Prayer from Psalm 51 for Repentance and Renewal
An original prayer based on Psalm 51 to acknowledge wrongdoing, ask for forgiveness, and renew the heart.
Lord, have mercy on me in keeping with Your great mercy.
Before You nothing can hide what I am. I acknowledge before my God what weighs on my heart: the words I should not have spoken, the steps I chose outside Your way, the silence when I should have spoken. I do not ask that Your gaze pass over my fault, but that it reach me in order to restore me.
Do not hold my past against me with a severity I cannot bear, but with Your goodness. Create in me a pure heart, Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not turn me away from Your presence; sustain me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I may walk in Your truth.
Teach me to recognize what must change, give me courage to repair what I have done, and grace to live with the simplicity Your mercy offers. May my repentance remain more than words and become a heart that chooses what is good each day.
So be it. Amen.