Fountain of Prayers · Week 27 of 2026
A Prayer When You Keep Doing the Thing You Hate
Walking in Genuine Repentance · 2 Corinthians 7:10
Pretoria North · 29 June 2026
Pray this now
God, I am tired. I have said sorry before and still ended up back in the same place, and I do not know how to trust myself tonight. Meet me here in the middle of it. Give me honesty instead of excuses, and courage to look at whatever you show me. Let your kindness hold me steady when shame tells me to run. I want to change, and I cannot do this on my strength. Help me. Amen.
"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."
- 2 Corinthians 7:10English Standard Version.
1. Prayer Requests
If you need Healing, Provision, Peace, Wisdom, Restoration, send it to us on WhatsApp. We pray over every request on Thursday.
2. A Heart That Is Honest Before God
- God, we come without our best words, asking for honest hearts that say what is actually true.
- Lord, free us from hiding, and from the pretending we have practised until it started to feel normal.
- Father, search us where we have never let anyone look, and please do not stop at the surface.
- Jesus, give us courage to stay in the room when you show us what we would rather avoid.
- God, let our honesty move past words and change the way we live this week.
Why we pray this: God already knows. Polished language does not impress him, and there is nothing to gain by dressing things up. We pray this so we can stop performing and start telling the truth.
3. Godly Sorrow, Not Just Regret
- Father, teach us to grieve the wrong itself, not only the trouble it caused us.
- Lord, give us a real dislike of anything that grieves you, even when it looks small to us.
- God, move us past feeling bad into actually turning around and walking a different way.
- Jesus, show us the difference between guilt that crushes us and sorrow that brings us home.
- Father, keep our conscience tender, quick to hear you and slow to argue with you.
Why we pray this: There is a sorrow that only shows up once we have been found out. That kind burns itself out and leaves us the same. We ask for the other kind, the sorrow that cares about God and actually moves our feet.
4. Confessing Sin With Faith
- God, give us boldness to bring into the light what we have kept in the dark.
- Lord, we trust your promise to forgive, and we hold that promise when our feelings disagree.
- Father, lift the shame that keeps us silent, so we can speak plainly to you.
- Jesus, help us name things honestly instead of using vague words that hide the truth.
- Lord, wash us clean by your blood, and help us believe the washing held.
Why we pray this: Confession is agreeing with God about what he already sees. That takes the pressure off. We are not breaking news to him, so we can say it straight and stop bargaining.
5. Breaking Patterns of Repeated Sin
- God, give us strength to break the habit we keep returning to, however long we have carried it.
- Father, show us what sits underneath the failure we repeat, so we stop treating only the surface.
- Lord, by your Spirit give us power to say no in the moment it matters.
- God, give us people who tell us the truth and stay close when we are honest.
- Jesus, renew our thinking until the old pattern loses its grip on us.
Why we pray this: A moment of feeling sorry is easy. A changed direction is hard, and it usually needs help. That is part of why the doors in Pretoria North open on a Thursday at 19:00, so nobody has to fight the same thing alone every week.
6. Repentance in Our Relationships
- Father, give us humility to say sorry plainly to anyone we have wronged, with no excuses attached.
- Lord, give us grace to forgive where we were wounded, even while the wound is still tender.
- God, rebuild broken trust through change that other people can actually see over time.
- Jesus, restore what our wrong has damaged, in your way and in your timing.
- Father, give us a clean conscience before you and before the people who know us.
Why we pray this: When our sin has landed on someone else, God is not the only one owed a conversation. Sorting it out privately with him and leaving the person untouched leaves the job half done. We pray for the humility to finish it.
7. The Mercy and Patience of God
- God, thank you for your patience with us, which we have leaned on more than we know.
- Lord, we stand amazed that your mercy has not run dry on us yet.
- Father, we trust that you welcome the heart that turns back, however late it comes.
- Jesus, remind us there is no condemnation for those who belong to you.
- God, let your kindness keep drawing us home instead of driving us away.
Why we pray this: God's patience is love holding the door open. He waits because he wants us back, and his kindness is what pulls people home in the first place. We say thank you for that before we ask for anything else.
8. A Life Marked by Ongoing Repentance
- Father, give us a daily humility that does not wait for a crisis before it bows.
- Lord, make turning back to you a habit rather than an emergency measure.
- God, keep us sensitive to your Spirit, especially when he speaks quietly.
- Jesus, grow us up in maturity and honest self-knowledge, year after year.
- Lord, help our church walk in the light together, with nothing hidden between us.
Why we pray this: People who have walked with God a long time do not leave this behind. They go deeper into it, because they see him more clearly than they used to. Pastor Ricardo Zaal prays these lines with the room too.
Why pray this?
Does God already know what I did?
Yes, all of it, before you said a word. That means you are not risking a nasty surprise by being honest with him. Praying it out loud is for you, so the secret stops running your life. Most people find the first sentence is the hardest one.
What if I only feel bad because I got caught?
That is where a lot of people start, and God can work with it. Feeling bad about the fallout is real, but it fades once the pressure lifts. Ask him to take you further, to the place where you care about what the thing actually did. That kind of sorrow changes direction.
Can I ask God to forgive the same sin again?
Yes. There is no counter running, and no point where he says you have used up your turns. Say it specifically instead of in general terms, because vague confession is easy to hide behind. Then trust that it is dealt with, even on the nights your feelings argue.
Why do I keep going back to the same thing?
Usually because something underneath it has not been touched, like fear, loneliness or a way of coping you learned years ago. Willpower alone tends to run out. Praying for the root, and letting one or two honest people know, gives you something stronger than gritted teeth. Change is slow, and slow still counts.
Do I have to apologise to the person I hurt?
If your wrong landed on them, yes, and it matters more than a comfortable private prayer. Keep it simple. Name what you did, skip the excuses, and do not demand that they forgive you on the spot. Trust gets rebuilt by what they watch you do over the months that follow.
Is God tired of me by now?
No. His patience is not him running low and putting up with you. He keeps the door open because he wants you back, and his kindness is what draws people home. You can come back today, even if you came back last month.
Do I have to keep doing this forever?
In a sense, yes, and that is good news. Turning back to God becomes a daily habit rather than a crisis you dread. It gets lighter with practice, more like a quick, honest conversation. People who have walked with him for forty years still do it.
We pray these together every Thursday
19:00 to 20:00, Fountain of Grace International, Pretoria North. Anyone can join. Send us a WhatsApp and we will add you.
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Every Sunday at 09:00. Fountain of Grace International, 323 B Danie Theron Street, Pretoria North.
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