A Prayer About Righteousness

When I consider my “good works”

MY SOVEREIGN,

I can get so full of myself, especially when I compare my works for the Kingdom to what others do. I begin to think I am doing well and that you should be proud of me, even implying that you are fortunate to have someone with my righteousness as your child. Forgive me, God, for my arrogance and pride. I need to constantly remember that I am a sinner saved by grace, that I was absolutely lost and without hope, and that my salvation rests on the finished work of Christ alone. All my “righteous deeds,” my good works, are “but filthy rags”—worthless and useless, of no effect in my relationship with you. I know you want me to obey your commandments, to do your will, but all those works should happen as a result of our relationship as I respond to your love with my acts of love for you. I know you don’t need me, but you have chosen me and continue to choose me to do your work in the world. Thank you!

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6