Years ago, Jerry Bridges popularized the phrase “preach the gospel to yourself” and it shaped our family of churches. This March as we focus on our shared value of gospel-centered teaching and preaching, we begin with praying the gospel to ourselves.
While prayer is in essence vertical – to God – and we obviously don’t pray to ourselves, scripture reveals that prayer can be an intentional rehearsal of truth that helps us to apprehend and interact with gospel truth in a uniquely impactful way.
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O Creator and Savior, yet again I need your grace to apprehend the gospel today. I have many needs today, but chief among them is that you’d allow this gospel to reshape my thinking, reshape my heart, and reshape my life. May the truth that Christ has lived, died, and risen again for me speak powerfully to my heart again. Give me ears to hear this gospel word, and eyes to see its powerful effects.
[Ref: Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Matthew 11:15]
O most gracious God, guard me from condemnation. May I not live among the record of wrongs I have committed. You bore my sins on the cross and carried their guilt and shame away from me. Help me live in the good of the knowledge that across every one of my transgressions is written “PAID IN FULL” by the blood of Christ.
May the gospel, O God, be a calming reassurance to this fearful heart.
[Ref: Romans 8:1, Psalm 130:3, Colossians 2:14, Isaiah 53:4-6, 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 9:26, 10:22, Colossians 2:13-14, John 19:30. ]
O most present and helping God, guard me from despair. May I not succumb to despair or hopelessness, even in the most desperate circumstances. You have died and risen that I might die to myself and rise to a living hope bound up in you. You have promised me a sure future with you, have committed that your purposes will prevail, and have said you are preparing an eternal home for me. Help me live in the good of your promises and plans for me.
May the gospel, O God, be a sure hope to this often-hopeless heart.
[Ref: Psalm 46:1, Romans 6:4-5, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 1:3, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 46:10, John 14:2-3]
O most loving God, guard me from believing I am alone or far from you. May I not believe the lie that you are distant. You traveled the infinite chasm from the divine to humanity that you might draw us near. You stooped from heaven to the cross that you might raise us up. Help me live in the good of your nearness and presence.
May the gospel, O God, be a comfort to this anxious heart.
[Ref: 1 John 4:9-10, Philippians 2:6-8, James 4:8, Ephesians 2:13, John 1:14, Phil 2, Ephesians 2:4-6]
O most holy God, guard me from careless presumption and wrongdoing. May I not turn again to the sins for which you died. May I see them in light of your holy and perfect character, see them as they truly are, and turn away. Help me live in the path of your righteousness and pursue Christ-like character.
May the gospel, O God, lay a sure path for this wandering heart.
[Ref: Isaiah 6:3, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Romans 6:1-2, 6:15, Psalm 51:4, Psalm 23:3, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18]
O most righteous God, guard me from self-righteousness. May I not, having been forgiven much, turn and refuse to forgive or be gracious to others. May I carry afresh each day the knowledge of my great debt paid on the cross and your gracious disposition to sinners like me. Help me share that gracious disposition with others, even those who wrong me.
May the gospel, O God, humble and remind this oft-forgetful heart.
[Ref: Matthew 18:21-35, Luke 7:47, Colossians 2:13-14, Luke 15, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13]
In these and a hundred other ways I need your help, O God, to apply your unchanging and transforming gospel to my turbulent heart. May the news of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection be me unto me
an anchor in the storms of life,
a sure-footed path in the confusion of life,
and a wellspring in the parched seasons of life.
Amen.
[Ref: Romans 1:16, Hebrews 6:19, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 119:105, John 4:14, 7:37-38]
About the Author
Ricky Alcantar is Editorial Director for Digital in Sovereign Grace. He has served Cross of Grace Church as lead pastor since 2010. He is also a graduate of the Sovereign Grace Pastors College.