Mercy Road Daily Prayer & Bible Reading ~ Monday, January 9, 2012

~ Read Genesis 11: Text, Audio

Gracious God,

Forgive my arrogance and conceit. Pardon my pretension, and pride. Do not hold my selfishness against me, nor condemn me for my boastfulness, but hear my prayer for mercy, and accept my sorrow for sin; for I know that I am broken, and I see my imperfections for what they truly are.

Though I try to explain them away as inconsequential, or even blame them on things that others have done to me over the years, the fact is, my sin, is MY sin. It is something that I choose. Something that I must own for myself. It isn’t easy, mind you, but I must confess that everything I do, which is contrary to your will, is simply a feeble attempt to usurp you. Every self-promoting action I take, word I speak, or thought I have, reveals my secret desire to be my own god. Though it sounds foolish when I say it out loud, I admit that it’s true because I know I will not experience your forgiveness and healing until I accept it for what it is. My sin is arrogance. It is shameless arrogance and foolish pride.

Whether it’s the self-righteous indignation I feel when others dare question or challenge me, or the superiority and contempt I feel towards those who are who are emotionally, morally, and spiritually “weaker.” Whether it’s the way, I fail to seek your guidance for things I know you wouldn’t want me to do, or the way I neglect my relationship with you when life gets too busy and other, more interesting opportunities come along. Whatever the case, I recognize it for what it is.

No matter how I try to spin it Lord, I cannot justify my sin any longer if I hope to grow in your grace. When I ignore your will for my life and choose to follow my own desires, it is pride. It is arrogance. It is idolatry, in that I am replacing you, with myself. It is, in a sense, my attempt to build a great city for myself, complete with a tower that reaches to the heaves, so I can climb up it, and sit above you. Though I’ve never considered it before, in reality, all my desires for wealth, popularity, beauty, knowledge, power, and so on, while not evil pursuits in and of themselves, are ultimately nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to replace you with something, I can control, so I can be my own lord, god, savior, and king.

Forgive me Lord, for my vanity, foolishness, and pride. Forgive me for the things I’ve done that I shouldn’t have done, as well as the things I failed to do. Forgive me for my greed, envy, jealousy, and manipulations. Forgive me for my unfaithfulness, idolatry, unbelief, and doubt. Forgive me when the words that I speak fail to honor and glorify you. Forgive me when my thoughts are filled with self. Forgive me, loving God, by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ, just as you’ve promised to do, for all my sin, both conscious and unconscious, past, present, and future, so I can be reconciled to you and all your people.

In Jesus’ holy name, I pray, Amen