7 Prayers That Work

Dear Holy Father,  I confess my sin to you—my selfishness, my jealousy, my vanity, my ambition. I know I'm full of my own goodness. Continue to show me my arrogance and humble me. Cleanse me and make me holy like you so I can accurately reflect who you are. I desire to become blameless and pure, a vessel ready to be used! To you belongs all the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Feeling bad about something you've done? That's a good start. It's not enough to gain forgiveness, make it right, or change the behavior, but it's a good starting point. This little explanation below might help you to understand how to confess a sin and get victory over it (in other words, stop doing it again and again!). The whole thing begins when you do something bad (i.e. selfish, unkind, harmful, cruel, debilitating, disrespectful, addictive, etc.). God's standard is holiness, so pretty much that dumps most of our behavior in the unholy category. Event most of the nice things we do, we do with ulterior motive--being nice to others helps our lives function better. But after we do something wrong, the need for confession begins-- 1. You feel guilty. The question to ask yourself is--how does this behavior line up with God's standard? Then you know if the guilt is from God or you mother. (Sometimes they agree on the standard.) If God says it's wron...

Yesterday I taught a Bible study on learning to praise first when you pray. I mentioned that the focus of my prayers should always be on God rather than me, because when I focus on God's character--his goodness, faithfulness, and grace--only then will I have faith to pray for the things I need. Only then will I have the right perspective and the right motive to pray. Prayer is about sitting in the presence of God, not getting something from Him. I suggested forming prayers of praise around three important components: 1. God’s character—who is He? 2. God’s actions toward you—how does he treat you? 3. God’s history of provision—what has he done for you/others in the past This morning I clicked on the website "Lift Up Your Day" to read an encouraging post by Todd Benkert about 9/11. This was his advice: 1. Remember the character of God 2. Remember the promises of God 3. Remember the works of God Yes! This is why we praise, and this is why we ...