Text: Philippians 2:1-11
Today, in response to the gospel message we’ve heard over the past eight days, let’s spend some time sitting quietly before the Lord.
Let’s acknowledge our condition,
confess our sins,
receive His grace,
rejoice in His forgiveness
and cling to the living hope that is ours in Jesus.
To guide your prayer time this morning, consider using this prayer:
Prayer of confession [for believers]*
based on Philippians 2:1-8
Lord, we come confessing.
You tell us that if we are in Christ, there is great encouragement,
comfort in love, and participation in the Spirit.
But we often lack the affection and sympathy that should be a sign of this.
We are not of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Instead, we are anxious about our own ideas
and sometimes we use love to exclude instead of binding together.
We operate from a position of selfish ambition and conceit
and do not have the humility to count others as more significant than ourselves.
We look only to our own interests and not to the interests of others.
O Lord, give us the mind of Christ —
to serve one another without thought of status or position.
May we know what it is to be truly humble and emptied of self and to wholly love.
Amen.
reminder
Our next study – on 1, 2 & 3 John – will start tomorrow, February 5.
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*Used with permission from Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Franklin, TN
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25 thoughts on "prayer of confession"
I have been hearing many messages lately where humility is a large part of the theme. Needing to be reminded of this!
Praying for you Annalee!
In response to Rachel…Jesus’ main message when He was here on earth was for us to repent…I think it is very important for us to be closer to Christ to continue this practice…however we need to ignore the enemies pulls to push us into that corner and cover us with guilt…instead repent and move past it into “receiving his grace and rejoicing in his forgiveness.” “…but unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3b)
Love your insight to remind us to move past the guilt we feel!
Stacey – thank you! That definitely helps. Repentance obviously is a crucial part of the Christian life, but moving past guilt and into grace brings us closer to Christ. The enemy desires for us to feel faulty, Christ desires for us to feel freedom. Thank you!
Praying for you AnnaLee. Thank you for being so honest about where you are struggling. I feel like I’m dealing with many of the same things you said, but definitely wasn’t reacting the way you did. You’ve been a blessing to me today :) thanks
Speak to me Oh Lord through SRT! My word for the year was “humble.” This prayer brought so many parallels to my life and my sins…I have trouble using love to exclude instead of bind together; to operate from a position of selfish ambition instead of humility…especially in my quest to serve The Lord and reach out to others! I focus so much on what’s going wrong around me instead of focusing on the good…and what’s funny is I am a pretty positive person…but inside my head when I am around non believers, I judge! No judging allowed here! That is for Christ to do, not me!
O Lord, give us the mind of Christ – to serve one another without thought of status or position.
May we know what it is to be truly humble and emptied of self and to wholly love.Amen.
– wow such an amazing prayer.i am deeply moved by this…thanks SRT team :D
Praying for you AnnaLee. I feel as if you wrote some of the same things I am feeling.
Lord help us to come to you truly knowing the great loving God that you are, and not with anxious thoughts, but with a humble and peaceful spirit knowing that You are faithful to complete the work you have started in us. Give us your mind Lord, to see others more highly than ourselves and loving them with a love that could only come from you. Holy Spirit guide our thoughts and attitudes to focus on your truth, and not the anxious thoughts that may come to us. Lord you know we are as dust and without you we can do NOTHING. Fill us and guide us in the way you would have us go.
Thank you SRT for this gospel devotional. It has been a blessing to me.
I found today's lesson a bit of an abrupt end to the This is the Gospel study. I know that we need to confess our sins to the Lord, but today's study felt more like condemnation than conviction. It is very possible that that's just where my heart is at today, though.
Today I finished the book "7" by Jen Hatmaker (sidebar: it's a marvelous book…I would suggest it to anyone on here!) and in her conclusion, she talked about the fact that God doesn't want us to be at war with ourselves.
"He sent the Prince of peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-deprecation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died and made us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus' medium. He is battling for global redemption right now; His objective hardly includes huddling in the corner with us, rehashing our shame again. He finished that discussion on the cross. Plus, there's no time for that." ("7", Jen Hatmaker, pg. 220)
I just felt like today's study shifted the focus back onto us trying to make ourselves good before Christ, instead of the fact that we are clothed in His righteousness because of NOTHING we've done ourselves. Again, this might just be where my heart is today. I thoroughly love my time in the She Reads Truth studies every morning and I am SO looking forward to studying the letters of John!
What are your thoughts?
I was so convicted by the idea of using love to exclude instead of binding together. I have such a tendency to love those who "agree" with me, or who are a part of the church, and are "of one mind" with me, but then to be angry or impatient with those who are not so. The Lord gently pointed out to me today that the "others" referred to in v. 3 are not just those who are in the church. "Others" here means every single human being in the world other than me, even the ones that seem the most unlovable…
Lord, put a renewed, humbled, peace-seeking, patient spirit within me. Help me to do the work you've called me to do. Help me to go to the places you've called me to go to. You exalt and humble, the innocent, the downcast. You help the poor and needy. Today, I am both of those things: I see myself as I really am, in need of YOU and only YOU. Help me to rely on your strength and to trust in your will for me.
Girls, prayers would be appreciated today. I am under attack by a lot of doubt, flippancy, fear, anxiety, and just not being in the same mind as Christ, wholly pleasing and loving to both Him and others. Pray that He'd guard me and guide me in his way everlasting. Amen.
Praying for you, sweet AnnaLee! You are a great example of Christ's love to this little community, and it is a blessing for us to be the same to you when you are feeling down. Praying blessings on the rest of your day!
Holding you up AnnaLee, praying you know Gods arms around you protecting you, loving you, and guiding you……God IS with you….xxx
"But we often lack the affection and sympathy that should be a sign of this"–I realized today that I do not confess with the humbled heart I should have. My thought process on confession has definitely changed because of the last 8 days. We are freed from our sins because of His sacrifice, and because of His grace. It truly is the best gift from God, and I can only pray that going forward I can be more humble when I confess my sins.
I wrote down that whole prayer, I loved it so much. Thank you SRT.
I thank God for His grace. Grace is a person, and His name is Jesus. He came to undo the works of the devil, so that we might have life and life more abundantly. It is by grace through faith that we are saved. I am forever grateful that He became sin for me so that I am now made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It is a gift from God. He has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness. Hallelujah! How I glory in His praise!
What a powerful reminder this morning. May I see others needs above my own and love all as You love all despite my bent towards selfishness. Thank you, Lord, for Your grace.
The prayer of confession was very convicting this morning. As I prayed the words I realized that I do put myself before others a majority of the time. I pray that I can make this my prayer everyday and beginbhumbling myself to serve others always. I want my life to reflect God’s love.
Prayed this prayer this morning out loud to the Lord and didn't realize until I got to about the third sentence how convicted I was. Lord, I am humbled in Your presence today! Mold me, make me after YOUR will!
May we have the mind of Christ, the words of Christ, the love of Christ. Amen and amen. Jesus.
Thank you for theses words. I really needed that kick in the butt today. I think most of us read this and think of people outside of our circles, that we need to be Jesus to. But this spoke to me today to those close to home, the ones I live, and work with every day. More of you and less of me, Jesus.
Lord, help me to live these words from Philippians. To be humble. To serve without regard to status or position. To be obedient. To have the mind of my precious Savior.
Amen and amen.
Everything has changed……..for truth has been spoken to us…..
We cannot have heard/ read, digested, believed over the past 8 days and not be changed…how can we now, knowing of the Grace afforded us and not be gracious to our fellow man, the mercy shown us and not be merciful, the abundant love being poured over us, and not share that amazing love to with others……why would we want to keep these things to ourselves……where is the joy in that……
You tell us that if we are in Christ, there is great encouragement,
comfort in love, and participation in the Spirit…..We are not of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind…..help us Lord to show and be the love you have shown us…….to encourage, comfort and be the image bearer you call us to be……forgive us Lord for our selfish ambition and conceit, and help us Lord God to see others as you see them….in rose-tinted glasses….in love….
O Lord, give us the mind of Christ –
to serve one another without thought of status or position.
May we know what it is to be truly humble and emptied of self and to wholly love as you have loved us…….AMEN.
Happy Tuesday, sister's with love, always. Xxx
Prayng in agreement. Amen and Amen!
CHRIST'S EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY:
– Counted others as more significant than Himself.
– Emptied Himself to become a servant.
– Humbled Himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death.
*Lord, help me to live this Truth. May people see that you are truly living in me as I follow your example, by Your Grace, through the power of The Holy Spirit. Amen.