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 thy God bare thee. Deuteronomy 1:31
A safe carriage was that! In His love and in His pity God redeemed them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old. When the little lad was tired and complained of his head, his father bade a servant carry him to his mother; but God does not hand over His children to His servants, He carries them Himself. When we realize that His everlasting arms are underneath, it is safer riding than any the ingenuity of man can devise; and here we need fear no ill.
"In all the way." - There are great varieties in the way - sometimes the sleepers are badly laid, and the carriage rocks and jolts; sometimes the gradient is steep, and the progress tedious; sometimes the pilgrim has to go afoot, climbing with difficulty from ridge to ridge; sometimes the route lies through a territory infested with enemies, and haunted by miasma; but we can each rejoice in the fact that the Lord "knoweth the way that I take," and that all the way, those gentle and unwearied arms bear us up and on.
"All the days." - Never a day without its cross, its lesson, its discipline, its peril; but never a day that God does not bear us up in His hands, as some mighty river bears up the boat of the missionary explorer. Through wilds, past villages of infuriated savages, over reefs and rocks, the patient river bears the voyager and his goods. Thus does God carry us. The Good Shepherd carries the lambs in His bosom. Why, then, should we dread the future, or quail before the faces of our foes? "The eternal God is thy refuge; and underneath are the everlasting arms." So strong: so tender! Let yourself go, and trust.
A safe carriage was that! In His love and in His pity God redeemed them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old. When the little lad was tired and complained of his head, his father bade a servant carry him to his mother; but God does not hand over His children to His servants, He carries them Himself. When we realize that His everlasting arms are underneath, it is safer riding than any the ingenuity of man can devise; and here we need fear no ill.
"In all the way." - There are great varieties in the way - sometimes the sleepers are badly laid, and the carriage rocks and jolts; sometimes the gradient is steep, and the progress tedious; sometimes the pilgrim has to go afoot, climbing with difficulty from ridge to ridge; sometimes the route lies through a territory infested with enemies, and haunted by miasma; but we can each rejoice in the fact that the Lord "knoweth the way that I take," and that all the way, those gentle and unwearied arms bear us up and on.
"All the days." - Never a day without its cross, its lesson, its discipline, its peril; but never a day that God does not bear us up in His hands, as some mighty river bears up the boat of the missionary explorer. Through wilds, past villages of infuriated savages, over reefs and rocks, the patient river bears the voyager and his goods. Thus does God carry us. The Good Shepherd carries the lambs in His bosom. Why, then, should we dread the future, or quail before the faces of our foes? "The eternal God is thy refuge; and underneath are the everlasting arms." So strong: so tender! Let yourself go, and trust.
~F. B. Meyer~
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Deuteronomy 5:24
The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory.
God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory. Any aim less than this were unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man's eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there may be room for God to be exalted; and this is the reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but they who "do business in great waters," these see His "wonders in the deep." Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God's greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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Today’s Reading: Psalms 10; Acts 19:1-20
Today’s Thoughts: Our Teacher
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:27
Jesus tells His disciples in John 16 that when He goes away He will send a Helper, His Holy Spirit. “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13). When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are immediately indwelled by His Holy Spirit. We believe, then, wereceive. One of the biggest attacks Christians face today comes from an enemy telling us that we have no real power, no victory, and no hope. In John 8:44, Jesus describes our enemy: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is perfect in every way. He cannot lie. He cannot deceive. He is holy and righteous beyond our understanding. His promises are true. His faithfulness reaches to the heavens. When He says that we have His Holy Spirit, then we must believe in faith that we have an abiding relationship filled with His love and power. He promises that no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Do you believe Him today? Do you want to know more about the things of the Lord? As a child of God, saved and sealed for the day of redemption, you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things. Let today be the day that you start learning about these things. How to start? Read His Word and study it. Pray and ask for the things you want to learn about. Ask questions that you want answered. Get up every day with an attitude of faith and do not allow the enemy to tempt you with his lies. Maybe it is time for you to go back to school...and what a great Teacher you have! And the best part...He will only give you open book (the Bible) tests.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
Today’s Thoughts: Our Teacher
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:27
Jesus tells His disciples in John 16 that when He goes away He will send a Helper, His Holy Spirit. “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13). When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are immediately indwelled by His Holy Spirit. We believe, then, wereceive. One of the biggest attacks Christians face today comes from an enemy telling us that we have no real power, no victory, and no hope. In John 8:44, Jesus describes our enemy: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is perfect in every way. He cannot lie. He cannot deceive. He is holy and righteous beyond our understanding. His promises are true. His faithfulness reaches to the heavens. When He says that we have His Holy Spirit, then we must believe in faith that we have an abiding relationship filled with His love and power. He promises that no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Do you believe Him today? Do you want to know more about the things of the Lord? As a child of God, saved and sealed for the day of redemption, you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things. Let today be the day that you start learning about these things. How to start? Read His Word and study it. Pray and ask for the things you want to learn about. Ask questions that you want answered. Get up every day with an attitude of faith and do not allow the enemy to tempt you with his lies. Maybe it is time for you to go back to school...and what a great Teacher you have! And the best part...He will only give you open book (the Bible) tests.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
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