A YEAR OF PRAYER
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. —Psalms 51:1 - 9
A PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. —Psalms 51:10
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. —Psalms 51:11 - 12
SPIRIT DEFINED: The Greek word for the spirit, pneuma, translates roughly to breath; it is the living essence that connects the body, heart, and mind, and will return to God when a Christian dies.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise. —Psalms 51:17
A RENEWED SPIRIT OF THE FEAR AND REVERANCE OF THE LORD
FEAR OF THE LORD DEFINED:
To be in fear, as in awe of, God; to reverence Him as all powerful.
1 Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.”
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
3 So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.)
4 Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.
6 And he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.”
7 So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way. —1 Samuel 24:1 - 73 And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.
5 So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him.
6 Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”
7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him.
8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” —1 Samuel 26:3 - 91 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” —2 Samuel 11:1 - 514 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” —2 Samuel 11:14 - 15
1. The renewed spirit of fear and reverence of The Lord is wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. —Psalm 111:10
And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’ —Job 28:28
Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope? —Job 4:6
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. —Psalms 25:14
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. —Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. —Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. —Proverbs 1:7
2. The renewed spirit of fear and reverence of The Lord walks in the fullness of The Father.
In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. —Proverbs 14:26
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” —Romans 8:13 - 157 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. —Psalms 34:7 - 912 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. —Psalms 25:12 - 1317 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. —Psalms 34:17 - 18The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. —Proverbs 19:23
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble. —Proverbs 15:16
Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. —Psalms 112:1
3. The renewed spirit of fear and reverence of The Lord brings the revelation of the preciousness of grace.
Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure. —Isaiah 33:6
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. —Proverbs 8:13
11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. —Psalms 34:11 - 16He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his
ways despises Him. —Proverbs 14:21 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:1 - 420 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Romans 5:20 - 21