Category: ESV First Person

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Confess and Bewail your Original Corruption

Confession 2.2 | ESV

We must therefore confess and bewail our original corruption in the first place: that we are the children of apostate and rebellious parents, and the nature of man is depraved and has wretchedly degenerated from its primitive purity and rectitude, and such is our nature.

Lord, you made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes; Ecclesiastes 7:29(ESV) and being in honor, they did not understand, and therefore did not remain, but became like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:20(ESV)

Through one man sin came into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned: Romans 5:12(ESV) By that one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, including me. Romans 5:19(ESV)

I am the offspring of evildoers; Isaiah 1:4(ESV) my father was an Amorite and my mother a Hittite; Ezekiel 16:3(ESV) and I myself was called (and not miscalled) a rebel from before birth, and you knew I would deal treacherously. Isaiah 48:8(ESV)

The nature of man was planted a choice and noble vine, wholly of pure seed, but it has turned degenerate and become a wild vine, Jeremiah 2:21(ESV) producing the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 32:32(ESV) How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! Lamentations 4:1(ESV)

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5(ESV) For, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Job 14:4(ESV) I am by nature a child of wrath, because a child of disobedience, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:2-3(ESV)

All flesh has corrupted their way; Genesis 6:12(ESV) we have all turned aside; together we have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Psalm 14:3(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Take Hold of the God-Given Encouragement you Have to Confess Sin

Confession 2.1 | ESV

We must take hold of the great encouragement God has given us to humble ourselves before him with sorrow and shame, and to confess our sins.

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared; Psalm 130:3-4(ESV) with you there is steadfast love; yes, with my God there is plentiful redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Psalm 130:7-8(ESV)

Your sacrifices, O God, are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise; Psalm 51:17(ESV) indeed, though you are the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; Isaiah 57:15(ESV) though heaven is your throne and the earth your footstool, yet this is the one to whom you will look: he who is poor and humble, broken and contrite in spirit, and trembles at your word; Isaiah 66:1-2(ESV) to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15(ESV)

You have graciously assured me that those who conceal their transgressions will not prosper, yet those who confess and forsake them will obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13(ESV) And when a poor penitent said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” you forgave the iniquity of his sin; therefore, let everyone who is godly, in like manner, offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found. Psalm 32:5-6(ESV)

I know that if I say I have no sin, I deceive myself, and the truth is not in me; but you have said that if I confess my sins, you are faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Introduction and Acknowledgement of the Need for Lowliness before God

Confession 2.0 | ESV

Of the Second Part of Prayer, which is Confession of Sin, Complaints Regarding Ourselves, and Humble Professions of Repentance
Having ascribed glory to God, which is his due, Psalm 29:2(ESV) we must next take shame to ourselves, which is our due, and humble ourselves before him in the sense of our own sinfulness and vileness; and herein also we must give glory to him, Joshua 7:19(ESV) as our Judge, by whom we deserve to be condemned, and yet hope, through Christ, to be acquitted and absolved.

In this part of our work,

We must acknowledge the great reason we have to lie very low before God and to be ashamed of ourselves when we come into his presence and to be afraid of his wrath, having made ourselves both odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice.

O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for my iniquities have risen higher than my head, and my guilt has mounted up to the heavens. Ezra 9:6(ESV)

To me belongs open shame, because I have sinned against you. Daniel 9:8(ESV)

Behold I am of small account, what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth, Job 40:4(ESV) and put my mouth in the dust, for there may yet be hope, Lamentations 3:29(ESV) crying with the convicted leper under the law, “Unclean, unclean.” Leviticus 13:45(ESV)

You put no trust in your holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in your sight. How much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water! Job 15:15-16(ESV)

When my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts, I have reason to cry out, “Woe is me, for I am lost!” Isaiah 6:5(ESV)

Dominion and fear are with you; you make peace in your high heaven: Is there any number to your armies? Upon whom does your light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Job 25:2-4(ESV)

But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? Psalm 76:7(ESV) You, my God, are a consuming fire; Hebrews 12:29(ESV) and who considers the power of your anger? Psalm 90:11(ESV)

If I claimed to be in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I said, “I am blameless,” you would prove me perverse; Job 9:20(ESV) for if you contend with me, I could not answer you once in a thousand times. Job 9:3(ESV)

If I was not aware of anything against myself, yet I am not thereby acquitted, for he who judges me is the Lord, 1 Corinthians 4:4(ESV) who is greater than my heart and knows everything. 1 John 3:20(ESV) But I myself know that I have sinned, Father, against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your child. Luke 15:21(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Rely on Jesus Alone for Acceptance with God

Adoration 1.20 | ESV

We must profess our entire reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for acceptance with God and come in his name.

I do not present my plea before you because of my righteousness, Daniel 9:18(ESV) for I am before you in my guilt, Ezra 9:15(ESV) and cannot stand before you because of it; Psalm 130:3(ESV) but I make mention of Christ’s righteousness, even of his only, who is the LORD our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6(ESV) and therefore the LORD my righteousness.

I know that even spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God only through Christ Jesus, 1 Peter 2:5(ESV) nor can I hope to receive anything but what I ask of you in his name; John 16:23(ESV) and therefore, bless me in the Beloved, Ephesians 1:6(ESV) that other angel who put much incense to the prayers of the saints and offers them up on the golden altar before the throne. Revelation 8:3(ESV)

I come in the name of the great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, who is able to sympathize with my weaknesses, Hebrews 4:14-15(ESV) and is therefore able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25(ESV)

Behold, O God, my shield, and look on the face of your Anointed, Psalm 84:9(ESV) in whom you have by a voice from heaven declared yourself to be well pleased; Lord, be well pleased with me in him. Matthew 3:17(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Beg for the Spirit’s Assistance in Prayer and Aim for God’s Glory

Adoration 1.19 | ESV

We must beg for the powerful assistance and influence of the blessed Spirit of grace in our prayers.

Lord, I do not know what to pray for as I ought, but let your Spirit help me in my weakness and intercede for me. Romans 8:26(ESV)

O pour upon me a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, Zechariah 12:10(ESV) the Spirit of adoption teaching me to cry, “Abba, Father”; Romans 8:15(ESV) that I may find in my heart to pray this prayer: Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling; to God, my exceeding joy. Psalm 43:3-4(ESV)

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15(ESV)

We must make the glory of God our highest end in all our prayers.

This is what you, O LORD, have said: that you will be sanctified among those who are near you, and before all the people you will be glorified. Leviticus 10:3(ESV) I therefore worship before you, O Lord, that I may glorify your name; Psalm 86:9(ESV) and therefore I call upon you, that you may deliver me, and I may glorify you. Psalm 50:15(ESV)

For from you and through you and to you are all things. Romans 11:36(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Entreat God’s Favorable Acceptance

Adoration 1.18 | ESV

We must entreat God’s favorable acceptance of us and our poor performances.

There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?” But this I say, “O LORD, lift up the light of your face upon me, and that shall put joy in my heart, more than they have when their grain and wine abound.” Psalm 4:6-7(ESV)

I entreat your favor with all my heart, Psalm 119:58(ESV) for in this I labor, that whether I am at home or away, I may please the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:9(ESV)

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my pleas for mercy; in your faithfulness answer me, Psalm 143:1(ESV) and be near to me whenever I call upon you; Deuteronomy 4:7(ESV) for you have never said to the offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in vain.” Isaiah 45:19(ESV)

You who hear the young ravens that cry, Psalm 147:9(ESV) be not deaf to me, lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Psalm 28:1(ESV)

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands be acceptable in your sight as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Profess your Believing Hope and Confidence in God

Adoration 1.17 | ESV

We must likewise profess our believing hope and confidence in God and his all-sufficiency, in his power, providence, and promise.

In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; Psalm 31:1(ESV) indeed, let none who wait for you be put to shame. Psalm 25:3(ESV)

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation: He only is my rock and my salvation! Psalm 62:1-2(ESV) In him is my glory, my might, and my refuge; and my hope is from him. Psalm 62:5-7(ESV)

When no refuge remains to me, and no one cares for my soul, I cry to you, O LORD, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Psalm 142:4-5(ESV)

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of the LORD my God. Psalm 20:7(ESV) I will trust in your steadfast love, O God, forever and ever, and will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly. Psalm 52:8-9(ESV)

I have hoped in your word; Psalm 119:81(ESV) O remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. Psalm 119:49(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Humbly Profess the Desire of your Heart for God

Adoration 1.16 | ESV

We must humbly profess the desire of our hearts towards God, as our felicity and portion and fountain of life and all good to us.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you or in comparison with you. When my flesh and my heart fail, Lord, be the strength of my heart and my portion forever, Psalm 73:25-26(ESV) the chosen portion of my inheritance in the other world and of my cup in this; and then I will say that the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, and that I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6(ESV)

Your name and remembrance are the desire of my soul; my soul yearns for you in the night, and my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. Isaiah 26:8-9(ESV)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God; my soul thirsts for God, for the living God, Psalm 42:1-2(ESV) who commands his steadfast love by day, and at night his song is with me; a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8(ESV)

O that I may come hungering and thirsting after righteousness, Matthew 5:6(ESV) for you fill the hungry with good things, but the rich you send away empty. Luke 1:53(ESV)

O that my soul may thirst for you, and my flesh faint for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water; that I may see your power and glory, as I have looked upon you in the sanctuary. Your steadfast love is better than life; Psalm 63:1-3(ESV) my soul will be satisfied with that as with fat and rich food, and then my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. Psalm 63:5(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Express your Unworthiness to Draw Near to God

Adoration 1.15 | ESV

We must express the sense we have of our own meanness and unworthiness to draw near to God and speak to him.

But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? That God whom heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain, 2 Chronicles 6:18(ESV) with man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm? Job 25:6(ESV)

Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my father’s house that you have brought me thus far to present myself before the Lord? 2 Samuel 7:18(ESV) That I have through Christ an access in one Spirit to the Father? Ephesians 2:18(ESV) And yet, as if this had been a small thing in your sight, you have spoken concerning your servant for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 2 Samuel 7:19(ESV)

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him, Psalm 8:4(ESV) and thus magnify him?

Oh let not the Lord be angry, Genesis 18:30(ESV) if I who am but dust and ashes undertake to speak to the Lord of glory. Genesis 18:27(ESV)

I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant; Genesis 32:10(ESV) nor is it right to take the children’s bread and throw it to such as I am; yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table; Matthew 15:26-27(ESV) and you bestow your riches on all who call on you. Romans 10:12(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Acknowledge the Privilege of Drawing Near to God in Prayer

Adoration 1.14 | ESV

We must acknowledge it an unspeakable favor and an inestimable privilege that we are not only admitted, but invited and encouraged, to draw near to God in prayer.

You have commanded me to pray always, with all prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and, to that end, to keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints; Ephesians 6:18(ESV) to continue in prayer, and in everything, by prayer and supplication, to let my requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6(ESV)

You have directed me to ask and seek and knock, and have promised that I will receive, I will find, and it will be opened to me. Matthew 7:7(ESV)

You have appointed for me a great High Priest, in whose name I may draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that I may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16(ESV)

You have assured me that while the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, the prayer of the upright is acceptable; Proverbs 15:8(ESV) and that the one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies you; Psalm 50:23(ESV) and the sacrifice of thanksgiving will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Psalm 69:30-31(ESV)

You are he who hears prayer, and therefore to you shall all flesh come. Psalm 65:2(ESV)

You say, “Seek my face,” and my heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” Psalm 27:8(ESV) For, should not a person inquire of his God? Isaiah 8:19(ESV) To whom shall I go but to you? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68(ESV)