sin

Lord, I sometimes wander away from you

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The Lost Sheep, William James Webbe via Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord, I sometimes wander away from you.
But this is not because I am deliberately turning my back on you.
It is because of the inconstancy of my mind.
I weaken in my intention to give my whole soul to you.
I fall back into thinking of myself as my own master.
But when I wander from you,
   my life becomes a burden,
      and within me I find nothing
         but darkness and wretchedness,
            fear and anxiety.
So I come back to you,
   and confess that I have sinned against you.
And I know you will forgive me.

Aelred of Rievaulx, c. 1109-1167, Abbot of Rievaulx in northern England
2000 Years of Prayer

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Psalm 32:1-5 

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

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Question

What would help you to evaluate your heart 
    and confess your sins to God on a more regular basis?

Evening Prayer of Forgiveness

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Repentance of Mary Magdalene and Peter, El Greco, via Wikimedia Commons
 
O Lord Jesus Christ . . . .
    be merciful and forgive me, Your unworthy servant,
    if somehow I have sinned this day as a human,
    or rather as an inhuman.
Forgive my voluntary and involuntary sins,
    the ones I committed in knowledge or in ignorance,
    the ones that have been done
    out of evil influences and carelessness
    and my great indolence and negligence.
Forgive me, O Lord,
    if I have taken an oath by Your holy name
    or if I have violated my oath;
    if I have sworn in my mind
    or if I have somehow irritated You;
    if I have stolen
    or if I have lied;
    if a friend came to me and I ignored him
    or if I have distressed and embittered my brother . . . .
    if I looked upon vain beauty
    and my mind was attracted by it;
    if I was overly talkative about improper things
    or if I busied myself with faults of my brother
    and condemned him
    while overlooking my own innumerable faults;
    if I have neglected my prayer
    of if I have brought to mind any other evil thing.
Forgive me, O God,
    your useless servant,
    all these and whatever other things
    I have done and do not remember.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
    for You are good and You love mankind,
    so that I, the prodigal one,
    may go to bed and fall asleep
    glorifying You,
    together with the Father
    and Your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit,
    now and ever and unto the ages of ages.
Amen.

St. Ephrem the Syrian c. 306-378, Syrian hymn writer and theologian

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Psalm 130:1-4

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
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Question

Thinking though today, what is something you did or didn’t do that you could ask forgiveness for?

sometimes I choose sin

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Ash Wednesday, Carl Spitzweg via Wikimedia Commons

 
Father – the truth about me is that often I choose sin:
    Sometimes I choose hatred.  Sometimes I choose slander.
    Sometimes I choose envy.  Sometimes I choose greed.
    Sometimes I choose pettiness.  Sometimes I choose lust.
    Sometimes I choose gossip.  Sometimes I choose pride.
    Sometimes I choose self-reliance.
    Sometimes I choose self-righteousness.
    Sometimes I choose self-aggrandizement.
    Sometimes I choose dishonesty.
    Sometimes I choose unkind words.
    Sometimes I choose to ignore the obvious needs around me.
    Sometimes I choose to hoard my resources.
    Sometimes I choose to neglect Your command to share the gospel.
The list of things I wrongly choose could go on and on.  And sometimes
I act on these things in ways that are darker than I ever care to state.
Each time I make such a choice, I choose death.
Today, I ask that You breathe life into my soul afresh
    and enable me to choose life – to choose You and Your ways.
 
Kurt Bjorklund, 1968- , American Minister and author  
 
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Romans 6:23
 
For the wages of sin is death,
    but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Question:

What is an area of sin that you are most prone to return to?

Drown my Transgressions

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image

 
O Father in heaven,
I come to You in lowliness of heart
begging You to drown my transgressions
in the sea of You own infinite love.

My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards,
My self-deception in the face of temptation,
My choosing the worse when I know the better,
       O Lord, forgive.
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others,
My blindness to the suffering of others
   and my slowness to be taught by my own,
My complacence toward wrongs that do not touch my own case
   and my over-sensitiveness to those that do,
My slowness to see the good in my fellows
   and to see the evil in myself,
My hardness of heart towards my neighbors’ faults
   and my readiness to make allowance for my own,
My unwillingness to believe that You have called me to a small work
   and my brother to a great one.
      O Lord, forgive.

John Baillie, 1886–1960, Scottish theologian
A Diary of Private Prayer, slightly edited
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Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

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Questions

What is it like for you when you come clean 

    and confess your heart’s attitudes to God?  
Have you ever felt cleansed and renewed by God’s spirit?

Authoritative Prayer

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​In the strong name of Jesus Christ
I stand against the world, the flesh and the devil.
I resist every force that would seek to distract me from my center in God.
I reject the distorted concepts and ideas that make sin plausible and desirable.
I oppose every attempt to keep me from knowing full fellowship with God.

By the power of the Holy Spirit
I speak directly to the thoughts, emotions, and desires of my heart
and command you to find your satisfaction in the infinite variety of God’s love
    rather than the bland diet of sin.
I call upon the good, the true, and the beautiful to rise up within me
    and the evil to subside.
I ask for an increase in righteousness, preace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

By the authority of almighty God
I tear down Satan’s strongholds in my life,
    in the lives of those I love,
        and in the society in which I live.
I take into myself the weapons of truth, righteousness, peace, salvation,
    the word of God, and prayer.
I command every evil influence to leave;
    you have no right here and I allow you no point of entry.
I ask for an increase of faith, hope and love so that,
    by the power of God, I can be a light set on a hill,
    causing truth and justice to flourish.

These things I pray for the sake of him who loved me  and gave himself for me.
Amen.

Richard Foster, 1942- , Quaker theologian and author
Prayer – Finding the Heart’s True Home

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2 Corinthians 10:4-5 

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh
    but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion
    raised against the knowledge of God,
    and take every thought captive to obey Christ

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Question

Have you ever been led to pray with the boldness 
    and with the authority expressed in this prayer? 
Ask for an increased measure of boldness in your prayers.

Sin’s True Colors

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Lord God,
when the devil presents the bait,
    show us the hook.
When the devil presents the golden cup
    show the poison hidden inside.
When the devil presents the sweet pleasure of sin,
    show us the misery that will follow.
When the devil presents the profit of yielding to sin,
    show us the wrath that comes from committing it.
When Satan promises the soul honor and profit,
    give us eyes to see the shame and loss he delivers.
Strengthen our resolve
    that we keep at the greatest possible distance from sin,
    and not play with the golden bait held out by Satan.
 
May we tremble at sin, and keep our distance from it.
Give us eyes to see that sin is a bitter sweet
    whose sweetness quickly vanishes,
     replaced by lasting shame, sorrow, horror and terror.
May we fear to lose
    that divine favor that is better than life,
        that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,
            that peace that passes understanding,
                those divine influences by which our souls
                are refreshed, raised and gladdened.
 
Help us to see when Satan paints sin with virtue’s colors:
    when pride is called neatness and cleanliness,
    when covetousness is called good stewardship,
    when drunkenness is called good company,
    when a lack of self-control is called liberality,
    and when wild living is called youthful tricks.
Help us to see through the deceits of sin.
Help us to see sin as one day we will see it:
    when what once appeared sweet will appear most bitter,
    what once appeared beautiful will appear most ugly,
    what once appeared delightful will appear most dreadful.
 
Gracious Father, may we reckon the true price of our sin:
    that it cost the best blood, the noblest blood,
        the life-blood, the heart-blood of our Lord Jesus.
 
Thomas Brooks, 1608–1680, English Puritan preacher and author
 
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Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
 

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visit with us, too

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​The Meeting of Mary and Elisabeth, Bloch 1866, wikimedia commons
 
Lord Jesus, this advent season we remember
  the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth
    both women miraculously pregnant.
We delight as we recall John the Baptist leaping for joy
    inside Elizabeth’s womb!

Make plans to visit with us too,
   that we might be filled with joyful expressions!
Impart within us the same awareness that John had
    that we might always sense your presence.
Bless us with the same knowledge
    that you are truly the lamb of God
        who takes away the sin of the world;
    that you are the Messiah, and we are not;
    and that you must increase, and we must decrease.

Invite us to join with John and prepare for your coming.

Eric Mathews
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Luke 1:41-44

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
    the baby leaped in her womb,
    and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice she exclaimed:
    Blessed are you among women,
        and blessed is the child you will bear!
    But why am I so favored,
        that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
    As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
        the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

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When have you rejoiced in God’s presence most vividly?
What aspect of your life needs to decrease 
    so that the influence of Jesus can increase?

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Jesus, you are stronger

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O Lord Jesus Christ,
There is so much to drag us back:
    empty pursuits, trivial pleasures, unworthy cares.
There is so much to frighten us away:
    a pride too cowardly to submit to being helped,
    cowardly apprehensiveness which evades danger
        to its own destruction,
    anguish for sin which shuns holy cleansing
        as a disease shuns medicine.
 
But You are stronger than these.
    so draw us now more strongly to Yourself.
We call You our Savior and Redeemer,
    since You came to earth to redeem us 
    from the slavery from which we were bound
    or had bound ourselves.
 
This is Your work,
    which You completed,
    and which you will continue to complete
    until the end of the world;
for since You Yourself have said it,
     therefore You will do it –
lifted up from earth, You will draw all unto Yourself.
 
Søren Kierkegaard, 1813 – 1855, Danish philosopher and theologian
from The Prayers of Kierkgaard, freely modified
 
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But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, 
    not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 
    whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

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things I know that I should not wish for

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Do Not Covet (THE COMMANDMENTS)
image by loswl via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
 
Father, I know that I should not wish for my neighbor’s (nicer) house, 
    or my neighbor’s (more beautiful/ handsome) spouse.  
I must not think to myself that I should have anything belonging to someone else –
    not ever the smallest thing. Not even their dog.
 
In the other nine commandments you have forbidden 
    all injuries and evil practices against my neighbors.  
Now you charge me to beware of thinking any evil thoughts against them.
 
And for this reason I have great reason to praise you.  
You care about my home and everything I own, even my dog, 
    and you command everyone else never to wish they had all my things, 
    instead of me.
 
The apostle said we should be 
    “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 
It is true, and I find it true. 
In this way you care for us, and so you would have us care for one another.
 
But gracious Lord, I must confess that I have forgotten 
    and have broken this commandment, and I still do every day.  
I am wishing and coveting every minute of every hour.  
I could have been content, 
    but I have always thought my neighbor had too much, and I too little.  
And the dregs of these things, Lord, are not quite out of my heart.  
I deserve your severe justice.
 
But keep in mind the frailty of my flesh, 
    the corruptions of my nature, and the many temptations.  
Remember how I am able to do nothing of myself – 
    and how I would come to nothing if left to myself.  
Be merciful and pardon me in this way also, for the sake of your son. 
Amen.
 
John Bradford, 1510-1555, English reformer and martyr
 
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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; 
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, 
or his male servant, or his female servant, 
or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

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enlighten us to see the beam

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Parable of the Mote and the Beam, Domenico Fetti, via Wikimedia Commons

 
Lord, enlighten us to see the beam that is in our own eye,
    and blind us to the mote that is in our brother’s.  
Let us feel our offences with our hands,
    make them great and bright before us like the sun,
    make us eat them and drink them for our diet.  
Blind us to the offences of our beloved,
    cleanse them from our memories,
    take them out of our mouths forever.  
Help us at the same time with the grace of courage,
    that none of us be cast down when we sit lamenting
    amid the ruins of our happiness or our integrity:
Touch us with fire from the altar,
    that we may be up and doing to rebuild our city.

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish Novelist, published by his wife
The HarperCollins Book of Prayers


Matthew 7:3-4

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, 
    but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 
Or how can you say to your brother, 
    ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ 
     when there is the log in your own eye? 

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