A Christian Epistle on Prayer

Intercession and Thanksgiving, of which Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, namely: "So I exhort now, that before all things one first perform Deprecation Abbitt: In this context, a "deprecatory" prayer intended to turn away God’s anger or a "begging off" from deserved punishment., Prayer, Intercession, and Thanksgiving for all people, for kings, and for all in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and still life in all godliness and honesty; for this is good and also acceptable before God our Savior, who wills that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2.

I. Deprecation

There we have now a division of the general Christian prayer into four distinctions, all of which we collectively call "Praying." The first prayer is called Deprecation, which brings with it a confession of sins along with the evil nature of the flesh. Through the grace of God, with pleading and inward sorrow, it is a turning away or a begging of God [forgiveness] for those things with which we have ever angered Him in thought, word, or deed, or done against His holy commandments. Deprecation is a special pleading to God against well-deserved punishment.

Such a thing is necessary for us above all things, if we wish to perform the following three prayers (which, along with the first, often stand together in a single psalm) with fruit and benefit. Just as the High Priest in the Law of Moses first offered sacrifice for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.

It means to know oneself, to confess one's own sins to God, and to punish or judge oneself so that we are not judged.

Indeed, [to judge] oneself...