The Christian prayer life can sometimes feel stale. It doesnโt mean your faith is weak, or that youโre doing something wrongโso donโt get hung up on it! It just happens. But if you want to connect with God and donโt know how to pray, or simply donโt feel like praying…then these everyday prayers are for you.ย
I Canโt Stop Messing Up
Weโre often comforted when we make a mistake: No worries! We all mess up. Youโll just do better next time.
People can be quick to forgive.
Excepttt, you donโt always do better next time. Or the time after that. Or the time after that. Sometimes, we find ourselves in the cycle of making the same mistakesโ promising weโre going to do better, praying for strength, yet still finding ourselves hurting the same people or ourselves the same way, over and over again.
If this sounds familiar, you arenโt alone.ย
Though we try, and often we fail, Godโs love for us can and does prevail. His forgiveness even covers all the parts of ourselves we try to will away.
And, just like he did with Peter, we have opportunity after opportunity to go before him, not for condemnation, but to proclaim our love and receive his kind forgiveness.
โAgain Jesus said, โSimon son of John, do you love me?โ
He answered, โYes, Lord, you know that I love you.โ
Jesus said, โTake care of my sheep.โ
The third time he said to him, โSimon son of John, do you love me?โ
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, โDo you love me?โ He said, โLord, you know all things; you know that I love you.โ
Jesus said, โFeed my sheepโฆโ Then he said to him, โFollow me!โโ (John 21:16-17,19b).
A Prayer for When You Keep Making the Same Mistake
Savior of the Broken, today I feel like Peterโ Iโve not denied you once, but again and again. I feel like the Samaritan Woman caught in my sin. I feel like Paul, with so much baggage in my past. Father, I continue to seek your forgiveness. Holy Spirit, I ask for the strength to overcome my struggle. Jesus, I ask to be fully transformed by your loveโ to believe in the freedom of your forgiveness. And, when I mess up again, help me not hide in shame, but give me the courage to try again. Amen.
Simple prayers like this are a great way to engage in your prayer life and connect with God today. For more everyday prayers, visit this page!
