Repentance is a crucial aspect of prayer, clearing the way for God’s will to be fulfilled in our lives. It makes more room in our hearts for His Spirit, which guides and comforts us. If we don’t know what we need to repent of, we can ask God to reveal anything that is hindering His presence in our lives.
In Psalm 51:10, David asks God to create in him a clean heart and renew the right spirit within him. This came after Nathan confronted him with his sin in his life. David’s sin was significant enough that others noticed and held him accountable for it.
Still, there are times when our sin is not as prominent, and we may not realize the need to take it to God and ask for forgiveness and help in changing. Spiritual maturity comes when we openly seek God to help us work on those character traits, emotional responses, and offenses that hold us hostage.
Nehemiah demonstrated a meaningful prayer life modeled after those of Ezra, which included confessing sin as he prayed for others (Neh. 1:4-11; Ezra 9:6-15, ESV). Nehemiah spent four months in intensive intercessory prayer, which provided the power to accomplish God’s will (Neh. 1:1; 2:1, NLT).
Jesus taught his disciples how to pray – not the verbatim words – but the structure that emphasizes how to pray, not what to say (Matt. 6:9, ESV). In verse 12, Matthew notes Jesus’ instruction to ask God to “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12, emphasis added). The ESV Study Bible notes that this does not mean believers need to ask daily for justification since they are justified forever from the moment of initial saving faith (Rom. 5:19; 8:1; 10:10, ESV).
The repentance I am talking about echoes this sentiment, in that we are not asking to be saved repeatedly; instead, we acknowledge our shortcomings and sinful nature, bringing them to God to restore fellowship with Him when it has been hindered, because we are cautioned not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30).
Other aspects of the prayers modeled by these historical figures include our praise, thankfulness, and our unworthiness of Christ’s sacrifice. Intercessory prayer can involve asking for forgiveness on behalf of others (Ezra 9:5-6), depending on God to change people’s hearts.
God nailed our note of debt to the cross (John 19:19-22), and those who are recipients of such forgiveness are so moved with gratitude toward Christ that they are more apt to forgive others who have wronged them (Matt. 6:12), clearing their hearts of resentment and clutter that only harms us.
Taking the time to ask God to reveal our offenses and help us correct them will significantly improve our relationship with Him and with others, and, on top of that, it makes our day run more smoothly and with more joy.
“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, emphasis added).
Faith Walk Ministries, Inc. 