by Matt Grant

This morning, Men’s Prayer attendee Bill Wiggins lead us in devotions on the topic of repentance. See below for notes from his devotional and Shoreline campus prayer requests.

Our Purpose (Romans 15:30 paraphrased): I urge you brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayer to God the Father for the glory of the name of Jesus.

The topic: “the importance of Spirit induced conviction of sin and repentance from sin in regard to our prayer lives.”

The core of Jesus’ message:

Matthew 4:17
¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The words of the Risen Jesus:

Luke 24:45-47
⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

The words of Jesus referring the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives:

John 16:8
⁸And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

The Apostle Paul describing the nature of true vs. false repentance

2 Corinthians 7:10
¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

The words of C.H. Spurgeon from his devotional book called “Morning and Evening” in which he is meditating on 2 Corinthians 7:10

Morning, October 13 “Godly sorrow worketh repentance.” — 2 Corinthians 7:10

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature’s thorns never produced a single fig. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Savior. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of his love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally—as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it—shun it in everything—not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest

Strategic Prayers for our Campus

• Pray for our body, that we would see and savor the preciousness of Jesus and His reign as King above everything and that it would destroy idols in our lives and produce worshipful, fruitful lives that would bless our campus and our community.

• Pray that as our church sees Jesus’ as our King that our hearts would be transformed; inspiring us to hate sin through continual confession and repentance.

• Pray that those being called and drawn to Mars Hill would jump on mission to live fore Jesus as a city within the city, knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed for Jesus; by worshiping Him with their time, treasure, and talents for the glory of Jesus, as a member of the body of believers at Mars Hill.

• Pray for God to provide a permanent location for our campus.

• Pray for God to provide sufficient funds and wisdom for our staff and leaders to manage our church over the next few months.

• Pray for wisdom for our campus leaders in planning events and programming for the Summer and Fall that will lift up Jesus and work to faithfully shepherd and disciple our people to live for Jesus.

• Thank Jesus for His faithfulness, blessing, and healing (spiritual and physical) in the lives of many people at MH Shoreline.