How to Pray for Forgiveness and Freedom from Sin

Hey there, friends! Welcome back to Turning Heads Blog, an online blog community for Christian women to explore their faith in Christ and dive deeper into the Bible. Today, we will be digging into Psalm 51, learning lessons from David’s prayer to God, asking for forgiveness and freedom from sin.

To give context, David had composed the psalm after the prophet Nathan had come to him about his adultery with Bathsheba. It can be seen in the footnotes that he sent this psalm to the director of music - not only did David confess his sins to God, but he made his confessions public.

Finding the strength inside of you to come clean about your sin - not only to the Lord, but also to your loved ones being affected - can be so powerful. Keeping this in mind, take a look at the steps on how to pray for forgiveness and freedom from sin:

1. Pray that God will cleanse you of your sins.

”Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” - Psalm 51:1-2

2. Pray that God will purify your heart.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.” - Psalm 51:10-11

3. Pray that God will restore to you the joy of salvation.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” - Psalm 51:12

Shame is not yours anymore - you are pure, standing in the love of the Lord who knows you and loves you. You are free, for the God who molded You with His own two hands, died on the cross to show you His mercy and to grant you freedom from sin. Thank you, my Jesus!

This prayer is not my own, but instead found from Victory House’s ”Bible Prayers for All Your Needs”. I have found that this is a great resource for any situation, and even just reading their prayers silently helps my soul to simultaneously feel so calm and so lifted.

Freedom from Addictions: (pg. 190)

Heavenly Father, I battle the addiction to sin in my life. I believe You are more powerful than sin, and I believe you are able to deliver me.

You have revealed Your truth to me through Your word, and I believe Your promise which tells me that I shall know the truth, and the truth will make me free. I also believe that when Jesus Christ set me free I shall be free indeed. Therefore, I seek your deliverance, and I express faith to You that You will bring it to pass in my life now, as I pray.

Father, I realize my addiction is a sin, and I confess it to You now. Thank you for your promise that assures me that when I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive me of my sins, and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I receive your forgiveness and cleansing now as I repent of my sins. Lord God, I will stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set me free, and I will never again be entangled with the yoke of bondage that addiction brings.

I praise you, Father, that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. I surrender my life to You entirely, because You have freed me from my sin. From now on, I will be Your servant, O God, and I will enjoy your fruit in my life unto holiness, and I know I have already received everlasting life. Thank you, Father.

Thank you for giving me continuing power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. I now know that nothing shall by any means hurt me. I also know that no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper, because this is my heritage as Your servant. Thank you, Father, for complete and total deliverance and freedom from the addiction that used to come between me and You. In Jesus’ name, amen.