Sacrifices of Thanksgiving

Introduction

I want you to take your Bibles and open, if you would, to Psalm 107 … for our Thanksgiving message:

Psalm 107:21–22 “21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.”

Another translation says “let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving”, (Ps 107:21–22)

I want us to think today on the topic of “The Sacrifices of Thanksgiving.”

Read The Article:

The Dramatic Health Benefits of Gratitude

More and more researchers are finding that gratitude doesn't just make you feel like a better person, it's actually good for your health. Professor and researcher Robert A. Emmons puts it this way: "Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person's life. It can lower blood pressure, improve immune function and facilitate more efficient sleep."

One recent study from the University of California San Diego's School of Medicine found that people who were more grateful actually had better heart health, specifically less inflammation and healthier heart rhythms. They showed a better well-being, a less depressed mood, less fatigue, and they slept better. Gratitude has the opposite effect of stress.

Another study found that gratitude can boost your immune system. Stressed-out law students who characterized themselves as optimistic actually had more disease-fighting cells in their bodies. And in another study people who keep a gratitude journal have a reduced dietary fat intake—as much as 25 percent lower. Stress hormones like cortisol are 23 percent lower in grateful people. And having a daily gratitude practice could actually reduce the effects of aging to the brain.

I’m not a great student of Shakespeare, of course; I’m like the rest of us. But I’ve been exposed to Shakespeare, but here’s what Shakespeare had to say about the sin of ingratitude: Shakespeare said, “I hate ingratitude more than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness, or any cant of vice whose strong corruption inhabits our frail blood.” And then, again, he said, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” Now, that’s what Shakespeare said.

Let me tell you what another great poet Milton said. He said, “He that is ungrateful has no guilt but one, for all other crimes may pass for virtues with that man.” That is, if you are ungrateful, dear friend, everything else about you, even if it’s a crime, may seem good, if you have an ungrateful heart.

Again, I want to remind you of what our psalmist has said:

“let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with with songs of joy.”” (Psalm 107:22).

Now to whom is to psalmist speaking to? Well, let’s look at…

Psalm 107:2 “2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say this— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,”

How good God has been to us here at NU Baptist Church!

Now, TODAY, as we come to this season of thanksgiving in this harvest celebration, I want to give you five ways that you can turn your thanksgiving into “thanks-living.” Okay? Now, the Bible says here that we’re to offer “the sacrifices of thanksgiving” (Psalm 107:22), and I want to mention five sacrifices—five spiritual sacrifices—that we can make. And, we’re going to take the Word of God, and we’re going to look through the Bible. And, five times you’re going to find out how God links our relationship to Him to sacrifice.

Now, in the Old Testament, they sacrificed animals, fruit, and grain. We don’t do that in the New Testament. But, the Bible teaches that we’re to offer spiritual sacrifices.

Look with me, for example, to

1 Peter 2:3–5“now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—

5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

So, the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, tells us that we’re to offer spiritual sacrifices.

I looked through God's Word and found five spiritual sacrifices - sacrifices that you can offer all this week and for the rest of your life to the Lord: I'll call them "the sacrifices of thanksgiving."

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Write down these five sacrifices of thanksgiving and make sure you are continually offering to the Lord five of these spiritual sacrifices that we will call today 'sacrifices of thanksgiving'"

I. Present Yourself as a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Now, first of all, I want you to Present Yourself as a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving—

Romans chapter 12, verse 1:

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Now notice that in verse 1 he speaks of a living sacrifice.

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All the while, we'll be talking about this word sacrifice, right? Now, the first sacrifice we are going to offer is what we call a “living sacrifice,” which is your body.

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Now why should I do this? Well, notice what the apostle Paul says: “ I urge you, brothers, …I beseech you...”

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I beseech/urge you = “parakaleo” = GK; urge/desire ardently; beg/beg; to ask/or request earnestly; Appeal -parakaleo” to Caesar.

Brannan, R., ed. (2020). In Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Lexham Press.

It's almost like he's on his knees before you.

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And who was speaking when Paul spoke? God was speaking. Most of the time we ask God for things. But here we are seeing the Lord asking something of us. Have you ever seen this before, God is asking something to you? God desiring something ardently from you?

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That's what He's doing. He is saying, "I beseech you; I urge you." Now, if the Lord Jesus came, stood in front of you, put both hands together, looked you in the eye, and said, "I urge you, do this," would you do it? //

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This is what He is doing here: the Lord is pleading with you.

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All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching (2 Ti 3:16)

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2 Peter 1:20–21 “20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The Lord is urging you.

A. The reason for this

‌Here is the reason for that:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy” -

based on what God has done for you.

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Why should I offer my body to God?

‌A: Because He gave His body for me. He suffered, bled and died on that cross.

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And when the nails sank into his hands, his heart was saying, "I love you! I love you!"

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Those nails were my sins, and my hard heart was the hammer that drove those nails into the palms of Jesus' hands.

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He suffered, bled, and died for our sins.

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You see, Romans from chapter 1 to chapter 11 tells us about God's mercies; and then in chapter 12 the Apostle Paul says:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, - because of the goodness of God - to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

You see: "Drops of sorrow can never pay the debt of love we have as the Lord:

“Lord, I give myself, everything I have and everything I am”.

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That's the reason for that.

B. How should I do this?

‌How should I give myself to him? Well, let me suggest three ways as this is the season of Thanksgiving and you want to present a living sacrifice to the Lord.

1. You must do it voluntarily

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Well, the first thing I want to say is that you must do this voluntarily; no one can force you to do this.

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Do you see the word “offer/present” = “paristemi or paristano” = GK

‌= place beside, put at someone’s disposal - offer, place a person or something at someone’s disposal, remain close or together, be at hand, be present.

‌Be a Volunteer.

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That's the word for a man who voluntarily enlists in an army. Now, there are two ways to join the army: You can go there and introduce yourself. Or they can draft you. He is talking here about a volunteer.

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There is no one who can force you to do this. You must do this of your own free will.

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So that's the first thing. You must voluntarily say: "Here I am Lord, of my own free will, I present myself." Have you already done this? Have you ever placed yourself on the altar of the Lord?

2. You must do it completely

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Now, secondly, not only must you do this voluntarily/willingly, but you must also do it completely - offer your bodies as living sacrifices- "holy " - means "completely - totally" - you give yourself "completely."

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Have you already done this? Completely? See, a sacrifice on the altar no longer has plans of its own; a sacrifice that will be killed. We must die to the old way. My wife, my children, my house, my car, my vacations, my future, my bank account and my ambitions - all of this belongs to the Lord. Have you already done this? Did you simply say, "Here, Lord, I surrender - all that I have and am"? I give myself completely to you. I do this voluntarily.

3. You must be tied to the altar

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And, dear friend, not only voluntary and complete; but let me say something more about a sacrifice to the Lord:

‌“offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”

In the Old Testament there was animal sacrifice. The New Testament sacrifice is compared to this.

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The Old Testament animal sacrifice, after being immolated, was tied to the altar. The Bible says to tie the sacrifice to the altar. Do you know why he was tied to the altar? Because it would tend to slip.

Have you ever picked up a piece of freshly meat? it is slippery. Therefore, the priest had two hooks/forks, and these forks fastened the sacrifice to the altar.

Have you ever committed yourself to the Lord and then realized you were walking away from the altar? Have you? I have many times.

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I mean, I said to the Lord, "Lord, this is the last time I do this"; or I said, "Lord, from now on, I'm going to do this every day. God, you can count on me," and then I kind of slid off the altar.

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Have you ever slipped down the aisle? … That’s why we need to be tied to the altar if we want to be a living sacrifice.

The priest had two hooks to fasten the sacrifice to the binding. Let me mention two hooks that will keep you tied to the altar.

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Number one is devotion – your love for Jesus.

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And the second is discipline.

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These are the two hooks that will keep you at the altar: devotion and discipline.

One doesn't replace the other, but together they will keep you tied to the altar so you stay in place.

Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and say, "Lord, before I give you anything else, I give myself willingly and completely to you."

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You know, many of us (church people) don't want to be tied to the altar. I tell you, they don't want to.

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That's the reason some men don't get married: they don't want to be tied down by marriage.

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Of course - they want to be free; They want to be free without commitment.

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This is the reason why some people do not formally join a church.

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Did you know that we have people here this morning who should have already joined this church?

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Do you know why they don't join the church? They love visiting, but don't want the responsibility of church membership.

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That's the reason why some people don't want to teach. Some of you have the gift of teaching, but you say, "You know, pastor, we don't want to make a commitment to this."

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That's the reason why some people don't commit to the building campaign. They say, "Well, I just don't want to make it a commitment."

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Some get married, buy a house and make a commitment to pay the mortgage on the house, buy a car and make a commitment to pay for the car - … but they don't make commitments to give to the church. They ready to make commitments to everyone, except Jesus.

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They just don't want to commit to the most important thing in life.

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Pastor, "I will give as the Spirit moves me, but I don't want to make a commitment."

Beloved, tie yourself to the altar. Make a commitment to God, let devotion and discipline keep you tied to the altar of the Lord.

II. Offer the Sacrifice of Your Praise

The second sacrifice I want to mention—not only the sacrifice of my person, but the sacrifice of my praise.

Psalm 107:22 “22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.”

Why all of this music? Why all of these instruments? Why all these musicians? Why does this church put such an emphasis upon praise?

to “tell of his works with songs of joy.”

That’s why—because these songs are our ways of praising the Lord.

Now, let me give you the verse—Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15: the Bible says,

Hebrews 13:15“15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

First of all, we offer sacrifices of thanksgiving by offering our bodies, and now the sacrifice of praise—that is, “the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Have you ever thought of your worship as being a sacrifice? "

“Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15)

Guys, this is a wonderful sacrifice!

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I'm going to tell you something that might surprise you: God prefers your praise more than your money. Your praise is worth more to God than anything you put into the offerings this morning—that is, if it is genuine praise.

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I found a verse that proves this - Psalm 69, verses 30 and 31.

Psalm 69:30–31 “30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. 31 This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.”

Do you know how much an ox was worth at that time? It would be like if you went and said, "I'm going to give you my car; I'm going to give you my Tesla; I'm going to give you my BMW."

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An ox/bull was extremely valuable. A man who had an ox/bull was a rich man.

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But God says here that your praise, your song of thanksgiving, will please the Lord more than your material gifts.

Now, listen very carefully: your praise is worth more than your money, but your praise is not a substitute for your money, and your praise is vain and empty if you are unwilling to give your money.

But, still having given your money, your praise means more to God.

Psalm 119:108 “Accept, O Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.”

You want to offer thanks to God? Let it be a song of praise.

III. Present Your Prayer as a Thanksgiving Sacrifice

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Now, there is a third sacrifice I want to mention. - it is very similar to our praise, but not exactly the same: it is our prayer.

Our prayer - this is the third sacrifice of thanksgiving. Our person. Our praise. And now, our prayer.

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I'll give you the verse - are you ready for it?

Psalm 141:2 “ May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”‌

Here again is our key word today – “sacrifice”. In all of these scriptures we have the word sacrifice. Psalm 141:2: “2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

Your prayer should be like two things: first, like incense; and the second, like the evening sacrifice.

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Now what does this mean? What is incense? Incense is a perfume, to be released, that needs to be placed in a fire.

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It is burned and, when burned, it releases an aroma, a perfume in the form of smoke.

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Now, the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 5:8, that the “incense are the prayers of the saints.” (Revelation 5:8)

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The Psalmist is saying:‌

“May my prayer ascend like incense before you”

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Old Testament Jews worshiped in the tabernacle. As you approached the tabernacle, in the outer courtyard there was a large altar made of bronze, called the bronze altar.

There was a fire on that altar, and that fire was kindled from heaven. Now it is very important that you understand the following. Aaron, the high priest, and the others did not light the fire on the brenze altar with a match. …Of course they had no matches, but they could not light it with fire from anywhere else, lightning or anything else; the fire had to be holy fire coming from heaven on that bronze altar.

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At the entrance to the tabernacle was this altar. It was on this altar that animals were burned and consumed. This portrays Jesus dying for our sins. This fire from heaven that lit the fire on the altar represented the wrath of God, the holy wrath of God against sin.

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After passing through the altar of sacrifice, in the outer courtyard, you would then entered the tabernacle it self, in a compartment called “Holy Place” and, in it, on one side, there was a beautiful candelabra. On the other side, there was a table on which there were bread, called showbread, which the priest ate. Thus, the brazen altar represents Christ, our sacrifice. The Table with the showbread represents Christ, our sustenance, as we feed on Him. And here, the lampstand represents Christ, our vision/light. Christ, our sacrifice. Christ, our sustenance. Christ, our vision/light.

And then at the end of the Holy Place, there was another altar, which was a golden altar. This golden altar was placed right in front of a curtain, and behind this curtains was a room called “the Holy of Holies”. The golden altar was the altar of incense. When the priest came in, morning and evening, to trim the lamps, he first went to offer incense on this golden altar.

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But now, let me tell you something very important: the fire on the golden altar was lit by the fire from the bronze altar.

It's very important that you understand this - that the priest always had to make sure that the fire that was on the golden altar was the fire that was on the bronze altar, and the fire on the altar was on the bronze altar was the fire from heaven.

He would enter with this incense, which was specially prepared only for God, and burn it. Of course, if there was no fire on the altar, the incense would not ascend to God. If there were "strange fire" on the altar -what the Bible calls "strange fire" is the fire that God did not kindle; if there were "strange fire", there would be swift judgment for offering God something with "strange fire" - that is, fire that God did not kindle.

You say, "Pastor, why are you telling me all this?" Because Our goal is to enter the Holy of Holies. Now, remember, the Holy of Holies is where The Throne of God is. That's where the Shekinah glory of God is: right in the Holy of Holies; and it is in this Holy of Holies that we have communion with God. It is in this Holy of Holies that the glory of God, the Shekinah glory of God, was.

Now, if the brazen altar is Christ, our sacrifice; if that lampstand is Christ, our light/vision; and if these showbread are Christ, our sustenance, this golden altar of prayer is Christ, our supplication - this prayer that ascends to God and opens the way for us to enter the Holy of Holies with Christ, our satisfaction. Do you understand?

It was in the Holy of Holies that the Shekinah glory of God was. It is where we know the Lord, where we encounter the Lord, where the deepest longings of our hearts are met.

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But, friend, you cannot enter the Holy of Holies unless you go to the altar of incense, which is prayer.

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But wait a bit. You cannot go to the incense altar if you do not go to the bronze altar.

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Do not try to bring a prayer to the altar that is not based on the blood of Jesus Christ.

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We enter the Holy of Holies through the blood of Jesus Christ.

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And do not try to offer any prayer that does not have in it the fire of God's sacrifice and the holiness of God.

But the Bible says: Psalm 66:18 “18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;”

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Friend, you and I have no basis for approaching God except through the blood of Jesus.

And when you approach the altar of prayer with fire from heaven, and begin to pray, like a sweet perfume, that prayer reaches God.

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This is what the psalmist is asking God:

‌ Psalm 141:2: “2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

Is not it beautiful? The lifting of my hands be the sacrifice of the evening.

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- Have you offered the sacrifice of prayer and lifting your hands today?

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Listen friend, incense with "strange fire" brought judgment; incense without fire is useless. The fire portrays what Jesus did for us on the cross.

IV. Present Your Possessions as a Thanksgiving Sacrifice

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All right, let me mention the fourth sacrifice.

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The first one, what was it? Our body - this is our person; the second, our praise - the fruit of our lips; the third, our prayer; The fourth of these spiritual sacrifices is our possessions.

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Now, don't think that because something is spiritual, it has to be immaterial. We must offer our goods.

Hebrews 13:16 “ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

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Again he uses the word sacrifice. Now, remember that we are supposed to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, right?

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Now, take a look again: “do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

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‌When we take our material possessions, the things that God has given us, and we donate them to the church, to a campaign, to a need,… when we share what we have, that is a spiritual sacrifice.

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The Apostle Paul received a missionary offering from the church in Philippi, and he wrote back and said in Philippians, chapter 4, verse 18:

Philippians 4:18 “ I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”

So today, do you want to demonstrate a sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God? Show this in your offers.

‌Your contributions reveal a lot about what you really think of God. Whether you think about it or not.

You know, there are people who come to church on Sunday and give less than a tip to God. Give God the crumbs. They give God the leftovers, the leftovers.

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Do you know what many people do? They literally do the following. They do their budget/expense planning and say:

“Okay, we have so much for the house payment.

‌We have so much for utilities. We have to pay this.

‌We have so much for the car payment. We have to pay this.

‌We have so much for the fair - We have to pay for it

‌We have so much for Amazon.

‌We have to pay the credit card...

‌And this much for such and such…

‌And what was left? Do we have anything to give to God? What was left?"

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Hey guys, do you know what we should do? Before paying anyone or anything else, you must make a donation to Jesus first, then make a donation to yourself! (Rich Dead Poor Dad… savings/investment)… and then pay others.

Do you know what the Bible says?

Proverbs 3:9 “9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;”

Don't give God the leftovers. That is the Devil’s scheme! Don't see if there is anything left for God. That is the problem. The order of things needs to be correct. God doesn't want just any place in your life.

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He demands pre-eminence. You must "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops/all your income." (Proverbs 3:9)

‌I was reading in Malachi 1:8 to what the Lord said to the people at the time, and He said this:

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Malachi 1:8 “8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.”

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Do you know what they were doing? They were saying,

"Well, we have to make an offering to the Lord.

We have an old, blind calf here. Let's give this blind calf away. And we have a sick goat. This goat isn't going to live much longer anyway. Let's take give it to the priest and let the priest sacrifice it to the Lord."

Malachi says, "You are offering blind and crippled animals to God. Why don't you take it as a gift to the governor and see if he accepts it?"

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You know there are people who give God things they wouldn't give each other as Christmas or birthday gifts.

(broken furniture/appliances/ ridiculous small amount of money when they could do much, much more… )

Now, everyone, listen up. We don't donate to the church just because the church needs it. We don’t donate to a “cause” “I’m going to buy a dessert to help…”

We donate because IT IS an acceptable sacrifice and pleasing to God.

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Even if there was no need in the church, and if we took the money that is given on Sunday and burned it as an offering - it would still be a blessing to come and give!

‌That's what they did with the Old Testament sacrifices: they burned them!

They weren't donating to a need; they were giving to God. A sacrifice was placed on an altar and consumed. It served no utilitarian purpose.

They simply offered it because they wanted to offer it to a great God as a sacrifice, because of His goodness to us.

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We need to stop these nonsense conversations: "Well, I don't agree with that..." - "Neither do I: I don't think I'm going to contribute to this cause."

‌Friend, we are donating to God. We are offering to God. It is a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God, our great God, and

‌"each one should contribute as he has decided in his heart, not with sadness or out of necessity",

that is, you are not giving to a cause, you are not giving because someone forced you to do so, you are not giving out of sadness or out of necessity,

"because God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

V. Offer Your Purity as a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving.

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One last thing, and then I will finish: the last of these five sacrifices of thanksgiving is - the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, which I want to call the sacrifice of purity.

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And, in fact, all these sacrifices are based, firstly, on what He did for us; and we simply give back to Him because of what He has done for us: "We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) We give to Him because He gave to us first - "and we gave you of what was yours." (1 Chronicles 29:14) Now look at Psalm 51:17

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Psalm 51:17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

This is the last of these five sacrifices I want to suggest this Thanksgiving week.

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Have you offered the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart to God?

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Why do I call it the sacrifice of purity? Because David had sinned. And what was it that broke David's heart? His sin against God.

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See, God is good. Notice in Psalm 51, verse 1:

Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

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Do you know what led David to have a broken spirit? Do you know what it was? It was not David's sin; It was the goodness of God.

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The Bible tells us, in the book of Romans, that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and not the evil/sin of man.

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God is so good. Why rebel against this love? Why hide and run away from the one who suffered, bled and died for you?

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Sin always generates fear... the first time that the word fear appears in the Bible was when Adam sinned and he said: “I heard your footsteps in the garden and I was afraid” (Ge 3:10).

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God was calling Adam not as an investigator, detective… ADAM, ADAM! … He was seeking him in love… Adam, where are you? …

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If you are running away from God because of your sin, know that He loves you and will forgive you. Turn to the Lord…

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A "broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart God will not despise" It will not go unnoticed before God.

Turn to God, in brokenness and humility and offer Him tears of repentance - tell God what David said:

‌““Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

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Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

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Present your pure life as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Let’s stand…

Conclusion:

Heads are bowed; eyes are closed. Let me go over the five sacrifices of thanksgiving with you.

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While heads are bowed, eyes closed, repeat after me:

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"Lord, I want to offer you my body as a living sacrifice in thanksgiving. Lord, I take my hands off this body I have; I hand it over to You. I recognize that my body is like a temple of the Holy Spirit.

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Lord Jesus, I purpose in my heart to offer You the sacrifice of praise. Lord, from my heart and from my lips will come the sacrifice of praise to your name Jesus!

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And, Lord, morning and evening, the sacrifice of prayer will ascend as incense pleasing to the Lord.

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O Lord, I present to you the sacrifice of my possessions - Lord God, all I have, all my so-called "possessions" - I surrender to You. Allow me to use what I need, Lord, but it is all Yours for Your glory and praise of Your Name.

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And lastly, dear God, I want to offer you the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a contrite heart...

Say this - Lord, from this day forward, there will be no more unconfessed, unrepentant sin in my life."

‌Lord, forgive my arrogance; forgive my self-will...

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Father God, hear the prayer of your people. For we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.