Lord of Life, Giver of breath and Judge of hearts, before whom all generations rise and fall, I have acknowledged my failings, I have confessed my sins, and I like many others say, with my lips, I am sorry. Yet I know, O God, that sorrow alone does not save, I know “Sorry” is but a word, while repentance is a surrender, a turning of will, a new direction, a complete closure of the past. It is this that I seek, and so I come — not merely remorseful, but resolved. Resolved to turn from my sinful ways with a true contrite heart.
Father, I come before the throne of mercy and grace, not excusing myself by comparison with mortals or the temper of the times, for though I may stand acquitted in human courts, I stand undone before the searching gaze of Your holiness. I am neither worthy nor justified. So, Father, like the prodigal, I arise from the far country — not because famine alone has humbled me, but because I remember the Father’s house. I arise not claiming rights, but confessing unworthiness.
Father, I cry for mercy like Jonah — not from the belly of a great fish, but from the depths of a sea of my own choosing. The waters of pride have closed over me. The currents of habit have pulled me downward. The weeds of compromise have wrapped around my soul. Lord save me and accept my repentance, so I have rise above these waters and come to the shore of life of the saved.
Today, I turn my feet from the scorched earth of self-will and set them toward the living waters of Your Kingdom. Father, by Your prevenient grace, I choose to turn to that repentance, Metanoia: that Spirit‐wrought reorientation of mind and heart that issues in a changed life. So Father, by my repentance today, let ne have a change not merely of behavior, but of mind; not merely of direction, but of allegiance; not merely of practice, but of love; and from the shadows of religion toward the light of Your countenance.
Father, I renounce the illusion created by ability and capability You have given me; and relinquish the myth that I belong to myself. Rather, I surrender all and lay down even the right to define my own life. Lord, You know repentance is costly to the truly contrite; and by nature my old self resists crucifixion. Just as my flesh negotiates survival. So again, I pray Father that You enable me to become a new creature in Christ; strengthen me, not only to feel remorse, but to endure transformation. Father, hold me steady in the turning back to the path of life and a reorientation of my whole being toward You.
Father, as You restored Peter after his denial, restore me after my betrayals; do not allow me to return to the paths that depleted my soul; rather close the doors that once enslaved me; make sin bitter to my taste; make righteousness desirable to my heart; reorder my affections; let sin cease to feel familiar to me; and let holiness be my portion.
I pray Father, let my repentance lead to conversion; let conversion lead to transformation; let transformation lead to communion. Lord the Restorer, I yearn for reconciliation not only in status but in substance — not only forgiven, but renewed; not only pardoned, but purified – so as it is written, my sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord upon me. Father, take away from me what condemns me, renew in me what was fractured, and refresh in me what was parched.
In ending my prayers this day, I turn, Lord, so I pray complete the turning in me – for without Your sustaining grace, I will drift; without Your indwelling Spirit, I will falter; and without Your abiding presence, I will wander. So Lord God, anchor my repentance in Your faithfulness; seal my turning in Your covenant love; and keep me, through Jesus Christ,
Who is the Way for the lost, the Truth for the deceived, and the Life for the dying, in Whose name I have prayer. Amen.
