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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Acknowledge that Sin is an Affront to the Holy God and Damages the Soul

Confession 2.14 | ESV

The offense which by sin I have given to the Holy God.

By breaking the law I have dishonored God, Romans 2:23(ESV) and given bitter provocation Hosea 12:14(ESV) to the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 1:4(ESV) And many a thing that I have done has displeased the Lord. 2 Samuel 11:27(ESV)

God has been broken over my whoring heart and my eyes that have gone whoring after my idols. Ezekiel 6:9(ESV)

I have put him to the test, and to the proof, and grieved him in the wilderness; Psalm 95:9-10(ESV) have rebelled, and grieved his Holy Spirit, Isaiah 63:10(ESV) and pressed him down with my iniquities, as a cart full of sheaves presses down. Amos 2:13(ESV)

I have grieved the Holy Spirit of God, by whom I was sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30(ESV)

The damage which by sin I have done to my own soul and its great interests.

For my iniquities I was sold; Isaiah 50:1(ESV) and in sinning against you, I have wronged my own soul. Proverbs 8:36(KJV)

My sins have made a separation between me and my God, Isaiah 59:2(ESV) and have kept good from me; Jeremiah 5:25(ESV) and by them, my mind and conscience have been defiled. Titus 1:15(ESV)

My own evil has chastised me, and my apostasy has reproved me; and I cannot but know and see that it is evil and bitter for me to forsake the LORD my God, and that his fear has not been in me. Jeremiah 2:19(ESV)

O what fools are they who mock at sin! Proverbs 14:9(KJV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Acknowledge the Great Evil of Sin, its Unprofitableness and Deceitfulness

Confession 2.13 | ESV

The unprofitableness of sin.

I have sinned and perverted what was right, and it did not profit me. Job 33:27(KJV)

What fruit am I getting from the things of which I am now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Romans 6:21(ESV) And what am I profited if I should gain the whole world and forfeit my own soul? Matthew 16:26(ESV)

The deceitfulness of sin.

Sin has deceived me, and through the commandment killed me; Romans 7:11(ESV) for my heart has been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, Hebrews 3:13(ESV) and I have been lured and enticed by my own desire. James 1:14(ESV)

It has promised me freedom, but has made me the slave of corruption; 2 Peter 2:19(ESV) has promised me that I shall not surely die and that I shall be like God, Genesis 3:4-5(ESV) but it has flattered me and spread a net for my feet. Proverbs 29:5(ESV)

The pride of my heart, particularly, has deceived me. Obadiah 1:3(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Acknowledge the Great Evil of Sin, its Sinfulness and Foolishness

Confession 2.12 | ESV

We must acknowledge the great evil that there is in sin, and in our sin; the malignity of its nature, and its mischievousness to us.

The sinfulness of sin.

O that sin might be shown to be sin to me and appear in its own colors; and through the commandment may I see it to be sinful beyond measure, Romans 7:13(ESV) because it is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4(ESV)

By every willful sin I have in effect said, “I do not want this man to reign over me.” Luke 19:14(ESV) And, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” Exodus 5:2(ESV) And thus have I reviled the LORD, Numbers 15:30(ESV) and cast his law behind my back. Nehemiah 9:26(ESV)

The foolishness of sin.

O God, you know my folly; the wrongs that I have done are not hidden from you. Psalm 69:5(ESV) I was foolish in being disobedient, Titus 3:3(ESV) and my desires are senseless and harmful. 1 Timothy 6:9(ESV)

Folly was bound up in my heart when I was a child; Proverbs 22:15(ESV) for though vain man would be wise, he is born like the wild donkey’s colt. Job 11:12(KJV)

My path has been one of foolish confidence, Psalm 49:13(ESV) and in many instances I have done very foolishly. 2 Samuel 24:10(ESV)

I have been brutish and ignorant, and even like a beast toward God. Psalm 73:22(ESV)

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ESV First Person Method for Prayer

Bewail your Sins of the Tongue and Spiritual Sloth

Confession 2.11 | ESV

Our tongue sins.

When words are many, transgression is not lacking; Proverbs 10:19(ESV) nor can a man full of talk be judged right. Job 11:2(ESV)

While the lips of the righteous feed many, Proverbs 10:21(ESV) my lips have poured out folly, Proverbs 15:2(ESV) and known what is perverse. Proverbs 10:32(ESV)

Much corrupt talk has come out of my mouth; that foolish talking and crude joking, which are out of place, Ephesians 5:4(ESV) and little of that which is good and to the use of building up, and which might give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29(ESV)

If people will give account for every careless word they speak, and if by my words I will be justified and by my words I will be condemned, Matthew 12:36-37(ESV) woe is me! For I am lost; for I am of unclean lips and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Isaiah 6:5(ESV)

What would become of me, if God should make my own tongue turn against me? Psalm 64:8(ESV)

Our spiritual slothfulness and decay.

I have been slothful in zeal for religion and not fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11(ESV)

The things which remain are about to die, and my works have not been found complete in the sight of God. Revelation 3:2(ESV)

I have observed the winds, and therefore have not sown; have regarded the clouds, and therefore have not reaped; Ecclesiastes 11:4(ESV) and with the sluggard have frightened myself with the fancy of a lion in the road, a lion in the streets, and have turned on my bed as a door on its hinges, Proverbs 26:13-14(ESV) still crying, “A little sleep, a little slumber.” Proverbs 6:10(ESV)

I have lost my first love, Revelation 2:4(ESV) and what then has become of the blessing I felt? Galatians 4:15(ESV)

My love has been like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Hosea 6:4(ESV)

And that which is at the bottom of all is the evil, unbelieving heart in me, which inclines me to fall away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12(ESV)