Transcript – A Prayer for the Prodigals

Luke 15
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Father, we want to hear your voice today. Jesus, you are the Shepherd. Jesus, we plead your blood over every person gathered here and online, we plead your blood, Lord Jesus, over every cell in our body, every square inch of our homes. We pray that you would protect us. We hide behind you, Lord Jesus, our shield of faith. We pray that you would protect us from all the attacks of the enemy. We come in the power and authority of Jesus Christ, and we bind and rebuke every unclean spirit.

We pray in particular for our friend, our brother Osmond, who is trying to connect and has had difficulty the last two weeks. We bind and rebuke every unclean spirit that is interfering. We cancel every attack and interference of the enemy. We cast these unclean spirits into the abyss. We pray for a clean connection. We pray that we will be able to connect and fellowship online, pray for one another, encourage one another. We thank you for what you’re already doing in his heart and in all of our hearts. We avail ourselves to you. Speak, Lord Jesus. Holy Spirit, fill us so that we can hear the Shepherd’s voice. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen

Osmond joined. Praise the Lord! I’m not sure if anyone online heard that prayer, but we prayed to bind and rebuke every unclean spirit that’s interfering with internet connections and praise the Lord, God answered on the spot. Thank you, Lord.

Father, we’re so thankful that as soon as we pray, you answer immediately. Thank you for protecting us against all the attacks of the enemy. We plead your blood, Lord Jesus, over everyone who is gathered in this place and online in their homes. We plead your blood, Lord Jesus, over every square inch, every cell in our body, cover us, Lord Jesus. Cleanse us by your blood from head to toe, every part of our body, soul, spirit, mind, will, emotion. Cover and cleanse us by your blood, Lord Jesus.

We come in the power and authority of Jesus Christ, once again, we bind and rebuke every unclean spirit that is coming to bother us, torment us, distract us, interfere with us. We pray for a clean channel. We pray for a good internet connection. We pray for ears to hear. I pray for the Holy Spirit to open up eyes and ears and soften up hearts. Lord Jesus, this is your time. We pray that you would speak, you are the teacher, you’re the shepherd, we’re the sheep. We’re children of God. We want to hear your voice. Speak, Lord. We give you this time. In Jesus Name, Amen

I want to talk about repentance today. Some people when they hear that word, they feel guilty. They feel condemned, they think this is a negative word because that’s how it’s been used in churches that some of us have been a part of. But repentance should never be like that. Repentance is one of the most life-giving words in Scripture. Repentance is so positive, and let the Lord redefine what it means to repent. It is not negative, you’re not in trouble, you’re not condemned. Repentance is such an uplifting, encouraging, and edifying word.

If you read Luke 13, 14, and 15 as a whole, I think you will see that Luke 15 is a culmination. There’s so much in Luke 13 and 14 that will supplement and increase your understanding of Luke 15.

Luke 15
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

This section comes in three parts, the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, and Jesus is addressing the Pharisees and scribes, those who are criticizing Jesus for hanging out with sinners. They’re already defining themselves as those who do not need to repent. They do not see themselves as sinners because Jesus is hanging out with the ‘sinners,’ the prostitutes, tax collectors, uneducated fishermen, people without much money, and people with not much going for them in life. These are the low lives and sinners, and the Pharisees and scribes elevate themselves above them. They’re showing clearly that they don’t include themselves with the lot of sinners, which means they don’t need to repent. Only sinners know they need to repent.

Luke 15
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

If you are a shepherd and you have one lost sheep, would you leave 99 in an open country? How you read this set of parables, which is actually one parable in three parts, will drastically change your approach to the Christian life. If you think this parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son is only reserved for the nonbeliever, the seeker, or the atheist, then you will read these passages and maybe you’ll say, okay, I once was a lost sheep. I once was a lost coin. I once was a lost prodigal son. But this passage doesn’t really apply to me. It’s really for my friend that I brought to church, they need to hear this message. I’m just going to sit back and relax because this is an evangelistic message. This really isn’t for me.

And that could not be further from the truth. If you think of salvation as a moment in time, something that happened to you years ago when you first met Jesus, then you will see this as something that doesn’t apply to you right now because you’re not lost, you’re found. But if you see salvation as a process, if you see this as a daily journey, then you will see this parable is very fitting, it’s very relevant for all of us. If you’re a shepherd, you will not leave 99 in the open country. The open country is a vulnerable place. It’s a place filled with wolves, thieves, robbers, and natural elements. It is not a place for a sheep to be without a shepherd.

So we should understand that Jesus never leaves any of His sheep. He will never leave you or forsake you if you’re His sheep. He will never say you are found and so I will leave you behind because my heart is for the lost. No, His heart is for the believer. Jesus’s heart is for the believer. And so we can be lost at any time. And when Jesus comes looking for you who are lost, He’s not leaving any of His sheep behind. We should see right away we are not the 99 that is left behind. We are never left behind by our Shepherd.

At the same time, we as sheep that were once found, we can be lost again. We can become spiritually deadened again. We can be cut off from the source of life again. So this parable in three parts applies to all believers.

Luke 15
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The reason why repentance is such a life-giving word is that there is rejoicing in heaven every time you repent. Does that mean there is rejoicing in heaven only one time in your life when you first met Jesus and then for the rest of your life heaven is silent? Does that even make sense? That heaven doesn’t care about you anymore. That you’re like the 99, you’ve been left in the dust, because God’s heart is for the lost. He goes after the lost only and heaven is silent when it comes to you because you’re found? This doesn’t even make sense.

Every time we repent heaven rejoices. It is such a glorious thing. When you are compelled to repent, when you desire to repent, it is such a glorious thing. And interestingly about the 99, it says these are righteous persons who need no repentance. Does that phrase describe any believer or any one of God’s sheep, that you are a righteous person who needs no repentance? May it never be said of us that we are righteous people who need no repentance. Because we are unrighteous people. There is no one righteous.

But by the blood of Jesus, we are made righteous. We are made righteous because we confess our sins and we repent. We are made righteous through the confession, the forgiveness, the shedding of Jesus’s blood, and in the conferring of Jesus’s righteousness because we put our faith in Jesus. After we repent, we are made righteous. We are never described anywhere in scripture as a righteous person who needs no repentance. This is describing Pharisees, scribes, religious people, and hypocrites.

It’s the same with the parable of the lost coin. It says in v.10 that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And I want to say it again, it is not a one time rejoicing. Heaven is not silent for 99.999% of your life, because you were only saved once initially and for the rest of your life you’re found, Jesus is you in your back pocket, heaven is silent. No, every time we repent, all heaven rejoices.

The most famous example is the prodigal son. I want to point out the eldest son first before I talk about the prodigal son. I’m going to give you a prayer today of prodigals, which is for all believers. We’re all prodigals on any given day, on any point in our spiritual journey. Anytime we are blind to our sin, we are not confessing our sin, we’re not receiving forgiveness of our sin because we’re not confessing, we are cut off from our Heavenly Father, we’re not seeking Jesus as a person, all of these reasons, we can become lost again and dead in our sins again.

We can become just like the elder brother of the prodigal son. Notice v.28. It says the elder brother was angry and refused to go in. There is rejoicing in the Father’s house because the son has come back. There is rejoicing. When the shepherd comes home with a sheep on his shoulders, he gathers his neighbors, and it’s right that there is rejoicing in the shepherd’s home. The woman who was looking for the lost coin. What does she do? She gathers friends and neighbors and they rejoice.

The father is rejoicing because his son has come home. And while there is rejoicing in his father’s house, while there is rejoicing in heaven, this elder brother of the prodigal son can not join. He refuses to go in and he cannot rejoice. This is a Pharisee. This is a scribe. This is a religious leader. This is someone who thinks they don’t need to repent, because what they are basing their faith upon is what this eldest son describes in v.29.

Luke 15
29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

See what he is basing his religious life upon. I’ve served you many years, I’ve gone to church for many years, I’ve read my Bible for many years. They’re basing it on what they’ve done. And they say, here’s my resume, I’ve done these things for you. Only a religious person will pull out their resume and demand that God reward them for their resume. I’ve read my Bible, I joined a small group, I’ve done all these things, I’ve contacted people, I’ve received prayer, I’ve read these books, I’ve gone to these conferences. And they have a long list. I’ve led people to Christ, I’ve done ministry, I’ve attended mission trips, whatever the resume is, a religious person will bring it out and say, Lord, I demand that you reward me with a young goat.

And we will say, I never disobeyed you. First of all, this is not even possible. We disobey God all the time, but a religious leader or religious person only focuses on what they’re good at and what they’re doing. They will just ignore the many ways they disobey. They’re not even aware that they’re disobeying. They’re just living, sinning left and right, they don’t know it. They just focus on what they’re good at.

And this is a dutiful son, he’s done his chores. He hasn’t broken the rules in a grotesque, blatant way like the younger brother. He hasn’t pursued prostitutes. He hasn’t blown the father’s inheritance. He’s respectable, he’s in control, he fulfills his duties, and in his mind he deserves a reward. He thinks, I don’t need to repent. He is showing us a person who thinks he doesn’t need to repent. There are so many people in God’s church who are like this eldest son. They don’t think they need to repent. They don’t have to repent because they have a long resume of things they have done for the Lord.

And I want to focus today on the prodigal son. This is a prayer for the prodigals. It’s a prayer for all believers because on any given day, you and I can get lost. On any given day, we can be spiritually cut off from the Author of life. On any given day, we can become spiritually dead again.

Luke 15
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father.

The first step is you need to humble yourself. This person hit rock bottom and now he is humbling himself. He says, I’m not even considering that the father will accept me back as a son, I will just be an unworthy servant. He has lowered himself, he doesn’t demand, he doesn’t have any kind of expectation that the Father will just welcome him back as a son. Instead he thinks he needs to merit it and he puts himself so low. I’m just going to include myself with the fellow servants. I don’t even assume I have a place at the father’s table. I’m just going to be a doorkeeper in the house of my father. He just puts himself so low.

There’s a passage in Luke 14 about the parable of the wedding feast. I’m sure you have attended a wedding before, but I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a person who his or her mind is a VIP and they attend a wedding. And you know the first few rows are reserved for family members. I’ve seen cases where spiritual leaders will push people aside and put themselves in the front row or the second row of a wedding feast. Because in their mind they think I am VIP. I should be treated with honor.

But that goes against the parable of the wedding feast because the parable of the wedding feast is how embarrassing it is going to be when you are asked to be removed from the role of the family members, and you’re told to sit in the back. By that point, the service has started. The ceremony has started, and there’s no more room and so they have to go all the way to the back and everybody’s looking at them. It’s such a shameful thing to be walking during a live wedding ceremony, and to be asked to find another seat, and there’s no empty seats. You go to the back row, everyone’s watching you. It is so shameful.

Jesus is saying the attitude of a disciple of Jesus Christ is to take the lowest seat. You take the lowest seat. It is someone who is humble. The first step even before we pray as a prodigal is to come to your senses and humble yourself. Once you humble yourself, the first prayer out of your mouth is, Father, I surrender. Father, I humble myself.

You’re not demanding forgiveness. You’re not assuming that the Father’s going to forgive you. You come humbly. You come low with your face to the ground. This is somebody who has humbled him or herself. And you say, Father, I surrender. Father, I surrender. I don’t know if you’re going to forgive me. I don’t know if you’re going to let me back at the Father’s table, I surrender. I humble myself. That is the first prayer of a prodigal.

John 6
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.

Did you know that you cannot come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draws you? That is why we start our prayer to Heavenly Father. That is why we start with surrender. That’s why we say, Father, I surrender before you. Next prayer is, Father, draw me to Jesus. Father, draw me to Jesus. Unless the Father draws, no man, no woman can come to the feet of Jesus. You have to ask the Father to draw you to the Son. No one can come to the Father. No one can come to me, Jesus says, unless the Father draws him. And so you humble yourself before Almighty God. You surrender before Him, and you ask humbly, Father, draw me to Jesus.

Next you pray, Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin.

John 3
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

This is Nicodemus and Jesus talking. And the Father has drawn Nicodemus, otherwise Nicodemus would not even be in a conversation with Jesus. And Jesus is talking about being born again and He gives Nicodemus the truth that the Spirit needs to blow. Unless the Spirit blows, you will not see me for who I am, you just think I’m a rabbi, you just think I’m a teacher. His eyes have not been open to Jesus Christ. Although Nicodemus has been drawn, his eyes are still closed.

So first, we pray, Father, I surrender. Next we pray, Father, draw me to Jesus. Third, we pray, Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin, blow over my life, open up my eyes. Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin, show me Jesus. Next we pray, Holy Spirit, convict me of my lostness without Jesus. And this goes for any believer, a nonbeliever who’s coming to faith in Christ, a believer who’s been walking with Jesus for many decades, it’s the same prayer. Holy Spirit, convict me of my lostness without Jesus. Convict me that I’m spiritually dead without Jesus. In the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, the phrase that is repeated is, I was lost but I’m now found, I was dead but my son is alive. And so being lost equals, you’re dead.

Someone who is spiritually lost is someone who is not confessing their sins, you’re not being convicted of your sins, you’re not coming to the Heavenly Father, you haven’t surrendered your life in a while, you’re not asking for eyes to be open to see Jesus. Did you know over time, the light in you grows dim, and you become lost again? And you become cut off from the Father again and you become spiritually dead again. So, we need to ask for the Holy Spirit to convict us of how serious it is when I’m lost.

I should be daily repenting, like taking out the trash. You should be daily confessing the sins that are being piled up over the course of a day. I pray that you can pray at the beginning and the end of the day, especially at the end, you want to go through your day and ask for the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sin. The main sin is of your lostness without Jesus, of spiritual death without Jesus. How could I go through this day without Jesus? Holy Spirit will show you in what ways you went through your day without Jesus, how you never confessed your sins, or how you never connected with Jesus.

And next is you confess your sin to the Father. Before that, you’re just asking for conviction. You’re not really feeling the necessity to repent. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. The Holy Spirit will get us ready so that we do feel motivated to repent, we feel compelled to repent. We’re cut to the heart so that we naturally repent. Once the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, of your lostness without Christ, then you confess to your Heavenly Father.

And the prodigal son does this in Luke 15:18. He says, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. When you confess your sin, it is before Almighty God. When you confess your sin, you’re confessing to Father in heaven. And we have to have the right picture of this Father in heaven. He is not a father with a stick. He doesn’t have a beating room in heaven. Some think there is a cutting room, where you’re cut into pieces. And there is a severe beating room. And for the least bad in the kingdom of God, there is a light beating room. That is not our Heavenly Father. Look at Luke 15. The Father is one who sees His son from a distance and runs toward him. That is our Heavenly Father. And you confess to this Heavenly Father without any sense of dread and guilt or condemnation.

You have to know who you’re repenting before, who you’re confessing before. It is a gracious Heavenly Father who loves you. Did you know that you can actually repent even before you meet Jesus? Actually, it should happen that way. Sometimes it happens all at once. The Father draws you, the Holy Spirit blows, you see Jesus in the preaching of His Word or through a dream, a vision, it happens in an instant. The moment before you were atheist, you were a churchgoer, you were a religious person. Instantly, the Father draws you, the Holy Spirit blows, you see Jesus clearly, you hear His voice. It happens all at once.

But did you know, even before you meet Jesus, and I’m speaking to children and those who have not met Jesus yet, even before you meet Jesus you can repent to the Heavenly Father? It actually is supposed to be that way. Jesus could have come in the first century without any preparation but He decides, God decides, first I’m going to send John the Baptist. John the Baptist’s ministry is a ministry of repentance. He is preparing the way for Jesus. He is leveling mountains of pride so that Jesus can walk into your life without any obstacle. He’s filling a valley so that Jesus will not trip, and He can have easy access to your life. He is straightening crooked paths, so that Jesus has a straight shot to your life.

You can actually repent before you meet Jesus. Did you know it’s supposed to be this way? If you grew up in a believer’s home, what you’re learning before you meet Jesus is, I should be repenting everyday before Heavenly Father. And your repentance should be very specific.If you don’t believe me, I have another passage for you about the necessity of repentance prior to meeting Jesus.

Acts 3
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

Did you notice that it says first repent? First turn back to Heavenly Father, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come. Did you know that there’s rejoicing in heaven when you repent? For the believer, there is also refreshing for your soul personally. You can repent and turn back to the Heavenly Father first. This is the prodigal son just coming to his senses. He’s going in one direction, suddenly he comes to his senses. He’s not walking back to the Father’s house yet, he’s just coming to his senses. He’s repenting. This is somebody who is confessing his sins to his Heavenly Father.

He must have known the goodness of his father growing up. If he knew his father was harsh, that the father was going to lecture him, the father was going to beat him, do you think he would even entertain the possibility of returning? He knows deep down the goodness of his Heavenly Father, he knows who his father is, and so he is coming to his senses. It says, coming to himself. He snapped into reality. Finally, he sees clearly. He begins repenting and confessing to his Heavenly Father.

After you repent, after you turn back, the Father will appoint the Christ, and send Jesus to you. No man comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him. Part of the Father drawing us is that He sees your repentance, He sees your humility, He draws near. God is gracious to the humble. And he sends the Christ to you, Jesus Christ. Once you’re on your way to meet Jesus, you ask for forgiveness.

2 Chronicles 7
14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We should not assume that just because I repent, I am forgiven. You have to ask for it. You have to ask the Heavenly Father for forgiveness. And here it says you humble yourself. That is the first prayer. Father, I surrender before you. It is somebody who is humble, I surrender before you. You’re humbling yourself.

Then you pray and you seek the Father’s face. And you ask the Father, draw me to Jesus. Draw me to Jesus, I want to be saved. I want to be spiritually found. I want to be spiritually alive again. Draw me to Jesus. And this person cannot say he’s repenting and confessing his sin or coming to his senses if he kept living the way he lived. He says, no more, I will not live that way anymore. I’m not going to live that way anymore. He turns from his wicked ways. Even before he turned to the Heavenly Father and returned home, first he’s turning away from wickedness. When you repent, you have to say, Father, I’m sorry I’ve lived this way. I’m not going to live this way anymore. This is even before salvation. This is even before walking to the Father’s house. You’re just turning from your wickedness.

And if you do these things, you humble yourself, pray, seek His face, and turn from your wickedness, the Father hears from heaven, and He will forgive your sin. Ask for forgiveness. With each sin that you repented of, that you said, I’m not going to do it anymore, I turned away from it, ask for forgiveness one by one. Wait for the answer. Then you say, Jesus, find me.

Luke 15
20 So he got up and went to his father.

He rose and he came to his father. Everything that happened before, he was just coming to his senses. He was turning from wickedness. Now he’s actually going to the father’s house. And for the believer, do you know the way to the Father’s house? Do you know the way to heaven? Can you get there on your own? Do you know the address? There’s only one person who knows the address. Jesus Christ. He is the way and the truth and the life. He says, no one comes to the Father except by me. You have to meet Jesus.

It doesn’t say here, but the fact that this man is walking home, that means he’s walking with Jesus. Jesus knows the address, we don’t know the address. He knows the way, we don’t know the way. He knows where His Father’s home address is in heaven. We don’t know how to get there. Jesus is the only way. And so after we ask for forgiveness, we say, Jesus, find me. Jesus, revive me. Jesus, save me. Jesus, meet me. Jesus, lead me home.

Once you recognize your lostness, you say, Jesus, find me. I don’t know what to do with my lostness, Jesus, find me. You realize that you’re spiritually dead because you haven’t repented in a long while, you haven’t come to the Father and surrendered in a long while. You’ve just done life on your own and the sins have piled up. You’re spiritually dead again, and so things are in ruins in your life, your marriage is in ruins, your household is in ruins, everything is in ruins, your relationships are all in ruins. It’s because you’ve been cut off from the source of life. And so you ask Jesus, find me. Ask Jesus to find you. Ask Jesus to revive you. Ask Jesus to save you. And then once Jesus comes, then you ask Him to lead you home. You don’t know the way but Jesus knows the way.

To summarize, the first step is to humble yourself. Father, I surrender. Only a humble person will surrender, a proud person never surrenders. You’re so filled with your agendas, your purposes, your plans, and you want God to bless you. You never lay down your agenda. You never say, Father, what is your will? Not my will but your will be done. If you’re not humble, start there. Ask for humility. If you’re a proud person, ask for humility. Ask to be so acutely aware of how nothing can start until you’re humble. You’ll never come to faith in the Lord Jesus unless you’re humble. Father, I humble myself before you. I surrender. That is the first step.

Then you say, Father, draw me to Jesus. I don’t know where He is. I can’t demand him to come. I can’t just go somewhere assuming He’s going to meet me. There is only one person I can ask. Father, it’s you. Father, draw me. No man comes to Jesus Christ unless the Father draws him. Pray this prayer if you’re a nonbeliever. Pray this prayer for your children. Father, draw my child to Jesus Christ. They are lost without you. They are dead without you. I’m trying my best, but I know that until that moment, until you draw them, they are forever lost. Father, draw them. If you are lost today, pray this today, Father, draw me to Jesus. Father, draw me to Jesus.

Next you pray, Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin. If you’re not regularly repenting, that means you’re not regularly asking for the Holy Spirit in your life. If the Holy Spirit is in your life, He will prick you. He will pierce you. He will convict you. You can not go through a day, a week, a month, several months, a year, without repenting very specifically and with a lot of detail if the Holy Spirit is in your life. If He’s not in your life, you can go for weeks, months, years never repenting. You’re like the elder son in the father’s house, you have the rules that you’ve kept. You’re angry and you’re a rule keeper, and you are basing everything on your dutifulness.

That will not save you, brother or sister. You need to lay down your religion and say, I need to ask for the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sin. And the first conviction of sin if you’re not readily aware of how you need to repent is Holy Spirit, convict me of my lostness without Jesus. Convict me of spiritual death when I’m cut off from the Author of life, Jesus Christ. It starts with that fundamental conviction of the Holy Spirit, which is without Jesus, I am dead and lost.

Once the Holy Spirit convicts you of that, ask Him to convict you more of other sins in your life. Once you are aware and you have a list of sins, confess each sin to Heavenly Father. Say, these are wicked, Father. The way I’ve been doing life is wicked. I am turning away from them. I’m not going to live like that. I’m sorry, Lord. I’ve made a mess of my life, I’ve made a mess of my marriage, I’ve made a mess of my family, all my relationships are in ruins. I’ve made a mess. I will turn from wickedness. I’ve pursued money, I’ve made a mess of my life. I was ambitious, I’ve made a mess of my life. Confess the sin that caused you to be in the state that you’re in which is lost and dead without Jesus Christ.

After you’ve confessed your sins to the Heavenly Father, ask for forgiveness. If you humble yourself, if you pray and seek the Father’s face, if you turn from your wicked ways and say, I’m not going to do these things anymore, the Father will hear from heaven. He will forgive you of your sins. Ask Him one by one, all the sins that you listed that you confessed, ask Him. Father, forgive me for this. Father, forgive me for that. That is how we seek forgiveness for our sins.

Next you pray, Jesus, find me. If you are lost, the only prayer you should pray after you’ve gone through whatever I’ve taught you is Jesus, find me. Is there anything more urgent than to be found if you’re lost? Jesus, revive me. Is there anything more urgent prayer if you’re spiritually dead? Jesus, revive me.

Jesus, find me. Jesus, revive me. Jesus, save me. Salvation is a journey. You don’t pray this once in your life and forever you’re found and forever you’re saved. No, it’s not true. On any given day, you can be lost. On any given day, you can be spiritually dead again. But the good news is today is the day of salvation. On any given day you can be saved again. On any given day the Father can embrace you again. On any given day heaven can rejoice over you again. On any given day your soul can be refreshed again.

It is such a glorious thing to repent and to ask for forgiveness. And when you pray, Jesus, find me, revive me, save me, meet me, and you’re sufficiently meeting with Him, then you pray, Jesus, lead me home. I can’t get to the Father without you. I can’t make it to the Father’s house unless you lead me there. I’m not banking that I met you years ago, and somehow I will stumble into heaven. It doesn’t work that way. Jesus is the narrow door into the kingdom of heaven. You must enter through Him. He will lead you step by step until the final step into the heavenly door, into the kingdom of heaven.

Hold onto Jesus. Allow Him to lead you step by step until you make it to the end. This is salvation from beginning to end, final salvation. It begins once in a moment or gradually, it doesn’t matter, every day is a day of salvation until the final day when Jesus leads me home. Every time you repent, in a sense we are returning to the Father’s house. Because Jesus is leading you there, He is restoring your relationship between you and the Heavenly Father.

But all of this is a picture of what Jesus wants to do ultimately, which is to lead you home in heaven. And we do not know the address. You can fly in the space shuttle. Good luck, try to find it. You will not find it. Only Jesus can lead you to our heavenly home. Let’s pray.

I’m going to lead us in prayer, so please follow along with me.

Father, I surrender before you. I humble myself before you. I kneel before you. I lay down my stubborn will. I lay down my religion. I want to do your will, not my will. Holy Spirit, convict me of my sin. Holy Spirit, blow over my life. Father, draw me to Jesus. Unless you draw me, I cannot be found. Holy Spirit, convict me of my lostness without Jesus. Convict me that I am spiritually dead without Jesus. Father, I confess all of my sins to you. I repent, one by one. I ask for forgiveness one by one. Jesus, find me. Jesus, revive me. Jesus, save me. Jesus, meet me. Jesus, lead me home. In Jesus Name, Amen

Father, we’re so thankful to you that you teach us a simple prayer. We start with humbling ourselves before you. Forgive us for being so proud and entering your presence with such pride. Father, we humble ourselves before you. We consider ourselves an unworthy servant, we humble ourselves before you. Father, we ask you to draw us to Jesus. Draw us to Jesus. Unless you draw, we cannot meet Jesus. Father, I ask you to draw all the children here to Jesus. Every child here to Jesus. Anyone who doesn’t know you here or online, we pray that you would draw them to Jesus, Father.

Holy Spirit, convict us of our sin. Convict us of our lostness without Jesus. Convict us of our spiritual death without Jesus. Father, we confess all of our sins. We confess our religion to you. We confess our anger towards you. We lay down every agenda before you. We repent of our harshness toward our loved ones to you. We repent of our irritation before you. We repent over our moodiness before you and our loved ones.

We repent of not trusting in Jesus, although He is our Master and Lord. We say we believe in Jesus, forgive us of our small faith. Forgive us of our counterfeit faith. We say that you are Lord but we live as if we are lord. Forgive us, Lord. We confess these are wicked ways. We turn from them. We pray that you hear from heaven and heal our sins.

Jesus, we ask that you find all of us here. Jesus, we pray that you would revive all of us here. We pray that you save all of us here. We pray that you meet all of us here, not just once. Not just a handful of times but every single day. We pray that you will lead us. We don’t want to be led 99.9% of our lives and miss it at the end. No, we hang on to you. We hold on to you, Lord Jesus. We pray that you would shepherd us and lead us all the way back to our Father’s house.

We know even in this moment when we repent and we’re forgiven of our sins, that you are a Heavenly Father who runs toward us. That you call all the angelic beings and the creatures and the heavenly hosts, and everyone rejoices when we repent and when one lost son comes home. We pray that we would hear that rejoicing over us every single day when we repent. We pray that this would be something we look forward to, the rejoicing that rings in our ears of heaven. We pray that refreshing may come over our soul as a sign that indeed the heavenly rejoicing is happening over us.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for meeting us. We pray that you meet us during the partaking of your Lord’s Supper. We plead your blood over every single person, every cell in our body, soul, spirit, mind, will, and emotion. Cover and cleanse us by the blood of Jesus. We pray for every unclean spirit to be cast out. We pray for the true and pure and holy Holy Spirit to come in and fill us. We pray that you would open up eyes and ears so we can see Jesus, hear Jesus, thank Jesus, be revived by Jesus, be restored by Jesus, be redeemed by Jesus, be led by Jesus. We thank you, Lord. We pray that you would shepherd us in these closing moments. In Jesus Name, Amen