Is it Ok to pray for future sins?

Archivist · Apr 20, 2017

Better to pray for future sins than to sin for future prayers.

To be more serious, I like the prayer you provided because we know that we will sin tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day and, as Monna pointed out, the majority of our sins will be sins of omission.

Curtis.Hilliker · Apr 20, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

I think that's a wonderful prayer Paul.

Monna · Apr 20, 2017

The Lord gave us a prayer that may be pertinent in this context ...
... Lead us Lord, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...

(The original authors did not use punctuation, so a comma after 'Lord' is not necessarily wrong, and does put, I feel, the emphasis where it belongs: "Lord, lead us.")

God tempts no one. We are led astray by our own "fleshly desires or feelings." And we all share BCP's humbling recognition that we will sin in the future, however much we determine not to just now. So if we pray for his leading, and pay attention to it, he will lead us away from temptation and evil, minimizing our likelihood of sinning. We love and relish his forgiveness (his grace), but as Paul said, we should not sin just to experience his forgiving grace again. We can experience his love and grace in myriads of other ways.

paul becke · Apr 20, 2017

FireDragon76 said:
It could be unrealistic. Then again, not everything in religion is realistic in its ethos.

In the Episcopalian baptismal rite, there are prayers on behalf of the baptized that God would restore them "when they fall". That attitude, not "if" but "when", is more consistent with the Anglican/Lutheran/Reformed way of thinking about sin.

@ your post 29, Paul.
"and with your help I will not sin again"

In a sense, Paul, it must be unrealistic, mustn't it, since none of us can be absolutely perfect, as long as we draw breath. But the wisdom of the Church, in these kinds of spiritual matters, is truly awesome, so there will be a very good reason for treating it as if time will stand still for us with regard to being sinless, for a few moments perhaps after confession, anyway.

It occured to me, though, just now, though, that the word, 'will', as well as denoting the future tense, in this case, could denote the will, the desire, the intention, not to sin again. I suppose the Latin text would clarify it.

Godlovesmetwo · Apr 20, 2017

I'm in two mind as to whether creating an ideal to lived up to is a good thing. Ideally we obey all the commandments all the time and never feel separate from God. Ideally we love God and neighbour as ourselves in the right way, always and everywhere.
But for those of us predisposed to perfectionism as part of our personality, we are bound to feel inadequate . That we cant live up to those ideals. So there is where my prayer life needs to improve dramatically I know.
Imagine if the Gospels were written like this "try to love your neighbour if you can. Its tough but do your best anyway" I'd feel that God was at least taking my humanity into consideration.

samanjm · Apr 20, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
"and with your help I will not sin again" is part of the Confessional I learnt as a childhood Catholic.
But sounds unrealistic don't you think?
"and with your help, I will sin less" would be more realistic I think.

I'm not sure there is a dichotomy, though. If you say "I will not sin again", you can mean the sin you've committed, not every future sin. I think it is not unrealistic to believe that with God's help, if you let him help you, that is, everything is possible. Is that not part of what we all believe? That ultimately, all with turn for the better somehow?

Anyway, it is never too late to ask for foregiveness, so trying to do it "in advance" sounds a little alibistic to me. I'm not saying that was your intention, but if it's not supposed to be "in advance", you should nott think of it as "future sins", but rather in terms of your current weakness...and asking for strength to struggle, at least. Because I agree with you the struggle never ends, but we should not allow our minds to fall into despair, if we can prevent it. I hope I don't sound too condescending now.

OnTheMarch · Apr 20, 2017

Remember, it is always okay to pray for anything! God knows our hearts. He understands why we pray anything. If you are worried about something you may do in the future, He understands exactly why you are worried. God is always happy to receive your prayer, and prayer is always helpful to you.

Al Paris · Apr 20, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

Al Paris · Apr 20, 2017

Stop trying not to sin. All of us are sinners and as we grow in grace and focus on doing the right (love God & love your neighbor), we will sin less. Satan tells his lie thus. Whatever you ofcus on that you will do.

Al Paris · Apr 20, 2017

By the way no applogies are needed. Jesus paid it all: past present and future all are alreadyady covered by His blood.
Set your mind on things above. If you had the power to stop sinning Jesus' death would not have been needed.

Godlovesmetwo · Apr 20, 2017

OnTheMarch said:
Remember, it is always okay to pray for anything! God knows our hearts. He understands why we pray anything. If you are worried about something you may do in the future, He understands exactly why you are worried. God is always happy to receive your prayer, and prayer is always helpful to you.

I hope you're right. I rated your post "Winner" anyway.

Dr Bruce Atkinson · Apr 20, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

The entire idea of repenting of future sins sounds like a sneaky way of giving yourself permission to do them. If you love God, you will hate the idea of sinning in the future and do all in your power to avoid it.

The best "repentance for future sins" is to deliberately enter the spiritual war and to do what you already know to do--- to fight temptation and avoid sin. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, you are already forgiven for sins past, present, and future. But if you really believe this, you will be so appreciative and thankful that you will do all in your power (and praying for God's power) to never sin again. You are human so you will sin again, but your sins will get fewer and farther between. But if you do not believe that you are fully forgiven or if you do not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (submitting fully to Him), then you will remain in your sins because you are not choosing to receive His gracious gift.

visionary · Apr 21, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

One of the things about temptation is its attraction. One of the greatest deterrents, is the focus away from it.

◄ Philippians 4:8 ►
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Alithis · Apr 21, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

If you have a wife..and she commits adultery then repents..and says to you please forgive me for all the times I will do it again...
You won't buy that at all ..Its a load of unrepntant guff.
But you expect the most high Holy God to buy it...!!??

Archivist · Apr 21, 2017

Alithis said:
If you have a wife..and she commits adultery then repents..and says to you please forgive me for all the times I will do it again...
You won't buy that at all ..Its a load of unrepntant guff.
But you expect the most high Holy God to buy it...!!??

I don't think what you described is likely to happen.

What is more likely is a soldier going into battle who would say "Lord forgive me for my many sins, and for any wrongs that I might commit while fighting in combat."

Meowzltov · Apr 21, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

No, because it is impossible to repent of something you have not done. Any words you speak would be empty.

Alithis · Apr 21, 2017

Archivist said:
I don't think what you described is likely to happen.

What is more likely is a soldier going into battle who would say "Lord forgive me for my many sins, and for any wrongs that I might commit while fighting in combat."

Of course the scenario i presented isn't going to happen..
It ridiculously outrageous.

Intent to repeat offense is the absolute opposite of repentance.

Dr Bruce Atkinson · Apr 21, 2017

Open Heart said:
No, because it is impossible to repent of something you have not done. Any words you speak would be empty.

The motive for such "repentance" is highly questionable as it sounds like giving oneself permission to sin ... before the fact. A deep understanding of the evil and destructiveness inherent in sin should help keep a person from sinning. The deep sorrow of true repentance should keep the person from sinning again. Apologizing ahead of time is mere sophistry; the person is only fooling themselves--- God is certainly not fooled.

Archivist · Apr 21, 2017

Alithis said:
Of course the scenario i presented isn't going to happen..
It ridiculously outrageous.

Intent to repeat offense is the absolute opposite of repentance.

Then what about the much more likely situation that I presented of a soldier going into combat.

NJM24 · Apr 21, 2017

bettercallpaul said:
Can we repent for future sins? I mean it might sound outrageous to you but I am quite serious. Unfortunately I know I am going to sin again, no matter how hard I try. I can try to sin less, would be more realistic.
"Dear Lord I apologise for all the sins I committed and the ones I might commit in the future. With your help I will be less sinful and more like you."

The question is Can we repent for future sin? I would have to say No. When one repent there should be sincere regret and a change of heart not to do something again. Now, I can see someone asking for forgiveness beforehand. Example: I can see someone saying Father, I'm about to do this and I know it's wrong and I ask you to forgive me. My flesh is weak..... This person knows it is wrong but hasn't had the change of heart that comes with repenting that will cause them to stop. So, no we can't repent for future sins but perhaps we can ask for forgiveness for future sins. Just my opinion

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