Helps to Repentance
Helps to Repentance
At the time of this post we are in the middle of what is called the Ten Days of Awe which is the ten days of Rosh Hashanah leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of atonement in the Hebrew calendar. (See Should Christians Celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and Ten Days of Awe, for more information on these Jewish holy days.)
No, you don’t have to participate in these feasts and holy days, but you can, that is, you get to. And it’s not too late. There are still two- three more days left, depending on when you read this post!
Repentance, what is it?
Repentance is a change of mind, not merely feeling sorry for sin. If you have truly repented you have changed your mind about something to the point that you have changed your behavior around it.
No behavior change= no change of mind= no real repentance
Help #1: Prayer
You can ask God for help to repent. You can ask God for conviction of sin, for help to confess your sins, for help to feel truly sorry for your sins, for help to change your mind about your sins.
A specific prayer could be one like, Lord, please show me what sins I need to confess and repent of today. And then wait and listen and pay attention to what comes to your mind. Then actually confess what God has shown you as sin and ask God to help you to change your mind about them.
It’s possible that one or more items God showed you may require other actions. You may need to forgive someone. You may need to ask someone else for forgiveness over something you did to them. You may need to do restitution, such as if you stole something, to give it back or pay for it.
Help #2: Scriptures
It sometimes helps me to use actual Bible verses to pray about confession and repentance. Perhaps you will find these helpful as well.
Psa 139:23-24 KJV 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psa 51:2, 10 KJV 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. … 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 19:12-14 KJV 12 Who can understand [his] errors? cleanse thou me from secret [faults]. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Help #3: Lists of repentance questions
I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel. There are lots of free and excellent resources available on the web. Check out the links below for some great ones but my one caution is please do not attempt to use all of these at the same time! Not the same day, not even the same week! If you take your time to use these properly each one of these will probably take more than one day’s prayer time. (Not that you necessarily have sinned that much, but you must take your time to really listen to the Holy Spirit. This process cannot be rushed!)
Sweet Hour of Prayer Revival Guide – (click on the link on this page for the downloadable pdf file)
Breaking up the Fallow Ground by Charles Finney and Keith and Melody Green
Heart Searching for Prayer, Preparation and Personal Revival – (click on the link on this page for the downloadable pdf file)
Join the conversation. Share your ideas or questions in the comment form below.
Other posts you may like:
Getting Closer To God Series Part 9
(c) 2014 Cheryl Cope
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