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?

How Do We Relate?

What were relationships like in the culture of the Roman Empire when the New Testament was written? Relationships were decidedly one-sided.

Persons with power ruled with an iron hand over those who were powerless.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:25-28).

Persons with money abused the poor.

“Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into curt? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?” (James 2:6b-7).

Fathers dominated, exasperated, embittered, and discouraged their children with harsh, dictatorial mistreatment (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21).

Husbands were inconsiderate of their wives, disrespectful, unloving, and acted in self-centered ways (1 P. 3:7; Eph. 5:25-33).

To use a technical term, relationships were perceived to be hierarchical. People ranked one another in a tiered system. The culture of the day classified and categorized everyone from top to bottom. If you were graded and ordered as below someone else, you had to give total allegiance and due deference. Those ranked on top demanded and enjoyed every privilege that rank allowed. They gave those lower on the totem pole no respect because the worldly culture of the day said none was deserved.

Instead

I love the Bible. I love statements like “but God.” And I love “instead” statements. We read one earlier. “Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant (Mt. 20:26).

Peter picks up this same counter-cultural concept of servanthood when talking about elders and shepherds.

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Pt. 5:2-4).

James emphasizes the same counter-cultural concept of servant relationships when talking about the rich and the poor.

“Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor” (James. 2:2-6).

Paul, in addressing fathers and husbands exhorts them to live counter-cultural lives of Christ-like sacrificial, agape love for their children and wives.

Hierarchical or Sacrificial?

How do we relate? Do we relate in a hierarchical way or a sacrificial manner? Do we live counter-cultural to our self-centered world, or do we allow our minds to be conformed to our hierarchical world?

When church leaders demand deference and respect rather than demanding of themselves sacrificial relationships, they are modeling the world and not Christ.

When those who have lord it over those who have not, they are modeling the world and not Christ.

When fathers and husbands exasperate their children and dominate their wives, they are modeling the world and not Christ.

If anyone could have claimed the right to hierarchical relationships it would have been Christ Jesus, the Lord of all. Instead…

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8).

How does this relate to us?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3-5).

Join the Conversation 

How do we relate: hierarchical sacrificial?

50 + Christian Blogs to Bookmark

Note: You’re reading Part Four of a four part blog mini-series on recommended blogs. In today’s post, I’ve collated all 56 recommended blogs—with just the blog title/author and the direct link. For a brief annotation/summary of each blog, read:

• Part One: Sixteen Biblical Counseling Blogs That You Should Bookmark

• Part Two: Sixteen Pastoral Ministry Blogs That You Should Bookmark

• Part Three: Two Dozen Christian Living Blogs That You Should Bookmark 

There are many excellent blogs that focus on biblical counseling, pastoral ministry, and Christian Living. Unfortunately, I can’t mention them all. The blogs I regularly read have some combination of:

• Frequency of posts

• Self-identified as focusing on biblical counseling, pastoral ministry, and/or Christian living

• Relatively high traffic/hits

• People I know of, or know

Here they are, listed in alphabetical by area of focus.

Sixteen Biblical Counseling Blogs That You Should Bookmark

• A Blog from a Counselor for the Church by Brad Hambrick

• The Association of Biblical Counselors Blog

• Biblical Counseling for Women by Julie Ganschow

• The CCEF Blog 

• Changing Lives by Bob Kellemen

• Chris Boucher’s Blog 

• Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams

• Counsel One Another by Paul Tautges

• Counseling Solutions by Rick Thomas

• Counseling with Confidence and Compassion by Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries

• Gospel Balm by Laura Hendrickson

• Grace & Truth by the Biblical Counseling Coalition

• Grace Dependent by Mark Kelly

• His Truth in Love by Mark Shaw

• Howard Eyrich’s Blog

• Paul Tripp’s Blog

Sixteen Pastoral Ministry Blogs That You Should Bookmark

• The 9Marks Blog 

• The Acts 29 Blog  

• Baptist 21 

• Blogs at the Village by the staff of the Village Church

• The Faith Baptist Church Blog 

• Gospel-Driven Church by Jared Wilson

• Greg’s Blog by Greg Laurie

• Ordinary Pastor by Erik Raymond

• Practical Shepherding by Brian Croft

• Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile

• Reformation 21 by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

• Reformed Spirituality and Missional Church by Tim Chester

• The Resurgence Blog 

• Steven Furtick’s Blog 

• The Travel Blog by Sojourner Church

• Vertical Church by James MacDonald

Two Dozen Christian Living Blogs That You Should Bookmark

• Albert Mohler’s Blog 

• Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor

• Christ Is Deeper Still by Ray Ortlund

• The Covenant Eyes Blog 

• The Desiring God Blog 

• Don’t Stop Believing by Mike Wittmer

• For the Love of God by D. A. Carson

• Head, Heart, Home by David Murray

• Heavenward by Scotty Smith

• Josh Harris’ Blog 

• Kevin DeYoung’s Blog 

• Kingdom People by Trevin Wax

• The Ligonier Blog 

• The Lifeway Research Blog by Ed Stetzer

• Living with Power by Lina AbuJamra

• Michael Hyatt’s Blog

• Moore to the Point by Russell Moore

• Parchment and Pen by Credo House

• Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology by Dane Ortlund

• Tim Challies’ Blog 

• Tullian Tchividjian’s Blog http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/

• View from the Cheap Seats by C. J. Mahaney

• Voices by The Gospel Coalition

• Wisdom for Life by Steve Cornell

Join the Conversation

What excellent biblical counseling, pastoral ministry, and/or Christian living blogs would you add?

Two Dozen Christian Living Blogs That You Should Bookmark

Note: You’re reading Part Three in a three part blog mini-series on recommended blogs. In Part One, I highlighted Sixteen Biblical Counseling Blogs That You Should Bookmark. In Part Two, I linked you to Sixteen Pastoral Ministry Blogs That You Should Bookmark.

As with the first two posts, I wish I could mention every excellent blog that focuses on Christian living. The Christian living blogs I regularly read have some combination of: a.) frequency of posts, b.) a self-identified focused on Christian living, growth in Christ, sanctification, etc., c.) relatively high traffic/hits, and, frankly, d.) people I know or know of.

Drum Roll, Please 

Here are the Christian living blogs that I regularly read, listed in alphabetical order. Of course, I don’t agree with everything every one of these bloggers post. Still, these blogs stretch my thinking as iron sharpens iron.

• Albert Mohler.com is, of course, Al Mohler’s blog site where he shares a biblical perspective on vital issues of our day. Don’t miss this one.

• Between Two Worlds is the blog home of Justin Taylor who posts gospel-centered wisdom for living.

• Challies.com, the home of Tim Challies, in many ways started it all when it comes to in-depth Christian blogs. This is your one-stop place for resources, links, and Christian thinking on the Christian life.

• Christ Is Deeper Still is home to Ray Ortlund’s post about strengthening our walk with Christ.

• The Covenant Eyes Blog focuses on biblical help for maintaining moral purity.

• The Desiring God Blog is the home of John Piper’s ministry focusing on exalting God by enjoying God.

• At Don’t Stop Believing, Mike Wittmer relates theology to life and current events.

• For the Love of God is a daily devotional by D. A. Carson designed to walk a person through the Bible in a year while assisting readers in discovering the riches of God’s Word.

• Head, Heart, Home is the home to David Murray’s posts focusing on a comprehensive, compassionate approach to Christian living.

• Heavenward by Pastor Scotty Smith is a unique blog—it’s a daily prayer on focused issues in the Christian life.

• At Josh Harris.com you’ll find posts from Pastor Josh Harris that help you to dig down deep in your Christian life.

• At Kevin DeYoung.com you’ll gain insight into applying truth to life from the ministry of Pastor Kevin DeYoung.

• The Kingdom People Blog by Trevin Wax provides robust resources for your Christian walk.

• The Ligonier Blog shares R. C. Sproul’s (and others’) deep insights connecting theology to life and ministry.

• The Lifeway Research Blog is hosted by Ed Stetzer with information for informed decisions about life and ministry.

• Living with Power is Lina AbuJamra’s blog home. Lina is the Women’s Ministry Director at Harvest Bible Chapel; she blogs about connecting to Christ’s resurrection power.

• Michael Hyatt.com provides insights from Michael Hyatt for Christian leaders and authors.

• Moore to the Point by Russell Moore blends a pastor’s heart and a theologian’s mind.

• Parchment and Pen is the blog home of Credo House with posts by Michael Patton and others—all relating theology to life.

• Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology is the blog home of Dane Ortlund where he focuses on reclaiming the mind for Christ.

• When your blog is recognizable by your first name, like Tullian, you know you have an abundance of readers. Pastor Tullian Tchividjian maintains a laser focus on gospel-centered living.

• View from the Cheap Seats by C. J. Mahaney provides a grace-oriented focus on Christian living. (As of this writing, C. J. has just announced a sabbatical. Whether his site will be “live” in the near future, I do not know.)

• Voices is the blog home of The Gospel Coalition where you’ll find contributions from a wide range of Christian leaders on a wide range of topics. Another “can’t miss” blog.

• In Wisdom for Life, Pastor Steve Cornell presents biblical principles for wise relating to God and others.

Join the Conversation

What additional excellent blogs do you recommend for biblical wisdom for Christian living?

Five to Live By 

Linking you to the top 5 Christian blog posts of the week—posts that provide robust, rich, and relevant insights for living.

What Difference Does Salvation Make Today?

Paul Tripp writes about the gospel gap—we think about salvation past and future, but what about today? Read his post The Nowism of the Gospel.

What Difference Does Christ Make in Suffering?

Julie Ganschow focuses our eyes on Jesus in the midst of life’s difficulties in Redirection toward the Cross.

What Difference Does Christ Make in Grieving?

Robyn Huck of CCEF has been journaling about her grief journey. In her final post, she shares The Value of Grief.

What Difference Does Truth Make?

Tim Challies reviews Trevin Wax’s Counterfeit Gospels.

What Difference Does Marketing Make?

These two posts will be of most interest to authors. Michael Hyatt shares Four Reasons Why Authors Must Market. In a second post, he shares What Social Media Stats to Include in Book Proposals.

Join the Conversation

Which post impacted you the most? Why? What blog posts have you enjoyed this week that you want to share with others?

Trust and Obey 

Note: This is part five in a blog mini-series on the relationship between our salvation and our daily growth in Christ (sanctification). Read part one How We Grow in Grace, part two How to Disagree in an Agreeable Way, part three How People Change, and part four Applying Our Complete Salvation.

So Far…

What have we said so far?

• The Bible calls us to apply our salvation to our daily life, to our progressive sanctification. Sanctification is our daily, ongoing growth in grace—becoming more and more like Christ so that our inner life increasingly reflects the inner life of Christ.

• Many writers today are describing this connection as Gospel indicatives (who we are in Christ through our salvation) and Gospel imperatives (how we live out our newness in Christ).

And Now

Now I want to add a vital third major point:

• Gospel imperatives are not the Law; they are not legalism. Gospel imperatives are new covenant principles for living that flow from the reality of what God has done for us in Christ.

For examples of where some at times seem to confuse Gospel imperatives with the Law and legalism, read R. W. Glenn Red Meat for the Soul. One such example includes:

“The question is: Where does our power to obey God’s commands come from? Does it come from the gospel—from what God has done for us? Or does it come from the law—from what we must do?”

Glenn then notes:

“Here ‘the law’ refers to ‘God’s commands,’ and ‘what we must do,’ which is distinct from ‘the gospel,’ which refers to ‘what God has done for us.’”

I would add:

• Comparing a new covenant command to “the Law” is unhelpful to the conversation because it is theologically imprecise and incorrect.

• Comparing obedience to a new covenant command to “legalism” and automatically to self-effort is unhelpful to the conversation because it is theologically imprecise and incorrect.

What We Must Do Is Not Law; Obedience Is Not Legalism

The same Apostle Paul who despised legalism in Galatians, also insisted upon obedience. “You, my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature [sarx, flesh]; rather, serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). “Serve one another in love” is a command. It is an imperative.

The same Apostle Paul who despised works-based salvation in Ephesians, also insisted upon the truth that as new creations we are created to do good works. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

The same Apostle Paul who despised self-effort, who despised the idea that our power to obey God’s command comes from the flesh, and who insisted that our power to obey comes from the Spirit, also insisted that we obey.

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness…. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness” (Romans 6:15-18, 19b).

Clear and Precise

Let me be clear. I don’t think most people who use the Gospel Indicative/Gospel Imperative distinction (I use it) think or mean to imply that obedience = legalism. Nor do I think they believe in a “let go and let God” theology. Nor do I think they deny the importance of obeying new covenant imperatives. I think their emphasis is that we obey Gospel imperatives from a heart of gratitude for grace empowered by the work of the Spirit in our regenerated hearts (Gospel indicatives).

I’m simply saying we must be careful not to appear to be saying that obedience to Gospel imperatives shifts us from “grace” to “law,” from “new covenant living” to “old covenant living,” from “Spirit-dependence” to “self-sufficiency/works.” That would imply the ridiculous idea that somehow the Apostle Paul shifts from grace, Spirit-dependence, and new covenant living in Ephesians 1-3, to law, legalism, self-effort, works, and old covenant living in Ephesians 4-6! It would imply that the Apostle Paul shifts from grace to works right in the middle of Romans 6!

It’s not as if Paul himself shifts from Gospel/grace/Spirit-dependence to Law/works/self-effort when he moves from Ephesians 1-3 to Ephesians 4-6! Instead, Paul says:

• Motivated by gratitude for grace, on the basis of all that God has done for us in Christ (Ephesians 4:1), live a life worthy, obey, make every effort (Ephesians 4:2-3) in the Spirit’s power (Ephesians 5:18; 6:10).

• On the basis of our “old man” already having been put off (regeneration) (Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 3:1-10), daily put off the old ways, daily put to death what is already dead in Christ, daily rid yourselves of whatever belongs to your flesh (Ephesians 4:25-32; Romans 6:12-14; Colossians 3:10-17).

In Summary

We could summarize the truth about Gospel indicatives and Gospel imperatives this way:

• God’s commands, Gospel imperatives, new covenant principles for living are not the Law.

• We can twist and distort God’s commands and Gospel imperatives so that we obey motivated by gaining God’s approval rather than motivated by gratitude for God’s gracious approval in Christ (Romans 8:1-2; 12:1-2). That distortion results in legalism/works.

• We can twist and distort God’s new covenant principles for living so that we attempt to obey in the power of the flesh rather than in the power of the Spirit (Romans 8:3-17). That distortion results in self-effort/works.

• Gospel imperatives, just like Gospel indicatives, are grace-oriented and Spirit-dependent.

• Gospel imperatives, unlike Gospel indicatives, require grace-motivated, Spirit-dependent “effort” (as Paul says, “make every effort”—Ephesians 4:2-3). Salvation (Gospel indicative) is 100% solely the work of God. Sanctification (Gospel imperative) involves our grace-motivated and Spirit-dependent response to God in which we actively obey by cooperating with the work of the Spirit in our new heart.

Join the Conversation

What do you agree with in this post? What do you disagree with? Why is it important to see both the indicatives of the new covenant and the imperatives of the new covenant as Gospel indicatives and Gospel imperatives?