Failures

We are celebrating the resurrection of Christ here at Cross Connections, so open your Bible to the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. That's where we'll be as we think about the fact that God is the one who calls out failures to come out of hiding.

Complicated grief is a diagnosable condition often caused by something that is one of many people's worst fears. In the moment of anger, in the heat of passion, they say an unkind thing to someone; they cut someone with their words. It's in that exchange with a sibling, a child, a parent, or a spouse that, without realizing it, it becomes the final exchange.

The normal grief of loss is complicated. It is compounded by the fact that the last words shared were heavy and hurtful. Someone might say something like, "You'll never amount to anything," or "I wish I would have never met you." Then, hours later, a phone call comes: "I'm sorry, there's been an accident," or the doctor says, "We tried our best, but it was a massive heart attack."

The normal sorrow that comes with a sudden loss like that is compounded. It is complicated by the fact that there are words that were said that can't be unsaid. There were things that were done that can't be undone. There will never be an opportunity to take it back, and there will never be a chance to say, "I'm sorry." These thoughts weigh heavily upon the heart.

Her last words to her seven-year-old son, "You don't need a lifejacket; you're a big boy, you can do this," rang in her ears for years to come, compounding and complicating the grief.

Loss sometimes comes so suddenly; it arrives so quickly that there is not time to prepare. However, when that event happens, the result is the same. People often say things like, "If I had only known that it would be the last time I would see them," or "If I had only had a clue that it would be the last time I would speak to them, I would have done it so much differently." Unfortunately, we are not always given that opportunity. Sometimes, it comes suddenly, sometimes without any warning.

They had spent more than three years with Him. Everywhere He went, they went. They traveled and logged many hundreds of miles, most of it on foot. Sometimes it was on a boat, but most of the time, they walked. As they walked, they talked to Him. He spoke with them about all kinds of things, including strange topics. From time to time, He would break off into discussions about sheep and shepherds or planting seeds, and they would wonder what in the world He was talking about. They would even come to Him and ask, "What was that all about?"

There were also times when He would speak about the Kingdom of God, and they would light up, hanging on every single word He spoke. They watched Him intently and emulated the things He did and said. All day, they would be with Him, and into the night, they would sit down, eat together, talk together, laugh together, and pray with Him. He would teach them.

Sometimes, in the morning, they would wake up and find that He was gone. They couldn't find Him and would go searching for Him, only to discover that He was off in some solitary place by Himself. They would say, "Come on, we have to go back. There are multitudes of people coming; they are looking for You."

So, they spent their time with Him constantly. Regularly, they would leave their home area around the Sea of Galilee and travel miles together—60 or more miles—down to Jerusalem. Multitudes of people from all over the nation would gather there in that great city, especially during the times of holidays and celebrations. It was always filled with great excitement and anticipation.

Everywhere He went, He attracted a group of people, and this small group of guys was always by His side. They loved it; they loved Him, and they loved being with Him. However, on this most recent journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, things changed. His tone and the way He carried Himself were different. He became more candid. It seemed as though, by the way He moved and interacted with people, He was more direct and more specific. It was almost as if He was on a mission. He even spoke in ways that indicated He was on a mission. His words changed; He became more intentional in what He said and how He said it, or at least it seemed that way.

He was steadfastly focused on getting to Jerusalem. He was more direct and pointed, and in some ways, it was as if He was preparing them for a goodbye. But that was not what they were hoping for; that was not what they were anticipating. In their hearts, there was huge expectation for this meeting in Jerusalem. The crowds following Him were bigger than ever, and there was a sense in the air that something was different. Yet, He started to say the strangest things to them: "We're going to Jerusalem, and I'm going to be betrayed. We're going to Jerusalem, and I'm going to be arrested and condemned to die."

So strange were His words that at one point, one of His disciples actually pulled Him aside, away from the crowd, and rebuked Him openly. "Far be it from You, Lord! This will not happen to You. You have to stop talking like this; it's depressing the morale among the people." I hear this, and yet everything in His demeanor—the way He carried Himself, the way He spoke—indicated that things were different.

But then that great day came. It was the most celebrated of the feasts, the best of the holidays, the one that everybody looked forward to. He had told some of His followers, His disciples, "Hey, make ready; we're going to get together and celebrate tonight." So they gathered together, and as He sat down with them on that Thursday night, He said, "With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you."

I've been looking forward to this gathering. I have been anticipating it before I suffer. Everything in that room began to change; the mood was different. He did things he had never done before. This time, he got up and washed their feet, which was strange. One of the disciples even said, "No, no, no, you're not supposed to do this," recognizing that this isn't the norm.

As the supper went on, he changed what he would normally do. For years, he had broken bread, given it to them, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." He was going to suffer, and those sitting there just couldn't grasp what he was saying. Then he took a cup and said, "This is the blood of the new covenant. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."

As he was sitting there, he not only told them that he would suffer, but he also spoke in a way that seemed like he was saying goodbye. At a certain point, he said to his disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you, I'm telling you the truth: one of you is going to betray me." It was as if, in that moment, all the oxygen was sucked from their lungs and from the entire room.

"What? One of us will betray you? Why would anybody betray you?" They had been with him for three years, three and a half years. They had watched him interact with people. They had seen him; this was a man who never harmed anyone. He was a person who had no malice, who walked with meekness. This was not someone who would be betrayed. He had never double-crossed anyone. They had watched him day and night, and they thought, "Why would anybody do such a thing?"

They were all so amazed by this that they began to ask, "Is it I? Is it I?" One of them had to feign shock when Jesus said, "One of you will betray me," so as not to let on that he had already begun the process of betraying him. But they all asked, "Is it I? Is it I? Who could possibly betray him?" He never got upset. I mean, there was that time in the temple when he drove people out, but even when multitudes of people pressed into him, consuming his energy and time, he didn't get irritated. Even when little kids came and wanted to spend time with him, he remained calm.

Close to Him and seeing Him, He doesn't get irritated by that. Even when all of His disciples say, "Can't You just send the people away? It's been a long day," He never gets irritated by those things. Why would anybody want to betray Him?

But then it was compounded even more. You can see that in Matthew chapter 26. If you'd like to open your Bibles, if you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers will gladly bring you one. Matthew is in the New Testament. Turn to about the middle of your Bible and go to the right; you'll come across Matthew. It's a large book, just before Mark and Luke.

Matthew chapter 26 gives us insight into this event with His disciples. Jesus, in this upper room on the night that He would be betrayed, says in verse 31, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night. One of you is a betrayer. But all of you will be made to stumble because of Me tonight, as it is written: I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."

Peter, the same one who had said, "Lord, You can't wash my feet," and "Far be it from You, Lord! This will never happen to You," answered and said in verse 33, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."

Jesus said to Peter, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." And so said all of His disciples.

There was a weight, no doubt, in the room—a palpable thickness of everything going on, all that was leading up to that moment. He says, "One of you is going to betray Me. I'm going to suffer. I'm going to be arrested. I'm going to die."

The reason it seems as though His disciples completely shut off their brains when He would say, "I will rise again the third day," is puzzling. For some reason, they never saw or heard that; they didn't grasp it. However, they caught that He was going to suffer, and they understood that one would betray Him. Now He says, "All of you will stumble," and then He says to Peter, "You will deny Me." Peter responds, "There is no way that I will ever deny You."

In verse 36, we read that Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane. They left the upper room, finished with the meal, and crossed through the Old City of Jerusalem. They came down the side of Mount Zion, where the temple is, and crossed the valley called the Kidron Valley. As they began to go up what is called the Mount of Olives, you can go with us to Jerusalem this year in November and see this place. They went to a little area called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."

He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, whose names are James and John. He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." They left the upper room and crossed the Kidron Valley, arriving at Gethsemane. He suggested they stay there for a while. They were probably on their way to a little town over the top of Mount of Olives called Bethany, where He would often stay. In Gethsemane, He said, "Let's stay here; we'll pray here." He went there often, as the Gospels tell us.

He took Peter, James, and John and said, "You come with Me; I need you to watch and pray with Me." Then He went a little further. In verse 39, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

In verse 40, He came to His disciples and found them asleep. He had said, "Please just stay and watch; pray with Me," but now He finds them asleep. He said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." I think we all could identify with that.

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them and continued to pray.

He went away and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping? Are you still resting?" In that very moment, a rush of people came into that space, into that place called Yosemite, led by someone the disciples knew. He was the very one that Jesus had identified just hours before when He said, "One of you will betray me."

This was Judas Iscariot, who had been with them as they were on the Sea of Galilee when the storm came. He had seen Jesus calm the storm. He was with them when Jesus walked on water and when Jesus fed the multitudes. He was with them through all of these things. The Scriptures even tell us he was the guy, like the treasurer, who carried the money bag.

Now here comes Judas Iscariot. Every time he is pictured in any sort of film, he looks kind of freaky, and you might think, "I wouldn't want anything to do with that guy." I don't think he looked like that because he had the money bag. We often see him portrayed as a shady-looking character. I like to refer to Judas Iscariot as "Judas the Scary Idiot," because that's how he often appears in films.

But here he comes into the place, and he had told those with him, soldiers from the chief priests, that he would identify Jesus by a kiss. This was a normal greeting in that day, not strange. He just walked up to Jesus and kissed Him, and now they lay hands on Him; they are arresting Him.

One of Jesus's disciples, the Scriptures tell us in the Gospels, pulls forth a sword. He thought, "I couldn't stay awake and pray with Him, but I'm going to stop this and protect Him. I'm going to defend the Lord." So Peter, the Scriptures tell us, takes forth the sword and steps forward to try and stop this.

There were armed Roman soldiers present, but he didn't go after one of them. The Scriptures tell us that he cut off the ear of the slave of the high priest, which is an interesting little tidbit given to us in the Gospels. He was smart enough not to go after one of the trained Roman soldiers.

Jesus now has to rebuke Peter, saying, "No, stop." The Gospels record that He made it right; He healed the man's ear that Peter had cut off. But He rebukes him. Now, if that had been all that had happened in this whole situation...

The story for Peter is significant, as Jesus had said to him and the others, "Pray with me." Yet, Peter, like the other disciples, could not stay awake. Three times, Jesus came and woke him, asking, "Can't you just pray with me?" If Peter had failed to watch, if he had failed to pray with Jesus, and then failed to defend the Lord, he would have been rebuked by the Lord. As the events of Good Friday and Jesus's death unfolded, it is certain that Peter would experience complicated grief. He would likely reflect on why he couldn't just stay awake and pray with Him, and why he couldn't stand up and defend Him in that moment. This would compound his grief in the face of such failure.

However, that is not the entirety of the story. As we continue, we find more in Luke's Gospel. If you are in Matthew, turn to the right; you will pass the Gospel of Mark and then arrive at the Gospel of Luke. In Luke chapter 22, beginning at verse 54, we read: "Having arrested Him, they took and led Jesus and brought Him to the house of the high priest."

But Peter followed at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. A certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man also was with Him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."

After a little while, another saw him and said, "You also are with them; you are of that group, those Galileans. That one that the chief priests took, you are with that group." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." Then, after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, "Surely this fellow also was with Him."

He is a Galilean. An hour passes. Peter is there, warming himself by the fire. Someone says, "Listen, you definitely were with him. We've seen you with him before. Not to mention, he's that Galilean prophet. But you're from Galilee. Your speech has made you known. You've got an accent. You're one of those backwater boys from up there in Capernaum. We know that you are with him."

But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying." In fact, one of the other Gospels says he swore, "I do not know him."

Now, immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord, apparently some distance away but within sight of Peter, turned and looked at him. It seems as though their eyes may have met. Then Peter remembered the word that the Lord had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

So Peter went out and wept bitterly. That word "bitterly" in the original language has a lot of meaning. It means to weep with heart-wrenching, deep tears, with extreme distress. Can you imagine the compounding and complicated grief of Peter? I'm sure that some of you can feel the weight of this. He had failed three times. He had failed to pray with the Lord, and each time the Lord came and found him asleep. "Can you not pray with me just one hour?" Then the Lord had to openly rebuke him: "Put away the sword. That's not what we're here for."

Now, three times he has denied him, and the third time he hears the rooster crow just as Jesus had said would happen. There, Jesus turns his head, and their eyes meet. Peter is devastated. He runs from there and weeps bitterly.

When I imagine Peter, I assume that many of you, if you've read the Scriptures before or followed one of the stories or movies about Jesus, have a similar impression of him. To me, I don't...

Imagine that he was some small, five-foot-two guy, a man of small stature. In my mind, I imagined him to be a strong, statured man. He was a fisherman, a tradesman, not the kind of guy you often think of as a weeper. Some people, of course, have tears that come easily, even for men, but I imagine Peter was one of those guys who, if tears came, would say, "Oh, I've got something in my eye. Excuse me, I have something in my eye right here."

Then he runs and weeps bitterly. Point number one, if you have your sermon guide handy: failure compounds grief. There are some of you here today who know that in a very experiential way; you know it to be true. Peter failed to pray, he failed to protect, and he even forsook the Lord—not once, not twice, but three times. To compound and complicate it further, he did the exact same thing that Jesus said he would do. He swore, "I will never do that. I would die with you before I would do that."

Then there’s a young girl, who seems to be in her early teens. She says, "No, no, I know you're with that guy. No, no, I don't know God." He insists, "I will die with you," and then he becomes a denier. He goes out and weeps bitterly. This is a serious understatement; it’s one of those things that fails at translation, it’s lost in translation. He goes out and he weeps bitterly.

Within three hours of that moment, when he locks eyes with Jesus, that man, Jesus, is condemned to die by the Jewish council, by King Herod, the king of Judea, and by the Roman governor, Pilate. He is condemned to die within three hours, and that was the last moment Peter would see Jesus—or so he thought. That was the last second, and three hours later, Jesus is condemned to die, while Peter has run and is in hiding. Not only is Jesus condemned to die, but within six hours of that moment, he is nailed to a cross.

On a hillside outside of the city of Jerusalem, within nine hours, He breathed His last breath. His lifeless body was taken from the cross, prepared for burial, and by sundown, His dead body was laid in a cold, dark tomb. The stone was rolled over the door.

And where is Peter? There are some people who really stand out among the crowd, individuals who have a certain gravity to them. They stand out in such a way that you think, "Oh yeah, I know that guy." Peter was one of those guys for sure. In fact, a lot of Christians can identify with Peter because he was really good at putting his foot in his mouth. Can anyone identify with that? Come on now, that was Peter.

His first meeting with Jesus is interesting and is recorded for us in the Gospel of John. His name actually isn't Peter; his real name is Simon, which is his given name. He had a brother named Andrew, who had met Jesus and was convinced that there was something great about Him. He thought, "He might be the Messiah." So, Andrew went to get his brother Simon, saying, "You’ve got to come meet this guy. I think this might be the Messiah."

Simon came and met Jesus, and Jesus said, "You are Simon, son of Jonah." It was almost as if He was saying, "I've heard about you, Simon, son of Jonah. You will no longer be Simon; I’m going to call you Cephas, or Peter, or Rock." He gave him a new nickname.

It was Peter who, in Matthew chapter 14, walked on water. Talk about having something on your resume! The other guys could say, "Yeah, you know, I’m a follower of Jesus. I’m Apostle John, an Apostle James, and Apostle Peter, the one who walked on water." Of course, we never want to talk about the fact that he did sink, but he walked on water! None of the other guys had that on their list.

It was Peter who got the question on the quiz right when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter replied, "You’re the Christ, the Son."

Of the Living God, it was Peter who recognized and knew, "Why would we leave you, Jesus? You have the words of eternal life." He was a standout. Peter is one of three—Peter, James, and John—who was with Jesus and saw Him glorified on what is called the Mount of Transfiguration. It's recorded for us in Matthew chapter 17. He was there; he saw Jesus glorified. Not only that, he was with Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, in the room when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead. He was there. He was a standout.

Now, it may have been, as some Bible teachers have pointed out, that Jesus kept Peter, James, and John close because they were the guys He needed to keep an eye on. But whatever the case, he was a standout. It was Peter who publicly denied that he knew Jesus three times.

Point number two on your outline: sometimes standouts just want to hide. Have you ever wanted to hide? Have you ever wanted to run away as fast and as far as possible, weeping convulsively until you have no more tears to cry? That was Peter. I wonder what was going on in the mind and heart of Peter as he hid on that Good Friday, which for him was not a good Friday.

It's interesting that Jesus' public disciples—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas— they all hid. But the hiding disciples came forward. A man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea, who the Scripture said was a disciple but secretly, came forward and asked Pilate, "Can I have the body of this one Jesus?" This disciple, though secretly, came out of hiding and sought the body of Jesus. But not just him; Nicodemus, the man who in John 3 is revealed as coming to Jesus by night, was also a secret disciple of Jesus. He was not one of the public guys, yet he showed up on that day and said, "I'm going to help."

Joseph and they prepared the body of Jesus for burial, but where was Peter? He was hiding. I wonder if that Good Friday night he even slept a wink. I imagine he had a really hard time sleeping. I wonder if the next morning, on that Sabbath day, his appetite was gone. I imagine he probably didn't want to eat a single thing as he went through his mind, thinking, "How could I do that?" Over and over again, he thought to himself, "If only I had just prayed with Him. We had prayed so many times before. If only I had just stayed awake. All He asked was that I stay awake and watch and pray. If only, if only I had said yes when that person said, 'Well, you're of Him.' Yes, I am. If only I had done that."

Now, in his mind, he was thinking, "But there will never be a chance. If only I had the opportunity to maybe just say that I'm sorry. If only I could talk with Him one last time. If only He were still here." But of course, even if He were alive, I denied Him openly. Of course, He'd want nothing to do with a failure like me. I think that Psalm 6 probably applied to Peter those two nights. It says in Psalm 6, verse 6, "I am weary with my groaning; all night long I make my bed to swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; there are no more tears to cry. If only I had one more opportunity."

Then there would be one. If you look in your Bibles, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verse 1, we read, "Now on the first day of the week," that would be Sunday, "very early in the morning, they, a group of Jesus's women followers, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of Jesus."

It happened that as they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. As they were afraid, they bowed their faces to the earth, and they said to them, "Why?"

Do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." They remembered his words.

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, and the recorded passage that correlates with this in Luke, the angels say to the women gathered there in verse 6, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter." I love that! Go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going to meet you in Galilee.

Why does it stand out to say "and Peter"? Could it be that some of those who were among the followers of Jesus had already written him off? Go and tell his disciples and Peter. Could it be that they were saying, "Now he's a failure; he denied"? But the Lord says, "Go and tell the disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you."

Continuing on to Luke chapter 24, verse 9, they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them. They told these things to the apostles, but their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

However, Peter arose and ran to the tomb. They heard these things, and Peter thought, "Now I can't believe it. He's dead; he's gone." It seemed like idle tales, just wishful thinking. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb. The Gospel of John records that it wasn't just Peter, but also another disciple. We believe, by the way, that this other disciple was John, who wrote the Gospel of John, and he makes a point to make the...

Point that he outran Peter to the tomb. When John got there, in John's Gospel, it says he looked into the tomb and saw the place where Jesus had lain. But then Peter came right past him and went into the tomb. He was probably filled with great joy and great expectation.

Go and tell the disciples and Peter. Point number three on your outline: Jesus calls for and forgives failures. This is good news because every single one of us here today is a failure. He calls for failures. He said, "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." I did not come to call perfect people but sinners. A physician is not needed for those who are well but for those who are sick. I came to call sick, imperfect failures.

If you're here today, God called you here, and He did so because you're imperfect. We're all failures, and He calls failures. Now, He doesn't call failures to sit them down and say, "Peter, what were you thinking? She was a little girl. You could have just said yes, I'm with him. What's the problem?" He didn't do that. In fact, before this whole event took place, Jesus had taken Peter aside and said, "Peter, listen, Satan has desired you that he might sift you like wheat. But when you return, strengthen your brothers." He says, "When you return."

So, Jesus calls and forgives failures. Look around us; it's just a whole bunch of people who have failed many times. Some of you seated here today feel like you've failed so greatly that there's no way He would ever call or forgive you. I've had that conversation with dozens of people over the years. They say, "You don't know how bad I feel. He would never forgive me." No, listen, He calls and forgives failures, and He calls to each of us daily in our failure.

Turn to me, for He is abundant in grace and mercy. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. He has the authority and power to pardon, and He calls and forgives failures. That's the gospel; that's good news. Let me tell you, that's what Easter is all about. The risen Lord calls and forgives failures.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? We're going to have our worship team come back up and lead us in singing praise to the Lord who calls and forgives failures on this Resurrection Day.

Father, we thank You for Your great grace. There is not a single one of us here today who is deserving, but Lord, we are grateful. Maybe there are those standing here today invited by a friend or family member, or perhaps they just received a card in the mail. There are some who feel like failures, but Lord, we are just a bunch of failures. You are the only one who is perfect; You are the only one who never fails. We fall short constantly, and we thank You for Your great grace.

As we turn to You and confess, as we just say, "Lord, I’m a failure," You respond, "I know, but I have forgiveness." Lord, we thank You for Your grace and Your forgiveness. We pray that if there are any here today who say, "I don’t think You could ever forgive me; You don’t know what I’ve done," or who feel like failures, would You draw them by Your Spirit?

If that’s you today, I want to give you an opportunity to receive the forgiveness of God by the grace of God. It’s very simple: Jesus paid for all of our sin on the cross, and to prove that the debt is paid, three days later, on Resurrection Day, which we celebrate as Easter, He rose from the dead, declaring that His death is enough. He died to forgive you of your failures, your sins, and to make you one of His followers. He says, "Go and tell my disciples."

Whoever else, go and tell them. I have forgiveness. If you want to receive the grace and forgiveness of God today, by His grace, would you just lift up your hand real high so I can see it? God bless you; I see you over here in the back. Anyone else? God bless you; many of you. He openly forgives all who turn to Him.

If that's you today and you want to receive His forgiveness, I encourage you to simply call out to Him in prayer. You can pray with me right now.

Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a failure. I confess that I have failed. I thank You that You died to forgive me, and I ask that You would give me Your grace. Help me to put my trust in You and to follow You by faith, to be one of Your disciples. In Jesus' name, amen.