30 DAYS OF PRAYER | DAY 19 – Praying for Repentance and Rejoicing
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:1-7
Each one of us who profess faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins was once like this one lost sheep. And just as the shepherd rejoiced in finding his lost sheep, so too did God rejoice when we turned to Him as our only hope for redemption. All of heaven rejoices when we repent, when we turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin.
Prayer:
God, as we prepare to establish Redemption Church, would you make us a church where repentance is always found among us? Would you help us to remember and realize that we never outgrow our need to repent of sin?
And would You align our hearts with Yours? Would You grieve our hearts for the lost, as Yours heart is grieved for the lost? Would You burden us with conviction to act, to seek out the lost at all costs? Lord, make us a church where we are constantly rejoicing because the lost are found, because of Your faithful work in and through us, and because You are the God who seeks after the lost.
This post was written by Chris Gray, Associate Pastor at Redemption Church.
–January 12th is a very big day for Redemption Church! Thank you for praying with us! For more information about the launch of Redemption Church and how you can pray for us, please click here.