Prayers for forgiveness

The scripture reminds us that if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us. So, the only option remaining is to confess our sins to God and use prayers for forgiveness for the scripture says that God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isn’t that grace?

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1:8-9)

No one existing in the flesh can claim to be sinless. At every point in life, man will find himself to have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But what should man do when he finds himself to have sinned against God? Should he run away from God? The psalmist in Psalms 139, shows God’s perfect knowledge of man, that there is nowhere we can go to run away from His Spirit and presence.  Jonah tried to run away from God and His calling and found Himself in the belly of fish for 3 days.

David was known as a man after God’s heart because of one thing, whenever he found himself in a mess, he could quickly run to God and pray for forgiveness. A good example is when Nathan the prophet had gone to him concerning the issue of Bathsheba. Look at David’s’ prayer of forgiveness; Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalms 51:1-2).

No one should ever think that God is in the business of condemning us because of our sins. But does that mean God loves sin in us? Absolutely no, God hates sin and doesn’t want us to live in sin because sin defiles us and prevents us from being holy vessels to be used by Him. Therefore, he corrects and disciplines us for our benefit. He is a loving God full of mercy and grace.

When we say that God is merciful, it means that He withholds the punishment that we deserve. That is why the psalmist wrote like this; If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (Psalms 130:3-4). I love part b of this verse, that there is forgiveness in the Lord that we may look at His merciful attribute and worship Him.

And when we say that God is full of grace, we mean that He bestows favor upon us, the kind of favor that we don’t deserve. Meaning that He will never deal with us based on the sins we have ever committed or we will commit. Look at what the scripture says in the book of psalms number 103. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:10-12).

With this knowledge of who our God is, we can never run away from Him when we find ourselves in sin. Instead, we should always use prayers for forgiveness, so we can return on the righteous path. Just as the father in the parable of the prodigal son, Our God who is full of love is always waiting for us to receive us, restore us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. As we approach His throne let us not forget that He is our High Priest who was once tempted like us and who sympathizes with our weakness. “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust”. (Psalms 103:14)

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)