|
Loving and gracious Father,
In You we have redemption through Jesus' blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Your grace that You lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:7-8). Lord, You are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. You do not harbour Your anger forever and You do not treat us as our sins deserve. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your love for those who fear You; as far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:8-12). The depth of Your unending mercy and love is overwhelming. Thank you, Jesus, for enduring great pain and sacrifice so that our sins can be forgiven. Your death was the ultimate expression of Your love for us.
Humanly, I lack the ability to love and offer grace as You do, but the promise of Your Spirit living in me gives me hope. I confess my hard-hearted tendency to harbour bitterness, anger and unforgiveness. I pray that out of Your glorious riches You would strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being.
Lord Jesus, in faith I ask that You would establish Your presence in my heart. I need to be filled completely with You in order to experience Your power in a way that allows me to understand how wide and long and high and deep Your love is. I want to practically experience the love of Christ – the love that is beyond human understanding – so that I may be filled completely with all the fullness of You (Ephesians 3:16-19). Thank you for the hope I have in You! Because You live in me, I can be a grace-filled, loving person who forgives with generous mercy (1 John 4:12-13).
Lord, I bring ________ before You and I ask that You would give him/her a complete understanding of Your forgiveness. Help ________ to repent of his/her sins with a godly sorrow as opposed to a worldly sorrow. May Your Holy Spirit fill ________'s heart with a desire to be forgiven, not just for his/her salvation, but because he/she knows how much his/her sin saddens You.
I pray that ________'s spiritual growth would not be hindered by the faulty belief that he/she is undeserving of Your forgiveness or by the bitterness of unforgiveness. Instead I ask that You would enable ________ to embrace Your forgiveness and readily forgive others (1 John 2:10-11). Please send Your Holy Spirit to reveal any feelings of anger, rage, bitterness and resentment that ________ is unknowingly keeping in his/her heart. I pray he/she would recognize these feelings as temptations from Satan to be unforgiving. At these times, may ________ turn to You and ask for Your Holy Spirit to enable him/her to forgive others as You have forgiven him/her (Matthew 6:14-15).
We have been the recipients of much undeserved grace and forgiveness. Empower us with Your mercy so that we willingly put up with each other and bear with one another in love, forgiving as you forgive us (Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 1:6-7, Isaiah 55:7). Please fill our home with Your gracious love so that we are tolerant instead of being easily angered and forgiving instead of keeping records of wrong (1 Corinthians 13:5).
Please pour into our hearts Your Spirit of wisdom and patience to inspire us to overlook the offenses of others (Proverbs 19:11, Galatians 5:22). In Jesus name, I pray that our family would walk in the freedom of the forgiveness Jesus established for us on the cross, so our relationships are all a reflection of Your grace. Amen.
for more prayers...
|
