Praying Scripture: Prayer for Forgiveness and Healing

-

(Newly added, April 2022) 

Prayer for Forgiveness and Healing:

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalm 32:5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Psalm 103:11-12: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Romans 3:22-24: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 5:17: “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

Romans 8:1: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Luke 6:27: “… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

 

          Lord, I know that sin affects my eternity and my relationship with You, with myself, and with others.  And in order to have the best life possible, in eternity and on earth, I need Your forgiveness for my sins and I need to forgive others for their sins against me, as You have forgiven me. 

          Lord, I thank You that Jesus died for my sins on the cross so that I could be saved from hell and go to heaven.  I thank You for Your promise to forgive my sins if I confess them to You.  I want to be forgiven.  I want to be cleansed from my sins and to experience the healing and times of refreshing that You promise.  And so right now, I confess my sins to You.  (Specifically confess any known sins to God right now.)  Reveal to me any sins that I am hiding or that I have forgotten but that I need to confess to You.  (Take some time to listen for His answer throughout the week.  When He reveals any, confess them.)  I thank You, Lord, that You paid for all these sins on the cross.  They are already forgiven.  And we don’t have to earn or work for Your forgiveness.  In fact, no one can earn Your forgiveness.  All we have to do, all we can do, is reach out and accept it as the free gift it is.  If I have made You my Lord and Savior, I don’t have to pay for my sins eternally or be beaten down by them on earth anymore. 

          [If you haven’t yet accepted Jesus as Lord as Savior, do so now with a prayer that’s as simple as “Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and I can’t save myself.  I need You.  Thank You for dying for my sins so that I could go to heaven and for rising again to prove You are God.  I accept Your sacrifice for my sins right now.  Forgive me and cleanse me.  I am putting my faith in You right now and choosing You as my Lord and Savior.  And I want to live the rest of my life for You.  Help me do that.  Make me who You want me to be.  Thank You for Your amazing grace, mercy, and love.  In Jesus’s name, Amen.”] 

          Lord, I thank You that You have made me a new creation, that You have taken the old away, removing my sins as far as the east is from the west.  I thank You that even though I may still have to face the consequences of my sins on earth, You are with me and will help me face it.  I thank You that I am not condemned for my sins anymore in Your eyes because of what You did for me on the cross.  Because of Jesus’s death, You now see me as righteous.  He took my sins away.  Help me to live in gratitude for that precious truth, for Jesus’s amazing sacrifice. 

          But Lord, even though I know this is the truth, I still sometimes feel ashamed and guilty.  And I know this is from the enemy, the one who wants to hurt me, to make me ashamed, and to ruin my relationship with You and my future.  In the name of Jesus, I resist the devil and his attempts to hurt me, to make me feel ashamed, unforgiven, hopeless, helpless, or unloved.  (“Submit yourself, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and He will come near to you.” James 4:7-8) 

          I am a child of Yours, Lord.  You love me.  You are my hope and my help.  You forgave my sins.  I matter to You just because I am Yours.  And since I am Your child, the devil doesn’t have any power over me anymore, other than the power I let him have when I give in to him, his lies, and to sin.  But right now, I am confessing my sins to You and drawing near to You.  I am resisting the devil’s lies, in Jesus’s name.  And according to Your Word, the devil has to flee.  Greater is the Holy Spirit who is in me than the devil who is in the world (1 John 4:4).  Thank You, Lord, for Your presence, power, and help.  Thank You for Your victory over evil.  Help me to understand what it truly means to be a child of God, how I should live in this world and do battle in the spiritual world. 

          Lord, I will trust You when You say that You forgave my sins, that You love me, that You made me a new creation, that You do not condemn me anymore, and that I am righteous in Your eyes because of what Jesus did for me.  Please, Lord, surround me with Your heavenly angels to keep the enemy away.  Surround me with Your truth and Your healing love, to help me to feel the forgiveness and love and grace and mercy that You pour out on me. 

          Lord, I know that part of living as Your child is forgiving other people for what they did to me.  If we want Your forgiveness, we have to forgive others.  This is going to be hard for me, Lord, so please help me do it.  You don’t say that we have to feel like forgiving them or that we have to want to forgive them; You just say that we have to do it.  And so even if I don’t feel like forgiving them, I’m going to do it anyway.  Just because You said I have to.  After all, if You died on the cross to forgive me for what I did wrong, then surely I can forgive others for what they did wrong. 

          And so right now, I am going to forgive other people for what they did to me.  (Name each person you’re forgiving and what you’re forgiving them for.  Tell the Lord that you forgive that person and won’t hold their offenses against them anymore.  Ask Him to give you a tender heart for them, to help you see them and love them as He does, even if you never see them anymore or have to stay away from them.  It’s okay if you have to love someone from a distance.)

          Lord, I put these people and the hurts they caused me in Your hands right now.  Forgive me for the bitterness I’ve had towards them, for the anger that kept me prisoner, and for the things I’ve done in revenge for what they did.  I give up my “right” to hold their sins against them anymore.  I give up the bitterness I feel and the desire for revenge.  I trust You to deal justly with their sins, in Your time and in Your way.  But, please, heal the hurt they caused me and the heart-wounds they’ve given me.  Turn it into something good, for Your glory and Your purposes and my future. 

          In fact, You even say that we should pray for those who mistreat us.  And so right now I pray for the people who hurt me.  I pray that You would guide them to You, meet their needs, and help them find healing too.  (Pray for each individual person by name, if you can.) 

          And help me, Lord, to live in forgiveness from here on out, in the forgiveness I gave others and in the forgiveness You gave me.  Help me to see those other people the way You see them and to see myself the way You see me.  Help me to feel for them what You feel for them.  Help me to understand how You feel about me.  Help me to remember that I am Your child, that I am forgiven, that I am loved, and that You have a future full of hope and purpose planned for me.  And even if it’s not the future I thought it would be, You can still make it into something good and useful for Your kingdom.  Help me learn to follow as You lead me. 

          Lord, I know I will continue to stumble, and so I ask You to help keep my heart sensitive to anything I need to confess to You in the future, to anyone I need to seek forgiveness from, or to anyone else I need to forgive.  Thank You that You always forgive us when we confess our sins to You and that You will always comfort us and restore our souls when we cry out to You, no matter what we do.  Fill me with the hope and peace and healing that is found in You alone.  Thank You for Your amazing grace.  Because of what You have done for me, I can be whole and healed and live a meaningful life for You.  Help me to do that.  Make me the person You want me to be.  And help me to share Your grace, love, and truth with others who need it too. 

          In Jesus’s name, Amen



Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Scariest Halloween decoration ever?

-
So it's Halloween time again, huh?  Is it just me, or has there been a big increase in the amount of Halloween decorations in people's yards? I don't decorate for Halloween, nothing more than maybe a few pumpkins.  But a neighbor and I were talking the other day, and she inadvertently stumbled on what I think would make the best Halloween decoration.  Something truly terrifying.  And if I had more guts, I'd maybe consider doing it someday. She was reading out loud some reported quotes from famous atheists just before their death, and I thought Now that would make a scary Halloween display in your yard, a collection of tombstones with atheist quotes on them!    Quotes such as these: David Strauss , who spread German rationalism to erase people's belief in God: "My philosophy leaves me utterly forlorn!  I feel like one caught in the merciless jaws of an automatic machine, not knowing at what time one of its great hammers may crush me!" Thomas Paine , atheis
Read more

More "American Noise"

-
A Skillet CD (yes, I still listen to and prefer Cd's.  I'm that old!) is in the player of our van right now.  And because I hate switching CD's if I don't have to, sorting through dozens of them, trying to find one I'm in the mood for... I leave the Skillet one in the player and just keep listening to the same song over and over again (with a few other songs thrown in too): American Noise.   I really like this song. Anyway, it made me think of the post I wrote about it 5 1/2 years ago now (wow, time flies!).  And after re-reading that post, I decided to print it again, because it stills fits.  In fact, there's even more noise in America now - in the world - than there was then.  (Anyone else getting sick of it all too?) So here it is, the previous post on it: I was driving the other day, and this song began playing from a CD my husband had in the CD player.  I had never heard it before, but for some reason, it struck me.  I don't know why, but it did.  It s
Read more

The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers (a great resource)

-
 A friend of mine recently sent me a link to an article that she says is one of the best overviews of Calvinism and its errors that she's read.  And after reading it, I agree.  I think it's a great one to share with others because it's got all the basics in one place: The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers There are some great rebuttals to Calvinist proof-texts in here, and some eye-opening quotes from Calvinists.  Something like this might help Calvinists understand what their theology  really  teaches and what the Bible  really  teaches - and that these aren't saying the same thing.   FYI: If you click on the "about/contact" link at the bottom of the article, you can send him an email to request a PDF copy of his article.   And after I contacted him by email to tell him how much I appreciated his article, he graciously put a link to my anti-Calvinism blog at the bottom.  Thank you, Patrick, that was very kind of you. 😊
Read more

How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (simplified version)

-
(For the extended version of this post, which I recommend, click here .  It is loaded with lots more information.  This simplified one is just the highlights.  And feel free to copy this and share it with others, to help them learn to identify Calvinism when they see it.  Just make sure to share the link to this post so that they can find the original one if they want it.  Thank you.   New :  For the super-short version,   click here .   And FYI:  I found a couple times when the Calvinist author of an article I linked to changed the article after I linked to it.  So if an article doesn't seem to match what I said about it, it may be because they altered it. ) We just left our church of almost 20 years because of the dogmatic Calvinist pastor who recently came on board.  ( Read my "Letter to Our Elders Regarding Calvinism Growing in Our Church" here.)   And I was thinking about what precautions I might take to make sure we didn't end up in another Calvinist church
Read more

In "Honor" of Halloween: My Story of Demonic Harassment (repost)

-
Image
(Reposted from last year and retold in various other posts.  I may just repost this one yearly at this time of year.) In “honor” of Halloween (a day that deserves no honor), I’m gonna share with you why we don’t celebrate Halloween.   (We take our kids to a movie instead, or buy a movie they’ve been wanting and have a “family movie night” with candy and popcorn.   So no need to feel sorry for them; they are not deprived.)   I don’t expect anyone to believe me, but I’m going to share my story.    (And for the longer version of this story on my other blog, click here .)  It’s my story about how I came to fully trust in Jesus’s name and to passionately cling to Him, to never be able to doubt the existence of a spirit world, to place such a high priority on prayer and God’s Word, and to always remember my need for spiritual armor.   And once again, you don’t have to believe me.   (But don’t say I never warned you.   And if you are a skeptic and get nothing from this whole section, jus
Read more

"The Last Goodbye" - A song for us Hobbits

-
(a post from my other blog , from March 28, 2022) There's a song at the end of  The Battle of the Five Armies  (from the Hobbit trilogy) that's become one of my favorite songs.  I feel this song, especially the line about "Many places I have been, many sorrows I have seen..."  That's kinda been my last several years: many sorrows I have seen.   Many trials.  Many heartbreaks.  (Everyone who lives long enough will have many of these.) Most recently, I had the awful experience of being on the witness stand for three hours, giving testimony against my mom.  And after nearly a week of trial, she was found guilty of ... well, of something really bad.  (She insists she didn't do it, but we think otherwise.  It's not exactly like the prosecution says, but close enough.)  And now she will spend her life in prison.   Many sorrows I have seen. I don't know if I'll ever see her again.  The last memory I have of her could very well be her sitting in the courtr
Read more

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

-
I  found a lot more names to add to my list of known Calvinists (found in my various  "How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist"  posts).  But instead of adding this huge list to all those posts, I am going to put it here, and I'll just provide a link on those posts to this one.  [FYI: I added a note at the bottom of this post on May 5, 2021.] So here it is, a "master list" of known Calvinists to help you be careful and discerning about who you listen to and where you get your theology from.  There are plenty more Calvinists out there, but these are just the names that I ran across the most.   These are either definite, self-professed Calvinists or "most likely Calvinist," in my estimation.  (I haven't heard of most of them, but it's good to know their theology before I do.)   After finding these names in various places online, I looked up each person to see if they are Calvinist.  If they did not self-identify as a Calvinist, I
Read more

Calvinism doesn't rescue anyone

-
Image
Calvinism doesn’t rescue any sinner from hell.  Because the elect were never on their way to hell, never at risk of going to hell at any point in time ... and the non-elect can never be rescued from hell because Calvi-Jesus never died for them and because Calvi-god made it impossible for them to believe. All Calvinism does is convince some people that they’ve always been saved without ever having to do anything about it, not even choosing to believe in Jesus (because in Calvinism, we  can't  choose to believe), while convincing others that they can never be saved, that God doesn’t love them, that Jesus didn’t die for them, and that there’s no hope for them. A lie from the pit of hell.  Destroying the evangelical church from the inside out.  And it will cost people their souls. [A comment I left on the Soteriology 101 post  "(Re)Thinking through Romans 9" , with a few small alterations.  And of course, not all Calvinists will word things this way.  They will try to soften
Read more

Why Would Anyone Follow Jesus?

-
As I was listening to a Christian radio station, they interviewed a random woman on the street who said, “I think the writers of the Bible just made it up to get people to follow them.” And I laughed out loud at the thought of that.  I wanted to ask her if she ever really read the Bible, if she knew what it teaches.  Because if she did, she would have to wonder why anyone would make up some of the things we find in the Bible and think it would cause people to go, "Oh yeah, that sounds great to me!" If you were going to make up a religion and try to get followers, you certainly wouldn’t tell us that ... 1.   We are sinful and cannot rescue ourselves. (How judgmental, discouraging and helpless sounding is that?) 2.   We need a Savior to rescue us. (How humbling!) 3.   Some of the early leaders of the faith were persecuted and killed for it, and we also should expect to be persecuted and hated by the world. ( Who in their right mind would want that?  Stephen wa
Read more

"I have no clue what you're talking about."

-
Image
The other day, I told my sons that if they can't find the official "doggie bags," they can use plastic grocery-store bags (we have an over-abundance of them) to clean up after our dog on walks.   In response, my 13-year-old son delighted to inform me that "Mom, if you use a Walmart bag to clean up dog poop on the side of the road, you'll look like a crazy lady.  Especially with the kind of hair you have." Me:
Read more