REPENT: The Second Step in Effective Prayer
Yesterday we began to look at what makes for effective prayer by using the acronym P-R-A-Y. The first step is praise. Today, I want to focus on the second letter of our acronym, "R", which stands for repent.
By repentance in prayer, I mean taking the time before God to search your heart and repent of anything that has come between you and Him. Psalm 19:12-13 expresses it well,
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Verse 12 begins with the question, "Who can understand his errors?" The psalmist is telling us, "You will not always know when you do something wrong. You will not always know when you get into an area that is not right."
What David is pointing to are the secret faults and presumptuous sins which can still have dominion over you—even though you may not be aware that what you did was wrong.
For example, sometimes we can allow attitudes to get into our hearts that we don't realize are inconsistent with God's character. Or sometimes we can do and say things that are detrimental, not only to us, but to others, and not really understand the damage we have done.
How do you deal with these sins? You come before God and say, "God, put the spotlight on anything in my life that has raised a barrier between You and me, and I will repent of it."
So when you pray, ask God to reveal any sin in your life you may be overlooking. God will honor your heart of repentance.
~Bayless Conley~
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The Lord hath taken you to be unto Him a people of inheritance. Deuteronomy 4:20
The Apostle' prays that we may know the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in His saints. God is our inheritance, and we are His. We are called to possess Him; He desires to possess us. His nature will yield crops of holy helpfulness to those who diligently seek Him; and He demands crops of holy love and devotion from ours.
What Sovereign Grace is here! - There was nothing in us to distinguish us from others. We were but part of the great moorland waste, when He fenced us in, and placed us under His tillage and husbandry. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are. "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
What responsibility! - Three times over in this chapter we are bidden to take heed to ourselves. It is no small thing to have been the subjects of God's special workmanship; because He is a jealous God, very quick to mark the least symptom of declension, and very searching in His dealing and discipline. As we learn here, our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
What Hope! - We cannot derive much from ourselves, however we toil and strive. Self cannot discipline self to any advantage. The field is worked out. The Divine Husbandman must put into us what He would take out of us; He needs therefore to have almost infinite resources. But these are God's, and if we yield ourselves to Him, He can make all grace abound toward us, that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.
The Apostle' prays that we may know the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in His saints. God is our inheritance, and we are His. We are called to possess Him; He desires to possess us. His nature will yield crops of holy helpfulness to those who diligently seek Him; and He demands crops of holy love and devotion from ours.
What Sovereign Grace is here! - There was nothing in us to distinguish us from others. We were but part of the great moorland waste, when He fenced us in, and placed us under His tillage and husbandry. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are. "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
What responsibility! - Three times over in this chapter we are bidden to take heed to ourselves. It is no small thing to have been the subjects of God's special workmanship; because He is a jealous God, very quick to mark the least symptom of declension, and very searching in His dealing and discipline. As we learn here, our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
What Hope! - We cannot derive much from ourselves, however we toil and strive. Self cannot discipline self to any advantage. The field is worked out. The Divine Husbandman must put into us what He would take out of us; He needs therefore to have almost infinite resources. But these are God's, and if we yield ourselves to Him, He can make all grace abound toward us, that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.
~F. B. Meyer~
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Transforming Grace
Guest Writer: Meet my son-in-law Tripp Prince. We are blessed to have him as our guest writer.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Acts 9:1-2
Do you remember what you were like before you knew Jesus? You may have been blessed to grow up in a Christian family where you were taught to follow Christ from an early age, or perhaps you lived many years far from the Lord and were drawn to faith later in life. Whatever your story may be, chances are your conversion is not as dramatic as the story of St. Paul found in Acts 9!
Saul, later known as Paul, was the great persecutor of the early church, actively seeking to imprison and kill those who followed Jesus. If you were a Christian in those early days, you certainly would have known Saul’s name, but he wasn’t someone you’d want to meet! Saul was an enemy of God and God’s people.
Yet the Scriptures remind us that God is in the business of transformation. We serve a God who turns even the most unlikely of hearts back to him, a God who came to redeem and save his enemies (Rom. 5:10).
And all who heard (Saul) were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” Acts 9:21-22
We must ask ourselves today, as we look at the conversion of Saul, do we still have the expectation and prayer that God continues to change hearts today? What is our posture towards our friends, family members, or co-workers who are far from the Lord? What about people who even persecute or seek harm and destruction of Christ followers? Do we write them all off as ‘too far gone’ or enemies, or can we instead look to Saul and see how God’s grace can transform the most passionate persecutor of His church into the most exuberant evangelist in all of history.
If God has the power to change Saul, trust that his love can reach the depths of even the most wayward heart. If you’ve never experienced this love or if your walk has grown cold, remember this great conversion story and reach out to God in prayer, asking him to come fill your heart afresh with the same transforming grace that filled Saul’s heart centuries ago.
Prayer: Father, thank you that your love reaches even the hardest of hearts. May I receive today your transformative grace and know your great love for me.
~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~
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But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Acts 9:1-2
Do you remember what you were like before you knew Jesus? You may have been blessed to grow up in a Christian family where you were taught to follow Christ from an early age, or perhaps you lived many years far from the Lord and were drawn to faith later in life. Whatever your story may be, chances are your conversion is not as dramatic as the story of St. Paul found in Acts 9!
Saul, later known as Paul, was the great persecutor of the early church, actively seeking to imprison and kill those who followed Jesus. If you were a Christian in those early days, you certainly would have known Saul’s name, but he wasn’t someone you’d want to meet! Saul was an enemy of God and God’s people.
Yet the Scriptures remind us that God is in the business of transformation. We serve a God who turns even the most unlikely of hearts back to him, a God who came to redeem and save his enemies (Rom. 5:10).
And all who heard (Saul) were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon his name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” Acts 9:21-22
We must ask ourselves today, as we look at the conversion of Saul, do we still have the expectation and prayer that God continues to change hearts today? What is our posture towards our friends, family members, or co-workers who are far from the Lord? What about people who even persecute or seek harm and destruction of Christ followers? Do we write them all off as ‘too far gone’ or enemies, or can we instead look to Saul and see how God’s grace can transform the most passionate persecutor of His church into the most exuberant evangelist in all of history.
If God has the power to change Saul, trust that his love can reach the depths of even the most wayward heart. If you’ve never experienced this love or if your walk has grown cold, remember this great conversion story and reach out to God in prayer, asking him to come fill your heart afresh with the same transforming grace that filled Saul’s heart centuries ago.
Prayer: Father, thank you that your love reaches even the hardest of hearts. May I receive today your transformative grace and know your great love for me.
~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~
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Jesus, Author and Finisher
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2a
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
If we will look to Jesus, Jesus will be the author and finisher of our faith. The word “author” in the Greek literally means “example,” “leader,” or “originator.” Jesus is the example of faith, but He’s also the originator of our faith. Faith comes from beholding the Lord Jesus Christ, looking at Him.
You see, all the other heroes of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 can cheer us on, but they’re not our chief example. He is the One who never sinned, who never failed. His name is Jesus. The more you behold the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re going to find out that He is the author and finisher.
He’s the one who originates the grace. He’s the one who fires the starting gun. He’s the goal toward which we run. He is the coach who runs alongside us and gives us courage and strength to run the race.
ACTION POINT:
It is Jesus all the way. If you want faith, fix your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Keep “looking unto Jesus.” Your faith will grow.
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2a
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
If we will look to Jesus, Jesus will be the author and finisher of our faith. The word “author” in the Greek literally means “example,” “leader,” or “originator.” Jesus is the example of faith, but He’s also the originator of our faith. Faith comes from beholding the Lord Jesus Christ, looking at Him.
You see, all the other heroes of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 can cheer us on, but they’re not our chief example. He is the One who never sinned, who never failed. His name is Jesus. The more you behold the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re going to find out that He is the author and finisher.
He’s the one who originates the grace. He’s the one who fires the starting gun. He’s the goal toward which we run. He is the coach who runs alongside us and gives us courage and strength to run the race.
ACTION POINT:
It is Jesus all the way. If you want faith, fix your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Keep “looking unto Jesus.” Your faith will grow.
~Adrian Rogers~
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