Category: NASB First Person

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Lament your Disposition to Evil and Confess your Blind Understanding and Stubborn Will

Confession 2.3 | NASB

I must lament my present corrupt disposition to that which is evil, and my aversion to and impotency in that which is good. I must look into my own heart and confess with holy blushing:

The blindness of my understanding and its unaptness to admit the rays of the divine light.

The blindness of my understanding and its unaptness to admit the rays of the divine light.

By nature I am darkened in my understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in me, because of the hardness of my heart. Ephesians 4:18(NASB)

The things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the natural man; neither can I understand them, in and of myself, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14(NASB)

I am shrewd to do evil, but to do good I do not know. Jeremiah 4:22(NASB) I do not know nor do I understand; I walk about in darkness. Psalm 82:5(NASB)

Indeed, God speaks once, or twice, yet I do not notice it; Job 33:14(NASB) I keep on hearing, but I do not understand; Matthew 13:14(NASB) and I see men as trees, walking around. Mark 8:24(NASB)

The stubbornness of my will and its unaptness to submit to the rules of the divine law.

I have within me a mind set on the flesh, which is hostile toward God and does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. Romans 8:7(NASB)

You have written for me ten thousand precepts of Your law, yet they have been regarded by me as a strange thing; Hosea 8:12(NASB) and my corrupt heart has been sometimes ready to say, “Who is the Almighty, that I should serve Him?” Job 21:15(NASB) And that I would certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from my mouth. Jeremiah 44:17(NASB) For I have followed the impulses of my heart and the desires of my eyes, Ecclesiastes 11:9(NASB) indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Ephesians 2:3(NASB)

My neck has been an iron sinew, Isaiah 48:4(NASB) and I have made my heart like flint; I have refused to pay attention, turned a stubborn shoulder, Zechariah 7:11-12(NASB) and stopped my ears like a deaf cobra that does not hear the voice of charmers, or a skillful caster of spells. Psalm 58:4-5(NASB)

How I have hated instruction! And my heart has spurned reproof! I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to my instructors. Proverbs 5:12-13(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Confess and Bewail your Original Corruption

Confession 2.2 | NASB

I must therefore confess and bewail my original corruption in the first place: that I am the child 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 my nature.

Lord, You made men upright, but they have sought out many devices; Ecclesiastes 7:29(NASB) and being in honor, they did not understand, and therefore did not abide, but became like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:20(NASB)

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

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

The nature of man was planted a choice and noble vine, a completely faithful seed, but it has become the degenerate shoot of a foreign vine, Jeremiah 2:21(NASB) producing the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 32:32(NASB) How dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed! Lamentations 4:1(NASB)

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5(NASB) For, who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! Job 14:4(NASB) I am by nature a child of wrath, because a son of disobedience, even as the rest. Ephesians 2:2-3(NASB)

All flesh has corrupted their way; Genesis 6:12(NASB) we have all turned aside, together we have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 14:3(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

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

Confession 2.1 | NASB

I must take hold of the great encouragement God has given me to humble myself before Him with sorrow and shame, and to confess my sins.

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand! But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared; Psalm 130:3-4(NASB) with You there is lovingkindness; yes, with my God there is abundant redemption, and He will redeem Israel from all His iniquities. Psalm 130:7-8(NASB)

Your sacrifices, O God, are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise; Psalm 51:17(NASB) indeed, though You are the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is holy; Isaiah 57:15(NASB) though heaven is Your throne and the earth is Your footstool, yet to this one You will look: to him who is poor and humble, broken and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at Your word; Isaiah 66:1-2(NASB) in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15(NASB)

You have graciously assured me that those who conceal their transgressions will not prosper, yet those who confess and forsake them will find compassion. Proverbs 28:13(NASB) And when a poor penitent said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” You forgave the guilt of his sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly, in like manner, pray to You in a time when You may be found. Psalm 32:5-6(NASB)

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

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Introduction and Acknowledgement of the Need for Lowliness before God

Confession 2.0 | NASB

Of the Second Part of Prayer, which is Confession of Sin, Complaints Regarding Myself, and Humble Professions of Repentance

Having ascribed glory to God which is His due, Psalm 29:2(NASB) I must next take shame to myself, which is my due, and humble myself before Him in the sense of my own sinfulness and vileness; and herein also I must give glory to Him, Joshua 7:19(NASB) as my Judge, by whom I deserve to be condemned, and yet hope, through Christ, to be acquitted and absolved.

In this part of my work, I must acknowledge the great reason I have to lie very low before God and to be ashamed of myself when I come into His presence and to be afraid of His wrath, having made myself both odious to His holiness and obnoxious to His justice.

O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for my iniquities have risen above my head and my guilt has grown even to the heavens. Ezra 9:6(NASB)

Open shame belongs to me, because I have sinned against You. Daniel 9:8(NASB)

Behold I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I will lay my hand on my mouth, Job 40:4(NASB) and put my mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope, Lamentations 3:29(NASB) crying with the convicted leper under the law, “Unclean! Unclean!” Leviticus 13:45(NASB)

You put no trust in Your holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in Your sight; how much less one who is detestable and corrupt: man, who drinks iniquity like water! Job 15:15-16(NASB)

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

Dominion and awe belong to You who establishes peace in Your heights: There is not any number of Your troops, and upon whom does Your light not rise? How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? Job 25:2-4(NASB)

You, even You, are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry? Psalm 76:7(NASB) Even You, my God, are a consuming fire; Hebrews 12:29(NASB) and who understands the power of Your anger? Psalm 90:11(NASB)

Though I was righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; if I said, “I am guiltless,” You would declare me guilty; Job 9:20(NASB) for if You dispute with me, I could not answer You once in a thousand times. Job 9:3(NASB)

If I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted, for the one who examines me is the Lord, 1 Corinthians 4:4(NASB) who is greater than my heart and knows all things. 1 John 3:20(NASB) But I myself know that I have sinned, Father, against heaven and in Your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called Your child. Luke 15:21(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Rely on Jesus Alone for Acceptance with God

Adoration 1.20 | NASB

I must profess my entire reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for acceptance with God and come in His name.

I am not presenting my supplications before You on account of any merits of my own, Daniel 9:18(NASB) for I am before You in my guilt, Ezra 9:15(NASB) and cannot stand before You because of it; Psalm 130:3(NASB) but I make mention of Christ’s righteousness, even of His only, who is the LORD our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6(NASB) and therefore the LORD my righteousness.

I know that even spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God only through Christ Jesus, 1 Peter 2:5(NASB) nor can I hope to receive anything but what I ask of You in His name; John 16:23(NASB) and therefore, freely bestow grace on me in the Beloved, Ephesians 1:6(NASB) 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(NASB)

I come in the name of the great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who can sympathize with my weaknesses, Hebrews 4:14-15(NASB) and is therefore able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, because He always lives, making intercession. Hebrews 7:25(NASB)

Behold my shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your Anointed, Psalm 84:9(NASB) in whom You have by a voice out of the heavens declared Yourself to be well-pleased; Lord, be well-pleased with me in Him. Matthew 3:17(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

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

Adoration 1.19 | NASB

I must beg for the powerful assistance and influence of the blessed Spirit of grace in my prayers.

Lord, I do not know how to pray as I should, but let Your Spirit help my weaknesses and make intercession for me. Romans 8:26(NASB)

O pour out on me the Spirit of grace and of supplication, Zechariah 12:10(NASB) the Spirit of adoption teaching me to cry, “Abba, Father”; Romans 8:15(NASB) that I may find in my heart to pray this prayer: O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places, to God my exceeding joy. Psalm 43:3-4(NASB)

O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. Psalm 51:15(NASB)

I must make the glory of God my highest end in all my prayers.

This is what You, O LORD, have said: that by those who come near You, You will be treated as holy, and before all the people You will be honored; Leviticus 10:3(NASB) I therefore worship before You, O Lord, that I may glorify Your name; Psalm 86:9(NASB) and therefore I call on You, that You may rescue me, and I may honor You. Psalm 50:15(NASB)

For from You and through You and to You are all things. Romans 11:36(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Entreat God’s Favorable Acceptance

Adoration 1.18 | NASB

I must entreat God’s favorable acceptance of me and my poor performances.

Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” But this we say, “Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD,” and that shall fill our hearts with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. Psalm 4:6-7(NIV)

We have sought your face with all our heart, Psalm 119:58(NIV) for in this we labor, that whether at home in the body or away from it, we may please the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:9(NIV)

O LORD, hear our prayer, listen to our cry for mercy; in your faithfulness come to our relief, Psalm 143:1(NIV) and be near us whenever we pray to you; Deuteronomy 4:7(NIV) for you have not said to Jacob’s descendants, “Seek me in vain.” Isaiah 45:19(NIV)

You who hear the young ravens when they call, Psalm 147:9(NIV) do not turn a deaf ear to us, for if you remain silent, we will be like those who have gone down to the pit. Psalm 28:1(NIV)

May our prayer be set before you like incense, and the lifting up of our hands be acceptable in your sight like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Profess your Believing Hope and Confidence in God

Adoration 1.17 | NASB

I must likewise profess my believing hope and confidence in God and His all-sufficiency, in His power, providence, and promise.

In You, O God, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed; Psalm 31:1(NASB) indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed. Psalm 25:3(NASB)

My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation: Psalm 62:1-2(NASB) He only is my rock and my salvation! On Him my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God, and my hope is from Him. Psalm 62:5-7(NASB)

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

Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but I will boast in the name of the LORD, my God. Psalm 20:7(NASB) I will trust in Your lovingkindness, O God, forever and ever, and will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones. Psalm 52:8-9(NASB)

I have waited for Your word; Psalm 119:81(NASB) O remember Your word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. Psalm 119:49(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Humbly Profess the Desire of your Heart for God

Adoration 1.16 | NASB

I must humbly profess the desire of my heart towards God, as my felicity and portion and fountain of life and all good to me.

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

Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of my soul; at night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently. Isaiah 26:8-9(NASB)

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God; my soul thirsts for God, for the living God, Psalm 42:1-2(NASB) who will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and whose song will be with me in the night, my prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8(NASB)

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

O that my soul may thirst for You, and my flesh yearn for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water; that I may see You in the sanctuary, may see Your power and Your glory. Your lovingkindness is better than life; Psalm 63:1-3(NASB) my soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and then my mouth will offer praises with joyful lips. Psalm 63:5(NASB)

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Method for Prayer NASB First Person

Express your Unworthiness to Draw Near to God

Adoration 1.15 | NASB

I must express the sense I have of my own meanness and unworthiness to draw near to God and speak to Him.

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

Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my father’s house, that You have brought me this far to present myself before the Lord? 2 Samuel 7:18(NASB) That I have through Christ access in one Spirit to the Father? Ephesians 2:18(NASB) And yet, as if this had been insignificant in Your eyes, You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. 2 Samuel 7:19(NASB)

What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him, Psalm 8:4(NASB) and magnify him?

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

I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; Genesis 32:10(NASB) nor is it good to take the children’s bread and throw it to such as I am; yet the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table; Matthew 15:26-27(NASB) and You are abounding in riches for all who call upon You. Romans 10:12(NASB)