7 Prayers to Help You Leave Your Sins at the Cross
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To leave our sins at the cross, we need to believe in and trust the finished redemptive work of Christ on the cross. We can enter the process — confess and repent — but if we don’t believe God has done the work, then we only continue to strive in our own ability (to confess and repent). Confession and repentance simply allows us to enter an already finished work. Freedom starts when we stop doing things in our own strength and trust in the power of God.
The cross completes and declares that sin is paid and forgiven, and the resurrection proves the victory over death and punishment. The payment for us was accepted by God in Christ. “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).
Nothing remains undone, and we can add nothing to it. Jesus didn’t leave any of it unfinished. We enter God’s complete work in faith and trust.
Heavenly Father,
I trust in your finished work on the cross and your victory in the resurrection. I lay down my own striving and receive your grace. Help me live in freedom and confidence in and through the love of Christ.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
God didn’t stop the work with forgiveness. The new covenant fixes the real problem, our sinful and rebellious hearts. Changing what we do requires a change in nature, from ourselves to the divine. And through the cross and resurrection, we receive a new heart and spirit.
The Father offers more than a pardon. He brings transformation. To forgive but leave our sinful hearts would be incomplete. We wouldn’t be able to live the godly life he wants for us. Through the Spirit, we are born again, giving us a new heart with new abilities through grace. God’s gift of grace helps us walk away from sin and obey the Spirit.
The Old Testament foretold this new covenant, one of promise and renewal. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). God changes us where it matters, from the inside out. Repenting unto Christ, we become truly and fully alive. Grace isn’t an excuse for sin; it empowers us to follow Christ faithfully.
Grace teaches us how to live, strengthening us when we are too weak to obey God’s leading.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for giving me a new heart through the work of Christ. Fill me with your grace and strength to follow you each moment. Help me walk in this new life by the Spirit, step by step with you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Living our new life in Christ makes us free. Being set free changes our spiritual status and position. We’ve also been made free, a change in nature from within, empowering us to live free.
Christ accomplished this on the cross, as well. At the cross, Christ confronted sin’s authority and bore the curse of sin and the law. After the Fall in the Garden, through Adam and Eve, a curse entered the world, and we were all born under this slavery to sin and death. But when we trust in Jesus, we leave behind our sins and any bondage.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Part of the lie of sin includes telling us we’re still bound to it. Bondage requires continual falsehood. Yet the truth remains that Jesus removed this slavery, replacing it with redemption and life. For those in Christ, sin and death no longer have victory or reign. They are defeated foes.
We no longer live as prisoners of our past, failures, or old nature. Christ’s victory leads us to walk in freedom. This doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted, but it does mean we are free and empowered by grace to overcome as Christ did.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for breaking the power of sin, the curse, and death. I receive your freedom, laying down every chain at the cross. Help me walk in the victory you already won.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Seeing and participating in this complete, finished work, we stand innocent and empowered as sons and daughters of God. We both surrender to the work and express our gratitude of his salvation.
Surrender releases our control, placing our faith in and on the person of God, understanding his goodness and power to do the amazing things he promised. Thankfulness doesn’t earn us anything, either, but it is the only proper response to God revealing himself and his salvation through Christ. Being ungrateful becomes a sign we don’t understand the outrageous, radical, and even scandalous love of God toward us.
When we live ungrateful, we often cling to our own ways, treating God transactionally instead of relationally. Gratitude distracts us from God’s mercy and grace to our own abilities and limited thinking.
Paul calls us to constant gratitude. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). God’s will for us exists within the person of Christ, and we surrender to Jesus to find it and live it. Realizing such radical love, we continually give thanks, in good times and bad, knowing the Father’s promises will win over all issues and temporary circumstances.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your mercy, forgiveness, and freedom through the cross and resurrection. I surrender my will and struggles to you. Help me walk with you in constant gratitude for all you’ve done and will do.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
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