A Prayer of Repentance

There are a number of memorable prayers of repentance in the Bible. Psalm 51 is obviously one of the most famous. But there are other inspiring prayers of repentance. One very powerful prayer – and one which seems so very appropriate today – is found in the book of Daniel.

Daniel 9 has the record of Daniel’s prayer of repentance on behalf of his people. It seems so very apt for God’s people today. The very sins which Daniel mentioned are so very much the sins of the church today. The things the ancient Israelites were guilty of are also the things we are guilty of today.

Of interest is the fact that this prayer is the result of Daniel reading Scripture: the book of Jeremiah, as we are told in v. 2. His desire for intercession and confession came from spending time in God’s word – in this case written a generation earlier.

We read in verse 3 that Daniel “turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes”. That is a terrific place to begin. He clearly humbled himself and saw himself in need of also properly addressing God.

In vv. 4-18 we have the prayer itself. It is well worth printing here:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame —the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, LORD, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

There is much that can be said about this prayer. Notice how Daniel so very greatly cares about God’s people. And notice how he so very much cares about God and his reputation. These twin foci should certainly always be a part of our prayers and intercession.

Indeed, his prayer begins with God – as it should. He emphasises God’s faithfulness and covenantal commitment to his people, and he contrasts that with the complete lack of faithfulness of the Israelites. So the prophet has to intercede for his people, confessing their collective sins.

He makes no excuses for this sin, and instead acknowledges God’s fairness in allowing them to be exiled for their sin and disobedience. God was quite just to send them into exile, as warned about in Deuteronomy. But in that book we also learn of God’s plan to rescue his people and restore their fortunes.

So here we find a good model for a prayer of repentance: first, God is invoked, acknowledged and praised. Then, a time of confession, where specific sins are mentioned and dealt with. Third, a time of petition, seeking God’s favour and especially seeking to uphold his honour and glory.

And of interest, we find that while Daniel was still praying, an angel of the Lord breaks into the scene (v.20ff). Talk about a fast answer! Of course we may well not expect such an angelic visitation when we offer a prayer of repentance, but we can expect God to show up if we really mean business with him.

And lest it seem that Daniel’s prayer is not all that relevant to the church today, read it again. It is fully applicable: “we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets…”

How many sins are modern day Christians guilty of? Plenty. Start with our compromised and lukewarm Christianity, in which we seldom if ever even mention the name of Christ to others. We will remain silent to all around us about our Saviour and Lord. Yet we will scream ourselves hoarse at a football game.

We will spend countless hours a day watching TV, playing games, and amusing ourselves, but we are doing well if we read one chapter of the Bible a week. We are addicted to consumerism, greed and materialism, while the poor all around us try to figure out where their next meal is going to come from.

We are awash with pornography, divorce, abortion, and every other sin found in the world. The church is hardly any different from it – no wonder it is so unattractive and so uninviting. Why would any non-Christian want to become a Christian and they seem to be living lives exactly the same as they are? Good question indeed.

We have so very much to repent of. But for most churches it is business as usual. They would not dare to bring up the topics of sin, repentance, confession and holiness. That would keep the numbers down – and worse yet, it would keep the income down.

Therefore many churches today are quite content to offer people just what they want to hear: a completely me-centred gospel, which makes no demands, costs nothing, and offends no one. Such churches will always be popular of course – but they will also be spiritually barren – if not spiritually dead.

But it is silly of me to keep writing here. We all should simply read this prayer of confession, and read it again. Indeed, we should keep reading it until God breaks through and we get out of our spiritual deep freeze, and we see God begin to move again.

We need to do this corporately and individually. Yet such prayers of repentance must start with ourselves. With me.

[1331 words]

10 Replies to “A Prayer of Repentance”

  1. Why do we need to repent?

    Revelation 3:1-6: And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things. I know your works, that you have a name that you live, and are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. For I have not found your works being fulfilled before God. Remember then how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. And they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. The one who overcomes, that one will be clothed in white clothing. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

    Written nearly 2,000 years ago, relevant to much of the church today.

    John Bennett

  2. A couple of years ago, a few of us rewrote this prayer of repentance to include the name of our city, and name of the church of our city, and we prayed the prayer at each of the gates to our city (the Highways in and out of the city in each of the compass points).

    Your post encourages me to perhaps do it again, and keep doing it on a regular basis until we see the softness of heart you advocate.

    Thanks for the reminder.

    Lance A Box

  3. Thank you Bill for this reproach which prompts us to review our lapses and transgressions. It would be good if the spirit of the prayer of repentance and psalm 51’s prayer for cleansing could be transmitted to other Christians of weak belief and people of the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) world view, which is blind to the possibility of another hidden dimension in life.

    Your article has prompted me to look up Psalm 51, which I knew nothing about, and also John Bennett’s quote from Revelations has prompted me to do some research on the seven spirits of God. So your efforts in this article have enriched my awareness which I may be able to convey to others.

    Rachel Smith

  4. Hi Bill, this is certainly a timely reminder of our need to pray. Sadly, as you pointed out, the churches rather than preaching the truth and our need for repentance and prayer, prefer to be popular and preach to ‘itching’ ears. Telling people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear.

    Lord bring back the fire and brimstone preachers, You know we need them.

    Fred Merlo

  5. Hi John. There is much to be gained from reading the messages to all seven churches in revelation. However, it is fairly well understood that we are living in the time of the laodecian church which is where the phrase ‘lukewarm’ comes from.

    Luke Belik

  6. Bill you say “we may well not expect an angelic visitation”.

    Why?

    Is the scientific mind so devoid of a spiritual realm which science rarely traverses and defines all things within its definitions creating a closed model?

    Is the the mind of the flesh so compromised that exploration of a spiritual frontier has yet to occur? Is the fear and ridicule of man such that we sing behind closed doors on Sundays and hide behind men of the cloth.

    The non spiritual is one who judges that which he does not understand.

    Ray Robinson

  7. Thanks Ray

    But there is no need to unnecessarily and ungraciously attack me here. I of course believe in angels and angelic visitations. My point was simply that we need not expect angels to show up every time we pray a prayer of repentance. That is a perfectly acceptable and true statement to make. So please show a bit more charity here, instead of needlessly going for the jugular. It is not very edifying I am afraid.

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

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