Category: NIV First Person

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

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

Confession 2.3 | NIV

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.

By nature I am darkened in my understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in me due to the hardening of my heart. Ephesians 4:18(NIV)

The things that come from the Spirit of God are foolishness to the man without the Spirit, and, if left to myself, I cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14(NIV)

I am skilled in doing evil; I know not how to do good. Jeremiah 4:22(NIV) I know nothing, I understand nothing; I walk about in darkness. Psalm 82:5(NIV)

God speaks – now one way, now another – though I may not perceive it. Job 33:14(NIV) I am ever hearing but never understanding; Matthew 13:14(NIV) and I see people, yet they look like trees walking around. Mark 8:24(NIV)

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

I have within me a sinful mind, which is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:7(NIV)

You have written for me the many things of your law, but I have regarded them as something alien; Hosea 8:12(NIV) and my corrupt heart has been sometimes ready to say, “Who is the Almighty, that I should serve him?” Job 21:15(NIV) And that I would certainly do everything I said I would. Jeremiah 44:17(NIV) For I have followed the ways of my own heart and whatever my eyes have seen. Ecclesiastes 11:9(NIV) I have followed my sinful nature’s desires and thoughts. Ephesians 2:3(NIV)

The sinews of my neck have been iron, Isaiah 48:4(NIV) and I have made my heart as hard as flint. I have refused to pay attention; stubbornly I have turned my back, Zechariah 7:11-12(NIV) and stopped up my ears like a cobra that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. Psalm 58:4-5(NIV)

How I have hated discipline! How my heart has spurned correction! I have not obeyed my teachers or listened to my instructors. Proverbs 5:12-13(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Confess and Bewail your Original Corruption

Confession 2.2 | NIV

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.

ord, you made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes; Ecclesiastes 7:29(NIV) and despite his riches, man does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. Psalm 49:20(NIV)

Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned: Romans 5:12(NIV) Through that one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, including me. Romans 5:19(NIV)

I am of a brood of evildoers; Isaiah 1:4(NIV) my father was an Amorite and my mother a Hittite, Ezekiel 16:3(NIV) and I myself was called (and not miscalled) a rebel from birth; and well do you know how treacherous I am. Isaiah 48:8(NIV)

The nature of man was planted a choice vine of sound and reliable stock, but it has become a corrupt, wild vine, Jeremiah 2:21(NIV) producing the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 32:32(NIV) How the gold has lost its luster, and the fine gold become dull! Lamentations 4:1(NIV)

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5(NIV) For, who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! Job 14:4(NIV) Like the rest, I am by nature an object of wrath, because a child of disobedience. Ephesians 2:2-3(KJV)

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

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

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

Confession 2.1 | NIV

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, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. Psalm 130:3-4(NIV) With you is unfailing love; yes, with my God is full redemption; he himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Psalm 130:7-8(NIV)

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

You have graciously assured me that he who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13(NIV) And when a poor penitent said, “I will confess my transgression to the LORD,” you forgave the guilt of his sin; therefore, let everyone who is godly, in like manner, pray to you while you may be found. Psalm 32:5-6(NIV)

I know that if I claim to be without 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 and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Introduction and Acknowledgement of the Need for Lowliness before God

Confession 2.0 | NIV

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

Having ascribed to God the glory due his name, Psalm 29:2(NIV) 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(NIV) 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 too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because my sins are higher than my head and my guilt has reached to the heavens. Ezra 9:6(NIV)

I am covered with shame because I have sinned against you. Daniel 9:8(NIV)

I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth, Job 40:4(NIV) and bury my face in the dust – there may yet be hope – Lamentations 3:29(NIV) crying out with the convicted leper under the law, “Unclean, unclean!” Leviticus 13:45(NIV)

If you place no trust in your holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in your eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water! Job 15:15-16(NIV)

When my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty, I have reason to cry, “Woe to me! I am ruined.” Isaiah 6:5(NIV)

Dominion and awe belong to you; you establish order in the heights of heaven. Your forces cannot be numbered; and upon whom does your light not rise? How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? Job 25:2-4(NIV)

You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? Psalm 76:7(NIV) You, my God, are a consuming fire; Hebrews 12:29(NIV) and who knows the power of your anger? Psalm 90:11(NIV)

Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty. Job 9:20(NIV) Though I wished to dispute with you, I could not answer you one time out of a thousand. Job 9:3(NIV)

If my conscience is clear, that does not make me innocent, for it is the Lord who judges me – 1 Corinthians 4:4(NIV) the Lord, who is greater than my heart and knows everything. 1 John 3:20(NIV) But I myself know that I have sinned, Father, against heaven and against you, and am no longer worthy to be called your child. Luke 15:21(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Rely on Jesus Alone for Acceptance with God

Adoration 1.20 | NIV

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

I do not make requests of you because I am righteous, Daniel 9:18(NIV) for I am before you in my guilt, Ezra 9:15(NIV) and cannot stand before you because of my sins; Psalm 130:3(NIV) but I make mention of Christ’s righteousness, even of his only, who is The LORD Our Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6(NIV) and therefore The LORD My Righteousness.

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

I come in the name of the great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who is able to sympathize with my weaknesses, Hebrews 4:14-15(NIV) and is therefore able to save completely all those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25(NIV)

Look upon my shield, O God: look with favor on your Anointed One, Psalm 84:9(NIV) 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(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

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

Adoration 1.19 | NIV

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

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

O pour on me a spirit of grace and supplication, Zechariah 12:10(NIV) the Spirit of sonship who teaches me to cry, “Abba, Father”; Romans 8:15(NIV) that I may find in my heart to pray this prayer: Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell; to God, my joy and my delight. Psalm 43:3-4(NIV)

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

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

This is what you, O Lord, spoke of: that among those who approach you, you will show yourself holy; in the sight of all the people you will be honored. Leviticus 10:3(NIV) I therefore worship before you, O Lord, that I may bring glory to your name; Psalm 86:9(NIV) and therefore I call on you, that you may deliver me, and I may honor you. Psalm 50:15(NIV)

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

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Entreat God’s Favorable Acceptance

Adoration 1.18 | NIV

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

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

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

O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness come to my relief, Psalm 143:1(NIV) and be near me whenever I 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 me, for if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. Psalm 28:1(NIV)

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

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Profess your Believing Hope and Confidence in God

Adoration 1.17 | NIV

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 put to shame; Psalm 31:1(NIV) indeed, no one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. Psalm 25:3(NIV)

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. Psalm 62:1-2(NIV) My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock and my refuge; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5-7(NIV)

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

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

I have put my hope in your word; Psalm 119:81(NIV) O remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. Psalm 119:49(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Humbly Profess the Desire of your Heart for God

Adoration 1.16 | NIV

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 earth has nothing I desire besides you or in comparison with you. When my flesh and my heart fail, be the strength of my heart and my portion forever, Psalm 73:25-26(NIV) the portion of my inheritance in the other world and of my cup in this; and then I will say that the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, and that I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6(NIV)

Your name and renown are the desire of my heart; my soul yearns for you in the night, and in the morning my spirit longs for you. Isaiah 26:8-9(NIV)

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

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

O that my soul may thirst for you, and my body long for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water; that I may behold your power and your glory, as I have seen you in the sanctuary. Your love is better than life; Psalm 63:1-3(NIV) my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, and then with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:5(NIV)

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Method for Prayer NIV First Person

Express your Unworthiness to Draw Near to God

Adoration 1.15 | NIV

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 really dwell on earth with men? That God whom the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain, 2 Chronicles 6:18(NIV) with man, who is but a maggot – a son of man, who is only a worm? Job 25:6(NIV)

Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far to present myself before the Lord? 2 Samuel 7:18(NIV) That I have through Christ an access to the Father by one Spirit? Ephesians 2:18(NIV) And yet, as if this were not enough in your sight, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD? 2 Samuel 7:19(NIV)

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

May the Lord not be angry, Genesis 18:30(NIV) if I, who am nothing but dust and ashes, am so bold as to speak to the Lord of glory. Genesis 18:27(NIV)

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant; Genesis 32:10(NIV) nor is it right to take the children’s bread and toss it to such as I am; but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table; Matthew 15:26-27(NIV) and you richly bless with mercy all who call on you. Romans 10:12(NIV)