My intent with this post is to simply provide a prayer tool that would ideally be used daily to help us avoid and/or be delivered from spiritual blindness and self righteousness. If you do not see the need for such a tool, then you may need to read my two short articles noted at the end of this page. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes and ears so we can experience on a daily basis His cleansing and purifying and protecting work for His glory and praise.
“Who can discern his errors? The implied answer is No One! Thus the prayer that follows, not meant to merely be read, but to be prayed.
Pray: Father - Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me;” Psalm 19:12,13a
“All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives.” Proverbs 16:2
Human nature is to use various faulty learned measuring sticks to make us feel good about ourselves. Only persistent prayer in dependence upon the Lord will help us overcome this.
Pray: Father please deliver and cleanse me of self righteousness and self justification. Purify my inner motives, desires, and pursuits so that they are pleasing to You.
“Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”? Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord.” Proverbs 20:9, 10
The implied answer to this rhetorical question again is No One! We all learn fairly early in life to use these “differing weights and measures” instead of actively depending upon the Holy Spirit to cleanse and purify us by the blood of Jesus.
Pray: Father, please cleanse my heart and purify me from my sin. Keep me from comparing myself to others and assessing myself by what others do or say. Help me to more quickly detect this practice and hate this practice like You do.
“Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” Proverbs 21:2
The natural reaction or response for all of us is to somehow justify ourselves. But in truth only the Lord can accurately assess the state of our hearts.
Pray: Father please cleanse me and deliver me from self righteousness, self sufficiency and self reliance. Please help me see my heart the way you do and show me what to do with what you reveal to me.
“There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness.” Proverbs 30:12
Few accurately and humbly see their filthiness. Because we tend to compare ourselves with others and can always find someone worse off than ourselves, we learn to justify and gloss over the true state of our hearts.
Pray: Father please protect me from self righteousness. Do what you have to do so that I can be pure in Your eyes. Wash me from every vestige of filthiness and help me be ever more aware of and sorry for the filthiness of my flesh.
Thank you Father for hearing my prayers. Thank you for the precious blood of Jesus. Thank you for the joy of daily cleansing and washing by His blood. Let the new man/the new creation blossom and abound in my life in Jesus’s name! Amen!