God Loves the Prayer of Remorse

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

One ought not ever be ashamed to cry out and plea for God’s grace and mercy

Today’s devotional reading: Isaiah 63:15-64:4

One thing we know God does not like is the prideful heart. Pride is the engine of sin as it moves in a manner that does not fear the Lord. Pride is what led to the devil being cast down from heaven. This is why scripture often reminds us that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18).

The prideful heart is the heart of the foolish and the Lord has no pleasure in the fool. Therefore, one ought to heed the Lord’s rebuke against the prideful heart. God loves those who are contrite, can both acknowledge and admit their wrongs.

The prodigal (worldly) son of Jesus’ parable is a great example of who the Lord loves. The prodigal son was so prideful that he left his dad’s good home, to set out and live how he wanted to live. His sinful living led him to feel remorseful for the actions he had taken, and he decided to return home after losing everything. Rather than his dad condemning him, Jesus tells us that his dad welcomed him back home with open arms.

We should always remember that God has no desire to condemn us. None of us is perfect in our way, and the child of God ought not be ashamed to admit that. We ought to go to God as we are, just as the prodigal son did. God will lift us out of the miry clay, He will wipe away our tears, and He will set us down on dry ground and permit us to move forward.

Let none of us move in manner where we are so prideful that we can’t even acknowledge that we are imperfect and sinful in our way.