Text: Mark 1:14-15
As we walk through this season of reflection and repentance together, we want to provide time and space for us as individuals and a community to meditate on God’s Word and bow at His feet in prayer.
Each Saturday during Lent we will read a brief passage of Scripture and a corporate prayer, both carefully chosen for this specific place in our Lenten journey. Sundays will be dedicated to scripture memorization, one of our favorite habits here at She Reads Truth.
We pray you will not only meet with the Savior on these quieter weekend days, but linger there with Him, in prayer and in His Word.
O God of Grace,
Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and has imputed his righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
deking me with jewels of holiness.
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.
I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;
I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;
I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace
– “Continual Repentance” from The Valley of Vision
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98 thoughts on "Continual Repentance"
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Very appropriate. Journaled yesterday about being distant from God due to to-do lists and life have-to’s. But Our Savior always welcomes us back, cleanses us, and draws us closer. I hope the redundancy of my repentance and requests for forgiveness transform into real life-changing action steps. I know they will with the love, the strength, the willpower, the purity, and the discipline I get from Jesus.
This scripture is so appropriate for lent and reflecting on the cross.
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So beautifully put!
Though I am reading this after Lent, the Lord is taking me through my own season of Lent. A new season in which each devotion shouts at me the truth that the Lord has been trying to teach this calloused heart of mine. My repentance has be broken…not because i haven’t desired to repent, but because I felt that I didn’t deserve repentance. (Though I am fully aware in my head that it’s not about deserving, it’s about grace. That truth is now making it’s way to my heart in a way that I haven’t felt in years.) the more and more I read, I feel as if I am meeting Grace all over again, like this old friend I have missed.
Claiming nothing but the blood today with you!!!
And the robe is red…drenched in the perfect pure life blood of Jesus. Thank you Father!
I absolutely love this. This brings me to tears. Thank you.
Repent from my repentance…
This prayer puts perfectly into words what I’ve been wanting to pray. Perfect for this time of repentance.
How humbling to be reminded that I live in rags when I have been given His robe of righteousness.
God’s grace is perfect. Is amazing to see the love he has for all of us that he is always willing to forgive us, no matter How many times he needs to give us. Soaking up today in God’s beautiful grace. Gift bless you all sisters.
The Lord’s love is overwhelming & beautiful.
so wonderfully beautiful!
Beautiful prayer. Wow.
But how arrogant of me to continue to expect forgiveness? To presume upon His mercy and grace? To beg to come home. One. More. Time?
Not arrogant, I don’t think so. That’s the Gospel! He knows until we’re glorified there will always be one more time. That’s the Gospel. He longs for us to come home, He DELIGHTS for us to come home: every. single. time.
His grace is all that that we can plead, whether it is our first time or our 10,000th time. I can’t do one thing to increase my worth in His eyes, but He sees me worthy because of the blood of Christ, in whom my faith rests. Romans 4 says that God credits faith to us as righteousness, not ANYTHING that we do. This tells me that if I manage to do what I think us right and good, or if I fail miserably, Jesus’ blood is STILL my only hope. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me that much….every day.
I don’t think it’s arrogance.. We are prone to wander. Not that it’s right but God knows that about us. We are sinful while we are in this body. And He forgives us when we return to Him. It’s a promise He’s made.. It’s wise, not arrogant to claim that promise as our own.. Thanks be to Christ our Savior who made this forgiveness possible!!
But if we were able to stop whatever we ‘expect forgiveness’ for we would be able to master sin thus leaving us without our relentless need for His mercy and grace. The one more time is what makes it all the more beautiful; His boundless love never leaves us forsaken or lacking.
This is so beautiful written. And…completely relatable. Brought me to tears.
A dear friend gave me a copy of "the Valley of VIsion" when I was pregnant with my now three year old son. There is something about the prayers in this book that slice through to the truth. I am glad you shared this.
I pray the father would forgive me for my continual sin. Truly there is no way for me to stop. No moment I am ok and sinless enough to not need his robe. I ignore his robe, and continue in my sin, but that doesn’t mean I have less sin. I pray for us all to wear it: to let the wonder of teansformation take us over
I know I haven’t been focused this Lenten season. Focused on my circumstances my past my failures.
AMEN AMEN AMEN Ziruel well said.I get so much encouragement from all of you ladies prayers and comments.God bless you abundantly!!!
Zuriel*
the prodigal son is my favorite picture of God’s unconditional love for each of us.I myself are coming back home,to my first love.Glory to God in the highest!!!!
http://joshgarrels.bandcamp.com/track/the-resistance
This is an amazing song about what it’s like to live in our world and resist the downward pull of the world. Awesome song!
Josh Garrels is marvelous! It’s such a good reminder that, by the grace of Jesus we are free, to live as he calls us to. We accept our inherent brokenness and let our God restore us, time and again. We are part of this sinful broken world, but as Christians we are the resistance.
” It’s going to cost us everything
To follow one Lord and King
True love endures everything
to be free”
I really do not pray enough. I feel like this area is a place I need to improve badly. I really enjoy these Saturday prayer days and I hope we do this again in other studies.
So grateful for this meditation today! Hey Rachel, where can I find a coffee mug like yours? Like you, this girl runs on coffee and grace:)
i bought it from an instagram shop called "shopwhateverislovely"! Nicole is really great to work with. She also has a website: whateverislovely.storenvy.com :)
Yesterday I sobbed as I prayed with my friend. The kind of sobbing where your nose runs and tears are all over your face. But I'm not a cryer. Very few of my friends have ever seen me cry. I think even my bff was surprised a little by my sobbing yesterday. It was my sin that made me cry…and the knowing that Jesus loves me still…and that even though I get it wrong so often and I'm hard to love, my husband loves me still. Even after many, many years of walking with the Lord I have issues of the heart that are nothing but sin. There are sins of ommission and sins of comission, and I'm still a mess. Now, I know that Satan is the accuser of the brethren and he was attacking hard yesterday, But, I am still a sinner. I cried a few more times through-out the day, thanking the Lord for His steadfast love. I called my husband on his lunch break and cried some more and told him how thankful I am for him, for loving me. Then I cried some more when he told me that he had had a pretty rough morning at work as well, it broke my heart for him. I felt my sinfullness all through the day. We hugged each other tight when he got home, thankful for Jesus and for each other. Then this morning I opened up my SRT workbook and read this amazing prayer that describes what I could not put into words – "Continual Repentance" from the Valley of Vision. This prayer says it perfectly! "But in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity; my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin; my receiving of the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness. I need to repent of my repentance… I am always standing clothed in filthy garments, and by grace am always receiving change of raiment, for thou dost always justify the ungodly; …" I am so thankful for for my Savior. Thankful that when I stand before the judgment seat of Christ, I will be covered by His righteousness. Lord, "grant me never to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness, and the exceeding wonder of grace." Amen!!
The grace that covers me is the same grace that covers those that have wounded me. Lord forgive me for not extending grace to those that caused me harm. Your best robe covers us all. I repent of coming to You to fix them. I need to come to you for me and shift my focus off of them. Forgive me Lord for harboring hurt and anger. Forgive me for keeping the wound open and expecting an apology. Your grace is sufficient for me. May You bless those that have hurt me.
So well said.
This morning, I found myself again in Isaiah 58 from ‘Come in Mercy’ from a couple days back in our study. As I read, I was ‘the people’ who cried out to God day after day, yet still did as they pleased. And reading the fasting acceptable to God, I thought, ‘I can’t do this. I’ll never measure up. My heart is SO far from God’s heart.’ This was overwhelming. I doubted. I wanted to give up. Because it cut to my heart and rather than embrace it, I wanted to run from it. To hide from the shame.
But I kept asking questions. Seeking answers. And I prayed, ‘Lord, teach me resilience and endurance. To accept that I, on my own, will never measure up. That is why I need Jesus.’
And then today’s call to Continual Repentance. I read: “But in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity…”
I am in rags yet He offers the best robe. Humbled and undeserving. I come empty. I come quietly. I draw close to learn more about His mercy. Always learning. Pressing on and pressing in to Him, to Jesus.
Abba rid me of this fear of failure. I AM WEAK AND I NEED YOU. CONTINUALLY I FAIL. CONTINUALLY I LEAVE. Yes I have failed I have failed I have failed. I am always going into the far country. But I am always returning home as a prodigal. Thou dost always justify the ungodly. This is my life, my lot, my priveledge- to always fail but to always return. In my weakness you delight, for you then wrap me in your strong arms. Here I repent, embrace my failings, and turn again once more.
What can wash away my sin?, nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus . Oh precious is the blood that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood if Jesus!
Father may we live and breath in continual repentance so that we as women may experience and receive your grace more fully. Guide us Holy Spirit.
Thank you Lord for your continual grace, so we can come to you over and over for repentance and forgiveness. Thank you for loving us that much. Xo
I was hunting for words yesterday, and here they are today.
This, Lord; I need to repent of my repentance. My best prayers are stained with sin. My receiving the Spirit is tainted with selfishness. Oh, how this is me. Help me Lord. Amen.
I LOVE the Valley of Vision! "I am always standing clothed in filthy garments, and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,"
I imagine this like a small child, constantly soiling her own clothing, but again and again being lovingly changed into something new and clean. Over and over and over and over. Because someone loves her that much.
Amen! I’m so grateful for grace! These words are certainly life changing!
This is so beautiful. I just keep reading it over and over. I was just talking to my husband about the story of the prodigal and the older brother. I need to be reminded I am ALWAYS the prodigal, even when I think I’m the older brother. I need the robe, the ring and the forgiveness. I forever need to repent and fall on my knees to him.
Realizing I have this prayer book I will scour through the boxes of books and find it today.
So grateful for the Valley of Vision prayers, and especially this one!
When reading this passage, I was brought back 10 or so years ago when my boys were all really young (6,5,2)….they would find every speck of dirt and mud and be completely covered by the end of the day…..and everyday I would take them into their bath and wash them clean…hearing of their adventures and sometimes a "sowrry mommy"… They were no longer stinky & sticky……they were washed clean. Lovingly…..with joy and laughter……and wrapped in a big, fluffy towel while I hugged them and loved up on them.
This is what I envision our Father does with us when we repent…..He lovingly washes all of the "sowrry" off of us, all of the dirt, all of the sticky, yucky parts of our lives….wraps us in a big fluffy towel and gives us a big squeeze and reminds us of just how special we are to Him….
Awe. That’s such a beautiful illustration. :)
Oh, I love that illustration! He washes all the "sowrry" out of us, makes us clean, and loves on us!
Amen Missy. When I saw the word craft used in negative context, during previous reading, it certainly got my attention!
Woe. Thank you for that picture. It made my Father’s love so very real to me.
Love this!!
These prayers and hymns have been such a blessing! To discover the passion and worship shared over time has deepened my own worship. They are a precious treasure . Thank you.
Indeed I wasn’t raised observing Lent or, for that matter, the Sabbath. I am eternally grateful for this study, it is beyond perfect for this season in my life.
Let’s be honest, life is hard!
We are facing a fairly unusual phenomenon in my city – it's snowing! As I looked out the window this morning, there was literally a carpet of snow covering the ground. It reminded me of Isa 1: 18 – Though (my) sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Grace – because of His goodness – a kind of goodness I may never fully understand. A grace that covers my sin and makes it so that I can start again. Lord, O God of grace, I receive your garment of righteousness. May I never lose sight of its "exceeding wonder."
I love this Janet- thank you for sharing :)
I like how the prayer says we are always going into the far country and always returning as the prodigal son. It’s so true that even if we worry about the sin of others, when truthfully, we are all sinners and all are needing to repent!
Sometimes it is hard for me to read the passages and i wonder if it is hard for other women so they aren’t able to take jn the information
, is there any way the vocabulary can be brought down to a high school level? Thank you for your contributions though! I truly appreciate you women!
Hi Nina, often times what I have to do is open a new tab on my iPad browser (or phone) and Google the word I don’t understand. Pretty much every time, Google brings up biblical results. That’s helps a lot!
They're from a book called "The Valley of Vision", which is all prayers written by Puritans. I wonder if you did some googling if you might find a version that's been translated into more modern terms? Other than that I second Brittney's idea to google words!
Nina, as a new christian I am struggling to understand the passage myself. If you find a link that translates it can you please post? I searched and was unable to come up with anything only the book Valley of Vision. Thanks
Perhaps reading this prayer (taken from "The Valley of Vision") like you would a poem, might help to bring further clarity. When I am reading something that requires careful reading, I like to do at least three readings. Then,I like to break it apart. First by sentence, then by paragraph. I also will look up any words that I don't understand, then re-read the sentence again. Then, I will re-read it as a whole. Hope this helps!
Grant me never to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness, the exceeding wonder of grace.
I love this line from The Valley of Vision! In this world of acceptance and tolerance, it's often easy to lose sight of the "sinfulness of sin." All sin separates us from the Father, whether hidden or open for all to see. You know, Jesus said, it's not those that are well that need a doctor, but the sick. And, boy, was I sick! I was on a death bed of my own sin! Oh, the "exceeding wonder of grace"! Glory to God, He saved me, and set me free!
1 Cor 6:11 And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
How amazing and beautiful is this righteousness and salvation that comes through Christ!
Amen
I'm so thankful for his "Grace." Where would I be without it? God continues to cover my sinful body, thoughts, actions and ways…Father grant me to never lose sight of exceeding sinfulness of sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness and the ever exceeding wonder of your Grace. Every day, I see a layer falling off of me. What a POWERFUL message this morning. It is my prayer that soon, I will stand naked before God that he may use me as intended. Thank you Father!
“Grant me never to lose sight of…” So I often I forget what is truly important, what is truly amazing. I pray that we are all amazed everyday by is unfailing and unending love for us.
Just finished reading this morning and then listening to a song that my daughter shared with me yesterday…’Broken Vessels’ by Hillsong….’oh I can see you now, oh I can see the love in your eyes, laying yourself down, raising up the broken to life….Amazing Grace!
"The exceeding beauty of holiness". That struck me this morning. In a culture where beauty means many things, it is refreshing to consider this.
I love the visual reminder of the new, white robe that God puts on me, and I am sitting here imagining him physically changing my robe SO SO many times a day.
Thank you, Jesus.
I am always going into the far country, and always returning home as a prodigal, always saying, Father, forgive me, and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
I nearly dissolved into tears reading this in the middle of Starbucks this afternoon. As an expat, I relate to this on a very deep level, and knowing that every time I slink back “home”, to church, to God, to prayer, God brings out his best robes every time just like my parents put me in the best room every time I go home, is really moving me this afternoon.
Yup, crying again in Starbucks. Time for a trip to the bathroom to clean up!!
Amen Lauren! This passage resonated with me too and gave me a new vision of what grave really is.
I mean GRACE! What an awkward auto-correct
This is what got me too – tears streaming down my face imagining our Savior holding out that beautiful robe to me. So humbled, and still not low enough.
Thank you for this! I am a new reader and have been liking the fresh start of my day with this. :)
A.Grace
It is humbling to know that we can never "get there" until we go home to be with the Lord… that glorious day when we become the perfect Bride of Christ! I know a lot of people wander if there's a point to even trying since we can never attain this here on our own, but I think it's human nature to try… to improve… to conquer.
As His children we are constantly coming to Him, broken and dirty, to be forgive and renewed. The humility comes when we realize that even though we can't "get there" right now, we still need Him so desperately to forgive and renew us over and over again, and so we continue to come to Him. We can do nothing apart from him, and repentance is part of our living. His love is never failing! Thank you for these words and this prayer today.
“…and by grace am always receiving change of raiment.” I love that! The thought that God’s grace is continually washing over me like the waves upon a beach…continually cleansing me! A glorious thought this morning!
“Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation”
So quickly we forget how much we have
Been saved and wiped clean. So quickly we forget how much better it is when we are in his presence. Help me not to forget Lord.
Oh Lord, I need to repent of my repentance – and remember it is ALL You! Every time.
This was so beautiful. I’m continually overwhelmed by the extravagance of his grace.
Father, forgive me. I have repented of sins wanting something from you, instead of a deeper relationship with you. My repentance is not a work and does not merit anything from you. Thank you for your grace to cover every sin.
Cailey your comment just went straight to my heart …..this so convicts me of what my motives are and what I really want them to be. Thank you for putting it out like this.
Thank you so much for sharing such an honest prayer. I do this too! Repenting to God because I need Him for something. And it’s such a challenging thought that you gave that our repentance doesn’t merit anything of God on our spiritual accounts. It’s only Christ’s righteousness. It’s so hard to believe sometimes but it’s also such a relief. Thank you, Jesus!
Amen!
i went to grab a cup of coffee before i sat down to shereadstruth this morning. i was having a hard time deciding which of my many mugs i was going to use. finally, i chose one that says “this girl runs on coffee & grace.” and then i read this prayer! may i never lose sight of the exceeding wonder of His grace.
“No loom to weave my own righteousness”
Forgive my attempts at using the gifts and resources you’ve given me to craft my own righteousness when they are to only be used to magnify you and advance your kingdom. You are the author of salvation, help my misplaced efforts.
Amen!!
“Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee!”
May the wonder of the cross and grace keep me daily on my knees!
Amen sister!
One of my most favorite hymns! I can still hear my college choir singing it!
May we just begin to grasp the exceeding wonder of grace . What an amazing prayer. Father forgive
So grateful that the inadequate ness of my repentance is more than covered by the adequate ness of Gods forgiveness. Chosen forgiven redeemed! Thank you Lord
Well said.. Amen!
Amen, Michele!