A Prayer about Fleeing from Sin and Deception in the Light of Genesis

A Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

As I read through the Bible in a year and meditate on many of the Bible passages in Genesis, I am horrified by the vast numbers of stories of sin and deception that lead to all kinds of troubles. When looking at deception alone, Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden is only the beginning. Abraham deceives many people about being married to Sarah, then Issac makes a similar deception about Rebekah. Jacob deceives his father to get Esau’s blessing. Laban deceives Jacob about who Jacob is to marry. Rachel deceives her father about some stolen gods. Joseph’s brothers deceive Jacob about Joseph’s whereabouts. Joseph deceives his brothers about his plans for Benjamin. When we expand this list to include all of the other sins and deceptions in Genesis, the list goes on and on!

The results of each of these deceptions and sins led to all kinds of misery in the lives of the people involved, their neighbors, and their descendants. As I reflect on this, my temptation is to be deprived of joy and to fall into despair. I pray that you will help me to take these lessons to heart and that you will help me to purge all sin and deception from my own life, and find joy in the ability to live in a way that is pleasing to you.

Sometimes, it may seem tempting to tell a little lie for convenience, but I know that lying for my own personal gain is wrong. Both Abraham and Issac probably thought that they were saving their own lives when they claimed that their wives were only their sisters, but the harm inflicted on Sarah, Rebekah, and the community was profound. While there are exceptional circumstances where a lie is necessary to protect others, like when Jewish people were hidden during the holocaust, these types of situations are rare and are not for our own personal gain. Please help me not to fall into the trap of putting my own interests first.

Philippians 2:3-4 tells us that we should “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Help me to believe this teaching and act on it!

Sometimes I want my family to serve me and make my life as comfortable as possible. Other times I want to say something flippant, to make a problem go away. And then there are the times when I go all in with a deception to make my life easier. This is wrong!

You are the author of everything good, beautiful, and lovely. I pray that you will help me to desire these things and to flee from all manner of sin and deception that lead to the slow death of my soul. Each day, I ask that you mold my heart to be more and more like yours and that you help me to find joy in the transformation!

In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Respond

Please pray a prayer about fleeing from sin and deception. If helpful, you can use a prayer journal template.

As you consider the theme of fleeing from sin and deception, are there any Bible verses that came to mind? If so, add a comment at the end of this post!