More recently in my times of intercession, I have been praying Jeremiah 32:40-41 over my heart over and over again. This is Jeremiah 32:40-41
“I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
The prayer is for the release of the fear of the Lord in my heart. While we don’t primarily primarily out of fear in our relationship with God because he has shown that he is a lover and longs for a love relationship with us, there is a need for a healthy fear of the Lord because fear is good when it keep us from harm.
It is good to fear walking off a canyon because that would bring us harm, and it is good to fear the Lord in matters of sin because in participating in sin, we do us harm. And we need to constantly pray that the fear of the Lord increase in us that we might not sin against Him.
The reason why I’ve been praying this over my heart is that I’ve been honestly finding myself not feeling so convicted when I commit certain sins. I’m catching myself compromising in areas of righteousness and the conviction has been lacking.
I’ve seen this in other people and it broke my heart when I started seeing it in me: I started seeing the fear of the Lord lessen in my heart in regards to sin and righteousness.
It is that fear and those convictions which mark us as Christians. Hebrews 12 says that God disciplines those he loves. And if don’t hear and feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit when we sin, well, to be frank, we’re in deep trouble. For it is his voice of correction which demarcates us as his children, and is the gracious transformation which subsequently takes place which demonstrates his loving kindness towards us.
So God.. I pray that the fear of the Lord would continually be released in me. That I may not turn to the left or to the right from you.
