I repent & confess my sin Lord!!! Please come and rescue me, I know I cant do ANYTHING without you. I NEED you totally!! I pray that as I repent my actions agree with my words today that I speak today. Please remove all unrighteousness for it does not benefit me however YOU DO. Lord I KNOW the earth is yours and the fullness thereof, when I am dead and gone my body goes back to the earth and to You my soul returns, NOTHING is mine, even I am not my own I have been bought with a price, I OWE YOU EVERYTHING I AM YOURS. I reject ALL sin that will separate me from you, Holy Spirit continue to reveal to me what is needed so I can resist whatever sin that is in the way or our relationship so I can give You ALL my heart, body, & soul LORD, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. As I study your Word more, hide it in my heart so I WILL never be deceived or sin against you. I want to be just like you Lord and look forward to your coming to set US ALL FREE from sin and death forever. I want to HATE sin with all my being. I LOVE you and desire 200% of you. Hear my cry and flood me with your love. I rest in you in Jesus Name I pray.. AMEN
PLEASE CONTINUE THESE PRAYER,
GOD BLESS
Thankyou for putting these prayers here for me to see, read and believe in. They are exactly what I have been looking for in my life. God bless, thankyou lord for being with me this day.
God Bless the person(s) who wrote these prayers. Every single one of them hit home.
Very Good.
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