A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

The root word for repent comes from the Greek ‘metanoia’ and means ‘to change one’s mind.’ Is that what you think of when you hear the word ‘repent’? What are the first images that come to mind? Maybe jot a quick list of the thoughts that instantly bubble up. Our collective cultural response speaks to our fears and religious teachings for generations.

Ancient philosopher Socrates’ is the author behind the quote ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’. Did you know the full quote goes even further? ‘Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued… It is not living that matters but living rightly. The unexamined life is not worth living.’

Goodness is unattainable through our own works. Goodness and a good life are only synonymous with the radical transformation that happens when the Holy Spirit indwells in us and seals us for redemption.

'And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.' (Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV)

What a promise worthy of praise and all hope!

Prayer: Jesus, help me to have a radical notion of your love, leaving behind my weakness and self-reliance and trusting in you only, ever, and always completely.

Let me relinquish it completely if there is hidden sin in my mind, thoughts, and hearts.

Holy Spirit, continue your redemptive work of grace. Holy One, I worship you.

Action: Think about the word ‘metanoia,’ changing one’s mind for a few minutes while doing nothing else. What pictures and thoughts have you come up with? Share these with a friend.