47 CONFESS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS NOT YOURS.

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.”

     —Daniel 9:16

We have come to believe that our righteousness can make demands upon God in prayer. The more good works we do, the more we expect God to reward us. The more we give; the more we expect to get. The more we confess His ways, the more we expect to get our way.

The road into His presence has been paved by Jesus’ broken body and shed blood. Daniel confessed the sins of his people pleading for the righteousness of God to turn away wrath.

For the sake of a few righteous people in Sodom, Abraham bargained with God to spare the city. For the sake of one righteousness man, Jesus, we can trust God to save, heal and deliver.

Lord Jesus,

We come before You with guilty lives asking You to spare us not because we are righteous, but for the sake of Your righteousness. Amen.