100 Days of Prayer
In these times of being unable to gather together in person we'd like to focus on the things we can still do and in fact, are called to do. Join with other believers each night in prayer at 6pm wherever you may be to pray. Or, if that is not a good time for you, commit to another time that works better for you to daily step into prayer. Send a confidential prayer request directly to Pastor Roger's email by clicking on the Send A Prayer Request button on the front page of our website. Or, if you are comfortable asking for a prayer request to be shared with everyone, email the office and we will list it here in the weekly announcement. We will be offering more opportunities to engage in prayer as the 100 days progresses.
Some Thoughts on Repentance and Prayer
Henri Nouwen:
"Reflecting on my life, I saw how opaque it has been. I often did one thing while saying another,
said one thing while thinking another, thought one thing while feeling another. I found many
examples in which I had even lied to myself. . . .
How to go from this opaqueness to transparency? A transparent life is a life without moral
ambiguities in which heart, mind, and gut are united in choosing for the light. I am discovering
the importance of naming the darkness in me. By no longer calling the darkness anything else
but darkness, the temptation to keep using it for my own selfish purposes gradually becomes
less. . . .
A hard task is given to me—to call the darkness darkness, evil evil, and the demon demon. By
remaining vague I can avoid commitment and drift along in the mainstream of our society. But
Jesus does not allow me to stay there. He requires a clear choice for truth, light, and life. When I
recognize my countless inner compromises, I may feel guilty and ashamed at first. But when
this leads to repentance and a contrite heart, I will soon discover the immense love of God, who
came to lead me out of the darkness into the light and who wants to make me into a transparent
witness of his love."
Prayers of Repentance
A Scriptural guideline
1 - I John 1:9
Thank God for His promise that if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your
sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
2 - Psalm 19:12-14
Share with God that you are unable to discern the errors of your own heart. Ask Him to cleanse
you from faults that you cannot see, as well as from sins you’ve committed intentionally. Pray
that you would be free from the dominion of sinful strongholds in your life, becoming blameless
and innocent. Ask God that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart would be
acceptable in the sight of your Rock and Redeemer.
3 - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Affirm with God His promise that if His people who are called by His name humble themselves,
and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and
will forgive our sin and heal our land. Ask Him to do this very thing – to bring in your own heart a
fresh awareness of the seriousness of your sin, and that this work would spread like wildfire
among His people.
4 - James 4:8-10
Repent of any distance between you and the Lord. Tell God of your desire to draw near to Him,
and claim His promise to draw near to you. Prayerfully seek His cleansing of your hands and
His purification of your heart. Spend some time searching your heart with seriousness and
humility before the Lord.
5 - 2 Corinthians 7:9-11
Thank God for a godly grief that produces repentance that leads to salvation. Tell God that you
will look for the fruits of this repentance in the hours and days ahead: “For see what
earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves,
what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!”
CS Lewis :
"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard
myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of
the present speaker's, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or
to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of
Christ: if we have repented these early sins we should remember the price of our forgiveness
and be humble."
" A Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick
himself up and begin over again after each stumble."
Some Thoughts on Repentance and Prayer
Henri Nouwen:
"Reflecting on my life, I saw how opaque it has been. I often did one thing while saying another,
said one thing while thinking another, thought one thing while feeling another. I found many
examples in which I had even lied to myself. . . .
How to go from this opaqueness to transparency? A transparent life is a life without moral
ambiguities in which heart, mind, and gut are united in choosing for the light. I am discovering
the importance of naming the darkness in me. By no longer calling the darkness anything else
but darkness, the temptation to keep using it for my own selfish purposes gradually becomes
less. . . .
A hard task is given to me—to call the darkness darkness, evil evil, and the demon demon. By
remaining vague I can avoid commitment and drift along in the mainstream of our society. But
Jesus does not allow me to stay there. He requires a clear choice for truth, light, and life. When I
recognize my countless inner compromises, I may feel guilty and ashamed at first. But when
this leads to repentance and a contrite heart, I will soon discover the immense love of God, who
came to lead me out of the darkness into the light and who wants to make me into a transparent
witness of his love."
Prayers of Repentance
A Scriptural guideline
1 - I John 1:9
Thank God for His promise that if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your
sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
2 - Psalm 19:12-14
Share with God that you are unable to discern the errors of your own heart. Ask Him to cleanse
you from faults that you cannot see, as well as from sins you’ve committed intentionally. Pray
that you would be free from the dominion of sinful strongholds in your life, becoming blameless
and innocent. Ask God that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart would be
acceptable in the sight of your Rock and Redeemer.
3 - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Affirm with God His promise that if His people who are called by His name humble themselves,
and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and
will forgive our sin and heal our land. Ask Him to do this very thing – to bring in your own heart a
fresh awareness of the seriousness of your sin, and that this work would spread like wildfire
among His people.
4 - James 4:8-10
Repent of any distance between you and the Lord. Tell God of your desire to draw near to Him,
and claim His promise to draw near to you. Prayerfully seek His cleansing of your hands and
His purification of your heart. Spend some time searching your heart with seriousness and
humility before the Lord.
5 - 2 Corinthians 7:9-11
Thank God for a godly grief that produces repentance that leads to salvation. Tell God that you
will look for the fruits of this repentance in the hours and days ahead: “For see what
earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves,
what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!”
CS Lewis :
"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard
myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of
the present speaker's, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or
to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of
Christ: if we have repented these early sins we should remember the price of our forgiveness
and be humble."
" A Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick
himself up and begin over again after each stumble."