A prayer to
honor...
Lord, I have come to
You so often for forgiveness for my
Resentments and tempers that I fear You
don't want to hear me again. I see now that my resentment is not just a surface
problem I can control by my own will power.
I remember vividly the day when my father shouted at us children in fury simply because we were making childlike noises, and he snapped at our mother because she was there. I remember how unjust it felt and how his words burned into my spirit.
I judged him that day;
If I reacted in anger and bitterness. My condemnation dishonored him.
I vowed I would never shout at my children or snap at my wife. Now, Lord, I am confessing to you that I have done it again,
and I have seen the fear in my daughter's eyes. My wife has told me how I have hurt her, again.
I hate the damage I am doing. I see now that mere will power cannot stop this behavior. I cannot circumvent your law.
I am reaping an awful harvest from the judgment I sowed. Only You can free
me.
Forgiveness:
Lord, I choose to forgive my father for his anger and harsh words.
I choose to forgive him for hurting our mother, especially in front of her children.
And I ask You to forgive me,
Lord, for judging him, for
distancing myself from him. Forgive me for the similar ways in which I have hurt
my own children and my wife. By hurting them, I have dishonored You. I repent,
and choose to be different in Your strength.
Death to the old structures:
Lord, I ask that You break the power of this judgment against my father and lift this pattern of behavior out of my life.
Bring to death on your cross my habits
and attitudes of anger. I ask You to intervene so my family no longer reaps from
my planting.
Resurrection to new life in Jesus:
Help me to encourage and build them up, not to tear down.
Help me to mend the wounds I have caused and to identify with my family's pain so that I might know the cost of my sin.
Write it into my heart and help me to build new behavior.
Strengthen my spirit so I can
contain all of the power and character You want to pour into
me.
get free
adobe reader!
IMPORTANT: These sample prayers are not formulas; rather, they offer
ideas and direction. Be led by the Holy Spirit, and use the substance of this
prayer as a guide. Also, please acknowledge these prayers as sample narratives,
in which gender-exclusive references are used as they would be used in a real
situation. For this reason, some prayers are for a female and others for a male.
All are interchangeable. Site Last Updated Tuesday,
December 19, 2000. 13:41:17 
