Prayers to Forgive Others and to Reject/Renounce Lies and Announce Truth

Activities, Archdio of St. Paul Minneapolis

Prayers to Forgive Others and to Reject/Renounce Lies and Announce Truth
Fr. Steven Hoffman, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Prayer to Forgive Others

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”
St. Paul: “Owe no one anything, but the debt of love.”

“Lord you have made me to know love, to only know love. This is the debt that I owe to everyone you have put on my path—to love them. And this is the debt they also owe to me, to love me. But I realize now Lord, that because of my brokenness and my own sin, that I have not always been able to pay this debt of love, and have therefore hurt other people. Knowing that I have done this myself, I now understand better why some of the people in my life, who, like me, are also broken and sinful, have not always been able to pay this debt of love to me, and have therefore hurt me—sometimes very deeply. As you, Lord, have forgiven me, I now in your name Jesus, and by your grace, forgive them. Please heal me of the wounds of those who have failed to love me, and I pray that you would heal the wounds of those I have failed to love. Amen”

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Prayers to Reject/Renounce Lies and Announce Truth

Dr. Bob Schuchts – 7 key wounds: Rejection, Abandonment, Fear, Shame, Powerlessness, Hopelessness and Confusion.

And there are usually lies connected to these wounds where we have been deceived by the Evil one, and they contribute to the pain, bondage and lack of freedom.

Rejection and renouncing of lies— these lies can take many forms, depending on the way they were communicated to us and how we heard them and interiorized them. Some of the more common lies are:

I am unworthy of love because of what I’ve done / what happened to me.
• The Truth: We have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus and are made worthy by His death on the cross.
• “And seeing the crowd, Jesus was moved with compassion for them.” Mt 9:36

God could never love me.
• The Truth: “I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine.” Jer 31:3
• “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” Jn 3:16

I have to earn God’s love.
• The Truth: “It is a free gift that you are saved, by faith— not of yourself, it is a gift of God.” Eph 2:8
• “God showed his love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rm 5:8

God does not keep His promises; you can’t trust God.
• The Truth: “The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises; He is faithful in all He does.”
Ps 145:13

If they knew the real me, no one would like me.

I will never amount to anything, it’s hopeless. I can never change. I’m never going to get any better.
• The Truth: “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, not to harm you, but to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11

What I want doesn’t matter.

I don’t matter. No one needs me. I am unimportant.
• The Truth: “Thus says the Lord, I have called you by name and you are mine. You are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:1,4

I am a mistake. I am worthless. I am a failure, a loser. I am no good. I am nothing.
• The Truth: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart for my holy purpose.” Jer 1:5
• “I will never forget you, I have carved you on the palm of my hand, you are precious to me, you are mine.” Isaiah 49:15-16

I am stupid. I am bad. I am dirty.
• The Truth: “You are my beloved son / daughter” Mt 3:17

I have to be perfect. God can only love me if I’m perfect.
• The Truth: “I have come to call sinners, to seek and to save the lost” Mk 2:17

God cannot forgive me.
• The Truth: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they can be made white as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

I am all alone. God doesn’t care about me. God has abandoned me. God has rejected me. I have to do everything myself, it’s all up to me.
• The Truth: “Even if a mother could forget her child, I will never forget you.” Isaiah 49:15 / Ps 27:10
• “I will reject no one who comes to me” Jn 6:37

God can’t help me.
• The Truth: “Your daughter has died, why trouble Jesus any longer,” and Jesus said: “Do not be afraid, just have faith.” Mk 5:35
• “Jesus said: “For men it is impossible, but for God, all things are possible.” Mk 10:27
• “To God who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory . . .” Eph 3:20-21

I am cursed.
• The Truth: I am blessed and chosen – “He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him . . .” Eph 1:3
• “No more shall you be called forsaken, or your land desolate, but you shall be called my delight, and your land espoused.” Is 62:4

I’ve irreparably destroyed God’s plan for my life.
• The Truth: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Rm 5:20
• “Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. But when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and a new life through the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3: 3-7

Satan and evil are more powerful than God.
• The Truth: “The One who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” 1Jn 4:4

I am a victim. Bad things will always happen to me.
• The Truth: “O Lord, you see and behold misery and sorrow, taking them into your hands. The one in misfortune depends on you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”

I’m suppose to fix those I love. It’s all up to me. I am in control. If I just say and do the right thing, everyone will be happy.
• The Truth: “Jesus, I believe that you infinitely love all those whom I love and that you desire their salvation. I therefore entrust them to you, and believe you can do for them what I cannot do. Jesus I trust you.”

Take each lie, one at a time, those lies that resonate with your own personal experience, and use this simple formula to renounce them, and after renouncing, to replace the lie with the truth, using the Bible passages provided:

In Jesus name I renounce / I reject the lie that ____________________ and I announce and claim the truth that __________________.

When we live with such lies for many years, they become deeply imbedded, they make their home in us. Repeat this exercise anytime you recognize yourself thinking these lies, and keep replacing it with the truth that comes from the mouth of God, the heart of your heavenly Father.