Some people are saying that to repent of their sins is a work not necessary for forgiveness. They even relate it to asking God to forgive us because of all our works, that we work so well we can be forgiven. That idea is denying Christ, and not part of Christianity.
When we pray, we also ask God for our needs, and if our prayers ask for sin in our life instead of asking that we be free of sin as repentance is, then we are given the sin in our life. Asking for God's forgiveness is asking to be free of sin or in scripture language, we repent. We either ask for sin or we ask that we be sin free, we get what we ask for. Either we are given righteousness through Christ we ask for with repentance, or we get the eternal death that we ask for when we ask to keep the sin, that is the opposite to repentance. There is nothing in the middle, it is one or the other.