Isaiah 55:6-9
What a rich time of sharing yesterday, Sisters! Thank you for opening your hearts, your notebooks, your blogs, your IG feeds to share what the Lord is teaching you. If you happened to miss yesterday’s #SheSharesTruth, you can find a list of community posts here.
Today, let’s still our hearts before the Lord again. Let’s read the words from the prophet Isaiah and let them sink in deep, and then let’s pray this prayer of confession together, repenting of our sin and praising God for His grace and mercy.
Prayer: “Confession and Petition”
Holy Lord,
I have sinned times without number,
and been guilty of pride and unbelief,
of failure to find thy mind in thy Word,
of neglect to seek thee in my daily life.
My transgressions and short-comings
present me with a list of accusations,
But I bless thee that they will not stand against me,
for all have been laid on Christ;
Go on to subdue my corruptions,
and grant me grace to live above them.
Let not the passions of the flesh nor the lustings of the mind
bring my spirit into subjection,
but do thou rule over me in liberty and power.
I thank thee that many of my prayers have been refused —
I have asked amiss and do not have,
I have prayed from lusts and have been rejected,
I have longed for Egypt and have been given a wilderness.
Go on with thy patient work,
answering ‘no’ to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it.
Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration,
everything contrary to thy rule.
I thank thee for thy wisdom and thy love,
for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject,
for sometimes putting me into the furnace
to refine my gold and remove my dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin.
If thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins,
or to have them burnt away with trial,
give me sanctified affliction.
Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins,
everything that dims the brightness of thy grace in me,
everything that prevents me taking delight in thee.
Then I shall bless thee, God of Jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.
from The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, ©2001, The Banner of Truth Trust, p.77.
This simple line here is what hit me the hardest – Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of thy grace in me everything that prevents me taking delight in thee. I don't want to hold onto anything that "dims" His grace in me. I want to be a reflection of Him so that others might see Him in me. I want to set aside the pride and selfishness that grips at me. This is such a beautiful prayer. Words that flow effortlessly across the page with meaning so deep I want to cry them out to the Lord myself. I read this lesson a couple of days ago but re-visited this prayer tonight. I am so grateful I stopped to take it in again.
Like all of you, my heart chords were struck by this prayer. I also wrote down this part in my journal: "I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused – I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and have been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and have been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it."
My long struggle with infertility and loss has wrecked my heart over and over. Everything I read is through my infertility-colored glasses. Today was the same way, but these words got to the core. They changed my perspective. Even though I long for motherhood – a good, godly desire – my heart has been bitter and miserable with disappointment. This prayer reminded me to long for Him instead. To let Him fill my empty spaces. To let go of pride and unbelief (my way) and to remember that He's got this.
Reflecting on our verses in Isaiah, I am simply reminded that I just need to go to Him because He is there! Waiting!
‘go on with thy patient work, answering no to my wrongful prayers.’ this part got me. I’m not a patient person, and in the waiting I’ve been guilty of letting my pride and unbelief to take over. this prayer hit it right on the nail for me. truly what my heart needed.
But I bless thee that they will not stand against me,
for all have been laid on Christ;
Go on to subdue my corruptions,
and grant me grace to live above them.
so good!!
“Go on with thy patient work, answering ‘no’ to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it.” Wow. What a statement! It is so great to be reminded that sometimes God’s answer is no. I needed to remember that today. This has really touched my heart, and prompted me to stay patient. :)