REPENT: The Second Step in Effective Prayer
In the last devotional 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.
*Psalms 19:12-13
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