I've decided that my ultimate prayer is this: "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).
This prayer has taken the following forms in my life:
Lord, I forgive help my unforgiveness.
I remember being so angry/hurt/bitter toward a friend that I had to wake up every day for months praying, "Lord, I choose to forgive ______________. Give me the strength to forgive again." The feeling of forgiveness didn't catch up with the choice for awhile, but eventually the bitterness I felt simply disappeared. And what a sweet gift that was!
Lord, I don't feel guilty, please help me feel guilty.
It might seem strange to pray for guilt since I spend a great deal of my life trying to pray to be released from guilt. However, my guilt sensor is off. I feel guilty for the wrong things (oh, not going to the coworker's daughter's wedding after getting an invite), and not guilty for the right things (ummm blatant obvious not-gray-area-sin). So I pray for guilt (conviction) because when I can logically see that what I'm doing is wrong, I want to make sure that my heart follows along too!
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1 comment:
Such a beautiful, all-purpose prayer - I use it often too!
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