Psalm 19:14
May the speech from my mouth and the thoughts in my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Forgive us! Forgiveness is where a changed heart begins, and it is there that our speech and thoughts are changed. We all need your forgiveness; sin creeps into our hearts even as believers, and we spout off with whatever comes in there. Those words that come out of our mouths are formed by anger, resentment, jealousy, and pride we harbor in our hearts and all the other thoughts which are not pleasing to you. So we ask for forgiveness, be with us, to let go of the anger in our hearts; give us the strength and courage to forgive those around us, against whom we have been holding those selfish, sinful desires. We can only have pleasing speech and thoughts through faith.
So through faith, we repent and ask for forgiveness so that what comes from our hearts would be pleasing to you. Lord, we know we cannot do this alone; we need Jesus and come to your Son for help because Jesus suffered and died for us so that we have forgiveness for our sins. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are confident that our penalty for sin was paid in full, and he defeated death for us. So only by faith does Jesus live in us—faith which your Spirit began through your word. Lord, we ask for your forgiveness and pray that you will change our hearts so that our thoughts and words are forgiving, loving towards others, and pleasing to you.
Create new hearts in us so that we might demonstrate your loving forgiveness to others, and they will also come to know you. We pray that by knowing you, they will also receive the forgiveness of sins Jesus won for them. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
Jesus once said, “it is not what goes into a person that defiles them but what comes from the heart.” A heart is changed only by faith; knowing and trusting Jesus forgives it. So know that Jesus has forgiven you.