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Japanese The shortest prayer of repentance in the Bible is the tax collector’s, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13), and Jesus said that man “went down to his house justified.” If you need more words than his, you will find them here: a prayer to say now, David’s Psalm 51, the old confessions of the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches, and short prayers for particular sins.
A prayer of repentance to say now
Lord God, I have sinned against you and against the people around me. I have done what I knew was wrong and left undone what I knew was right. I am sorry. I do not want to go on this way. Forgive me for the sake of Jesus Christ, who died for sinners, and give me your Holy Spirit to live differently from today. Amen.
If you pray that honestly, Scripture gives you a promise to hold on to: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Psalm 51, David’s prayer of repentance
When the prophet Nathan confronted King David over his adultery with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband, David answered, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13), and the heading of Psalm 51 sets the psalm at that very moment. The Douay-Rheims Bible numbers it Psalm 50 and gives the heading as “When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had sinned with Bethsabee.” The Orthodox know it as the 50th Psalm too, and in Hapgood’s 1906 English translation of the Russian service book it comes near the start of the Rite of Confession (p. 287). Here are its central verses as the King James Version has them:
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight …
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. …
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51:1–4, 10–12, 17
Traditional prayers of repentance
The General Confession
Anglicans say this confession together at Morning and Evening Prayer, and in it we confess the good we failed to do as well as the wrong we did: “We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done.”
Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind In Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Morning Prayer, A General Confession, p. 6
The Ash Wednesday collect
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer appoints this prayer for Ash Wednesday and for every day of Lent after it until Palm Sunday, and in it we ask God to “create and make in us new and contrite hearts.”
Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Ash Wednesday, The Collect, p. 124
The Act of Contrition
Catholics say an Act of Contrition in confession and in their daily prayers. The words below come from the 1888 Manual of Prayers, an American Catholic prayer book issued at the direction of the bishops of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, which prints it among the morning prayers and again in the rite of confession.
O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity (1888), Morning Prayers, “An Act of Contrition,” p. 54
The Prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian
Ephraim, whose name is also spelled Ephraem, was a deacon of Edessa who lived from about 306 to 373 and wrote sermons and hymns in verse, as the 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia tells us. Orthodox Christians say his prayer at services during Great Lent and bow at each part of it, and Hapgood’s service book directs that twelve lesser bows follow it, with these words at each one: “O God, cleanse thou me, a sinner.”
O Lord and Master of my life, grant not unto me a spirit of slothfulness, of discouragement, of lust of power, of vain babbling.
But vouchsafe unto thy servant the spirit of continence, of meekness, of patience, and of love.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant that I may perceive my own transgressions, and judge not my brother. For blessed art thou unto ages of ages. Amen.
Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church (1906), The First Hour, p. 41
Short prayers for particular sins and struggles
The Westminster Confession, a Reformed statement of faith from the 1640s, says a general repentance is not enough, for “it is every man’s duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins particularly.” So here are prayers for particular moments.
For a sin that keeps coming back
Lord, I have confessed this sin before, and here I am again. I am tired of it and ashamed. Show me the moments when I give in and the way out you have promised, for you “will with the temptation also make a way to escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Give me someone I can be honest with about it. Amen.
When you have hurt someone
Father, I have wronged [name], and saying sorry to you is not the whole of it. Give me the courage to go to [him or her], admit what I did without excuses, and make it right where I can. Jesus said, “first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:24). If [name] will not forgive me, keep me from resentment. Amen.
When you have taken what was not yours
Lord, I cheated, stole or lied to get ahead, and someone else paid for it. Like Zacchaeus, who said, “if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:8), show me how to pay back what I can. Amen.
When you cannot feel forgiven
God, I have confessed, and I still feel dirty. Help me believe your word over my feelings: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Take the shame I keep picking back up. Amen.
When you have fallen after a long time
Lord, I had done well for months, and now I have fallen again. Keep me from giving up. “A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16). Help me get up today, confess it, and go on. Amen.
For a heart that has gone cold
Father, my sin no longer bothers me, and that frightens me more than the sin. Soften my heart before it hardens further. Your word says “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4): let me see your goodness again. Amen.
Praying for someone else’s repentance
We pray, too, for others to turn to God: a child who has walked away, a spouse caught in sin, a friend who wants nothing to do with faith. And we pray remembering what Jesus said, that “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7).
Lord, you know [name] and what [he or she] is doing. I cannot change [his or her] heart; only you can. Bring [name] to see the truth, as the son in the parable “came to himself” in the far country (Luke 15:17), and let [him or her] come home to you. Keep me from self-righteousness while I wait. Amen.
When it is a whole church or nation we are praying for, 2 Chronicles 7:14 gives us the pattern: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
What repentance means
When Scripture speaks of repentance, it means a turning, as God says through Ezekiel: “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezekiel 18:32). Peter preached, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19), and John the Baptist told the crowds to “bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8), by which he meant a changed life.
Paul tells apart the sorrow that changes a person and the sorrow that only hurts: “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Peter wept bitterly after he denied Jesus (Luke 22:62), and after the resurrection Jesus asked him three times, “lovest thou me?” and told him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). And in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, the younger son goes over his confession on the road home, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son,” and his father runs to meet him while he is “yet a great way off” (Luke 15:18–20).
The churches put it in much the same terms. The Westminster Confession says a repentant sinner “so grieves for and hates his sins as to turn from them all unto God,” and the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines contrition as “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again” (paragraph 1451).
Do you need a priest to repent?
Catholics, the Orthodox and most Protestants each answer this differently. Catholics believe that serious sins are forgiven through the sacrament of Penance, and the Catechism calls confession to a priest “an essential part” of it (paragraph 1456). Orthodox Christians confess to God in the presence of a priest, and in Hapgood’s translation of the rite the priest tells the penitent, “Christ standeth here invisibly, and receiveth thy confession,” and calls himself “but a witness” (p. 289). Most Protestants confess directly to God. The Westminster Confession says “every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God,” and that a person who has wronged others should be willing to declare his repentance to them. And the Letter of James tells all believers, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another” (James 5:16).
If you want to begin following Christ, and not only to confess a particular sin, you may be looking for what many evangelicals call the sinner’s prayer.
Prayer for acknowledging personal sins and shortcomings
This prayer asks for the humility to own our sins and shortcomings before our merciful Father. Pride builds a wall between us and him, and we break it down when we open our hearts and humbly confess what we have done. It is in admitting our mistakes that we truly repent, and there our lives begin to change.
Dear Lord,
I come before You today with a humble heart, acknowledging my own sins and shortcomings. I fall short of Your glory every day, Lord. I acknowledge my sins against You, in thought, word, and deed, whether by negligence or ignorance, intentionally or unintentionally.
But with You, dear God, there is unfailing love and full redemption. I pray for Your mercy and grace, Lord. Teach me to have a repentant heart. Lord, help me to see my mistakes and learn from them. Strengthen me to resist temptation, and guide me to walk on the path of righteousness.
Help me to change, dear Father. Not just to say the words but to genuinely live the change that comes from You. Let my actions show my true repentance, reflecting Your love and grace.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Admitting our faults is never easy, but we cannot grow without it. This prayer is not meant to leave you in guilt or shame; it asks for humility and a desire to change, and as we keep praying in faith, we can turn away from our sins and shortcomings and walk closer with God.
Prayer for a contrite heart and genuine sorrow for wrongdoings
Here we ask God for a contrite heart, real sorrow for what we have done wrong, and the courage to repent. Repentance is more than asking to be forgiven: it changes what we do and how we think. So the prayer asks us to look honestly at our actions, admit our mistakes and long to be changed.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, I come to You with a heavy heart filled with regret for my past errors. I confess that I have sinned and strayed from Your path. Instill within me, O Lord, a humble and contrite heart. Rekindle the spirit of humility in me and guide me towards genuine repentance. Let Your divine light shine upon my shortcomings and grant me the courage to admit them.
Lord, help me feel the weight of my wrong-doings, not to overwhelm me with guilt, but to make me learn from my mistakes and grow as Your child. Transform my heart, dear Father, let me experience genuine sorrow for my sins, and may this sorrow lead to real change in my life. Teach me to live according to Your Holy Word, so that I may reflect Your love and grace in my actions. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Being sorry for our sins is how we learn from them and grow. When we pray this way, we invite God’s grace into our lives to help us amend our ways and draw closer to him.
Prayer for strength to turn away from temptation and bad habits
Temptations and bad habits can pull us away from our faith and come between us and God. When we name these weaknesses and ask God for the strength to overcome them, we are repenting and asking to be changed. In this prayer we bring him our weakness openly, confess our imperfections and ask for his help to break free of those habits.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before you today in humility, acknowledging my shortcomings and the power temptations hold over me. I confess, Lord, the sins that have taken root in my heart, sprouting into habits that displease you. Father, I admit I can’t overcome this alone, and I ask for your divine assistance.
Grant me, O Lord, the strength to resist temptations, the wisdom to discern right from wrong, and the courage to cast off the shackles of my bad habits. Fill me, Merciful Savior, with your Holy Spirit for spiritual discernment and the will to choose righteousness over worldly desires.
Embed in me a spirit of repentance, a heart of purity, and a soul that yearns for true transformation. May my journey towards change testify of Your amazing grace and unending love. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
The Christian life is a long fight against temptation and bad habits, and a prayer like this admits both how frail we are and how much we depend on God to change us. As we keep asking for his help, we grow, and little by little our bad habits give way to virtues that please him. Real repentance comes when we pray sincerely and are willing to be changed.
Prayer for guidance in making amends and seeking forgiveness
Repenting, asking forgiveness and making amends for what we have done wrong belong to the life of every Christian. When we own our failings and look for ways to put them right, we show that we are truly sorry, and that we mean to live as Christ lived. This prayer is for those hard moments, when we need to admit what we did and ask forgiveness both from God and from the people we have wronged.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You with humble hearts laden with regret for our trespasses. We have sinned, Lord, and we ask for Your divine guidance as we strive to make amends. Help us find the right words to express our apologies, grant us the strength to face those we’ve wronged, and bless us with the courage to admit our mistakes.
Impart upon us your wisdom, Lord, to understand the consequences of our actions. May Your Holy Spirit guide us in seeking forgiveness from those we’ve hurt. Just as Jesus showed us unwavering love and forgiveness, teach us to replicate His kindness in our own lives.
We pray for reconciliation and healing, knowing that forgiveness is a gift not only to the one forgiven but also to the one who forgives. Amid this process, let us not fail to learn and grow, so we might become true reflections of Your love and forgiveness.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Each time we ask forgiveness and make amends, we are reminded how easily we fail and how much greater God’s mercy is. In those hard moments this prayer asks for strength, wisdom and courage to face our mistakes. The road can be hard, but it brings us closer to living out Christ’s love and compassion, and along it we can find growth, healing and the deep peace that comes when people are reconciled.
Prayer for wisdom to recognize areas needing change in one’s life
We never stop needing to grow, learn and change, and it is not always easy to see where in our lives the change is needed. So in this prayer we ask God for the wisdom to recognize those places and set them right, so that we grow up in faith and into what he wants for us.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come before You today humbly seeking Your wisdom. I recognize that I am far from perfect, and there are areas in my life that I need to change. Lord, I ask for Your divine wisdom to discern these areas. Holy Spirit, light up the recesses of my heart and reveal to me the areas in my life that do not align with Your purpose.
Father, give me the courage to face these realities and the strength to make necessary changes. Let Your Word be my guide, shaping me into Your likeness and transforming my mind and heart. May my decisions reflect Your wisdom, leading me deeper into Your love and righteousness.
Thank You, Father, for Your patient love and kindness towards me. Help me to exhibit the same patience and kindness towards myself, recognizing that change is a process led by You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
To ask for this wisdom is to admit, humbly, that we are imperfect and need God to guide us. Praying it helps us grow and draws us closer to the Father. While we make the changes that matter, it teaches us to lean on his wisdom, patience and love, until we are grown up in faith and living as he wills.
Prayer for courage to face the consequences of past actions
Every believer needs, again and again, the courage to face the consequences of what they have done. This prayer helps us look honestly at how we behaved, confess what we did wrong and find comfort in God’s grace. Accepting our past mistakes is part of repenting, and it leads us to search our hearts and be changed.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I approach your throne of grace acknowledging my need for courage and strength. I have made missteps, Lord, and made choices that do not glorify Your name. Today, I stand in agreement with Your word, humbly asking for the courage to face the consequences of my past actions.
Lord, grant me the bravery to accept responsibility for my mistakes. May my recognition inspire a desire for true repentance in my heart. I pray for Your divine guidance as I navigate the aftermath of my past. Equip me, Lord, with the perseverance to endure possible criticism and judgment from others.
Let Your forgiveness wash over me, healing my heart and renewing my spirit. Make me a testament of Your redemptive power, showcasing the transformative strength that emerges from sincere repentance and change.
In Jesus’ Name, I pray,
Amen.
When we ask for courage to face what we have done, we show that our repentance is real and that we are willing to change. It may be hard and uncomfortable, but it brings us closer to God and helps us grow. It makes us people who answer for what we do, and people who can give hope to others still struggling to repent.
Prayer for a renewed mind and transformed character
Christians grow as God renews their minds and changes their character, and real repentance brings a change that lasts. In this prayer we admit our human failings and humbly ask God to mold us and make us more like him.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come before You with a humble heart today, earnestly seeking a transformation in my life. I confess, Lord, that my thoughts and actions often fall short of Your glory. I yearn for a renewed mind and a reformed character, one that portrays Your love, mercy, and righteousness.
Lord, cleanse my mind from negative, ungodly thoughts and replace them with thoughts of love, peace, and strength. Give me a heart that desires righteousness and a spirit that thirsts for holiness. Guide my path, Father, that I may walk in Your truth always.
God, I desire to be more like Jesus each day. Let Your word be the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path. Mold me, refine me, and transform me into the image of Your Son. I trust and believe that with Your help, I will become the person You created me to be. In Jesus’ pure and precious name, I pray, Amen.
When we pray for this, we admit our weakness and lean on God’s power to change us. It may not be easy, but with persistence, humility and his grace we will become more and more like Jesus, and his love and righteousness will show in our lives.
Prayer for humility to accept correction and learn from mistakes
It takes humility to accept correction and learn from our mistakes, and repentance asks us to keep looking honestly at ourselves. Opening our hearts to that can hurt a little, but it bears fruit, because that is how we grow and mature in faith.
Prayer:
Oh Gracious and Merciful Lord,
I come before You today yearning for Your guidance and wisdom. Grant me the humility to accept correction, to discern right from wrong, and to admit my mistakes. May my heart be receptive to critique and my spirit eager to learn.
Let not pride blind my understanding nor steer my actions away from Your path. Instead, Holy Spirit, instill in me a thirst for righteousness and a hunger for truth. Teach me to be humble in my words and deeds, so that I may reflect Your kindness and mercy.
God, mold my character, cleanse my heart. Though the process is difficult, I surrender to Your divine plan. Help me to grow through my mistakes, through my failures. For every knock and fall, may I rise stronger, wiser, and closer to You.
In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.
Asking for this humility is a step toward accepting change and growing in faith, for God uses humility to change us. May we keep to this humble road, seeking his truth and wisdom every day.
Prayer for the Holy Spirit’s help in overcoming sinful patterns
Asking the Holy Spirit to help us break our sinful patterns goes to the heart of repentance. We admit our imperfections and earnestly ask God to help us past them, and as he helps us change, our lives come closer to his will.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You are a merciful and loving God, and today I humbly approach Your throne of grace. Recognizing my sinful patterns, I pray for the Holy Spirit’s assistance in overcoming them. As Your scripture says in Ephesians 4:22-24, help me ‘to put off my old self, which belongs to my former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of my mind, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.’
Holy Spirit, guide me in understanding the root causes of my sins. Shine Your light on the dark corners of my heart, expose the habits that displease You, and give me the courage to face them. Mold me, shape me, and transform me into the image of Christ.
In my weakness, may Your strength prevail. In my failures, may Your grace abound. Help me to walk away from all that does not align with Your will. This I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
A prayer like this asks for honesty, humility and a willingness to change. When we call on the Holy Spirit to guide us, we welcome his help to become better Christians, to grow closer to God and to live more nearly as he wills.
Prayer for a deeper understanding of God’s grace and mercy
There are times when we see our shortcomings clearly and long to repent and be changed, and then we most need to understand how deep God’s grace and mercy go. This prayer asks for that understanding: how God forgives us, loves us and changes us, imperfect as we are.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you today humbled and contrite, yearning for a deeper comprehension of Your gracious mercy. You are a God who lavishes love and forgiveness upon your children, asking only for our repentance and commitment to change. Yet, the magnitude of Your mercy often eludes me.
Help me, Lord, to grasp how wide, long, high, and deep Your love is for me. Allow me to understand Your compassion not as an enabling comfort, but as an impetus for real transformation in my life. Teach me to be truly sorry for my sins and strive to avoid stumbling again.
Grace me with the wisdom to align my actions with Your will, so that every aspect of my life speaks of Your mercy. Allow me to become an embodiment of Your love. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
When we ask to understand God’s grace and mercy, we admit that we are imperfect and need him. The more we see how great his love is, the more it moves us to repent and to change for good. So we ask humbly for wisdom, we own how frail we are, and we trust his grace to change us. Even when we fail, his grace holds us, and it lifts us up again to live with love and purpose.
Prayer for perseverance in living a life that honors God
Every Christian who wants to live a life that honors God needs to keep looking into their own heart, to stay humble, and to go on repenting and changing. Change does not happen once and for all. It is by keeping on that we come to live in a way that pleases God, and so this prayer asks for perseverance.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Humbled before Your mighty presence, we confess our shortcomings and acknowledge our absolute need for You. Empower us with tireless perseverance, Lord, as we long to live lives that honor Your holy name. As we journey each day, grant us the discernment to recognize where we fall short, embracing Your grace for true repentance and change.
Lord, instill in us Your transforming love that relentlessly pursues righteousness. May we stand unwavering in the face of adversity, holding steadfast to Your word. Empower us to choose righteousness over sin and light over darkness, even when the road appears challenging.
Lend us your strength, gracious Father, to persist in this honorable pursuit. May our hearts align with Yours, our choices reflect Your teachings, and our lives radiate Your divine love and mercy. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
In this prayer we humbly ask God to help us keep going, to keep growing, repenting and changing, and we give ourselves to a life that pleases him and bears witness to his goodness and mercy.
Prayer for restoration of broken relationships due to past sins
This prayer is for relationships our past sins have broken. To repent is more than to regret what we did: it is to turn around completely, with a change of heart and mind that leads to a godly life. Where we have hurt people, that change usually takes time, and it needs mercy, grace, forgiveness and love.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before you today, humbly acknowledging my past sins that have created discord and separation in my relationships. I seek your mercy and kindness to guide me towards genuine repentance. Lord, create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me, that I may be able to restore the ties that have been broken by my past mistakes.
Father, grant me the courage to seek forgiveness from those I’ve hurt and the grace to reconcile, mending the bonds that were once strong. I know this task isn’t easy, but Your strength makes all things possible.
Lord, I ask for your divine intervention for healing these strained relationships. May your love encompass us, your grace renew us, and your forgiveness free us.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen.
Mending what our sins have broken begins with repentance, when we admit the harm we did and show that we are willing to put it right. This prayer is a step toward that repentance and change, and if we keep praying in faith, God’s healing can restore those bonds and lead us toward reconciliation and love.
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