When we find ourselves in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty all around us, Scripture is clear that the church’s primary response must be one of prayer. We firmly believe that any move of God begins with us humbly coming to Him in repentance for sin and seeking revival.

On September 27th we held a “Repentance Sunday” prayer service at Outward Church Outward elders and leaders identified several topics of repentance and led us in a time of guided prayer and scripture for each one. We are posting these prayers on our blog so that you can continue to pray through these topics of repentance on your own. We believe in the power of prayer and want to be a church devoted to prayer. Let’s seek the Lord together!

“Lord, You are good; Your steadfast love endures forever, and Your faithfulness to all generations” Psalms 100:5 

Father we thank you that your ways do not change, we thank you love us no matter what.  We thank you that you are a God  who keeps his promises and you have been faithful to us, pursuing us with your unstoppable love.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 

Lord, we acknowledge that you created sex as a good thing, a blessing to be enjoyed in the context of marriage between a man and woman.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification:  that you abstain from sexual immorality” 1 Thessalonians 4:3 

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 

Lord, we know that you tell us to not only abstain, but to flee from sexual immorality.  We know that our bodies are not our own, but they are a dwelling place for your spirit, to fill us up and to purge us of our unrighteousness.  Father we know that you sent the Son to pay for us, for our sins and that as a new creation through you we would glorify you with our bodies.

Lord, we live in a time when our culture is awash in sexual immorality.  We know that we have taken part in this with our thoughts, with the way that we dress, our entertainment, TV shows magazines, the hope of a fling, sex before marriage, pornography, advertisements, adultery, acting on same sex attraction. Lord Sexual sin is all around and we are guilty by commission and omission, choosing to indulge or chosen not to act.

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” Hebrews 12:15–17

Lord help us to learn from Esau, that we would not lose our soul to gain the world.  That we would truly repent, seeing our sin for what it is.  Break our hard hearts and help to see the death and destruction that sexual immorality causes.  Jesus, I ask your Holy Spirit to help me now remember, confess, and renounce my sexual sins.

Amen