Word of Encouragement (05/13/2022)

Here is another prayer of John Baillie’s to finish the week:

“O MERCIFUL heart of God, in true penitence and remorse I open my heart to you now. Let me keep nothing hidden from you while I pray. The truth about myself is humbling, but give me courage to speak it out in your presence. What I was not too ashamed to commit, may I not be too ashamed to confess. In your wisdom use this pain of confession as a way of making me hate the sins confessed.

I confess to laziness in this ___ and this ___;

I confess to vanity in this ___ and this ___;

I confess to this ___ and this ___ indulgence in physical desires;

I confess to the habit of lying in this ___ and this ___;

I confess to this ___ and this ___ dishonesty;

I confess to this ___ and this ___ unkind word;

I confess to having entertained this ___ and this ___ evil thought;

I confess to this ___ and this ___ wrong direction my life has been taking;

I confess to this ___ and this ___ lapse from faithful Christian living.

“O Lord, whose love in the human heart can burn like a fire all that is shameful and evil, let me now grasp your perfect righteousness and make it my own. Blot out all my disobedience and let my sins be covered. Help me to feel your hand upon my life, cleansing me from the stain of past wrongdoings, loosing me from the grip of evil habits, strengthening me in new habits of pure heartedness and guiding my footsteps in the way of eternal life. O God, lead me in battle against my secret sins. Fence around my life with a shield of hope and commitment. And let Christ be formed in my heart through faith. All this I ask for his holy name’s sake. Amen.”

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