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Most of us learn to pray by example. As children, "Now I lay me..." is probably familiar. As adults, "Let's pray about it," is the usual preface. Neither phrase is Biblical. We pray for a lot of things we have no business praying for. Much of it is personal responsibility. Why pray for something that God has already empowered us, gifted us, and willed us to do? Why ask for help? This is just a demonstration of unbelief.
God says, "Repent." He even gives us the gift though His goodness to do so. Why then ask God to help us repent? This only shows our unwillingness and maybe withholding of something God has asked us to give up.
Dr. Adrian Rogers of Love Worth Finding asked, "Why should I pray for some Christian's health when all they'll do is run back out and serve the devil?" He goes on to say, "We spend more time praying to keep Christians out of heaven than we do sinners out of hell." Sometimes our priorities get all screwed up. There is a time to pray for health. There is a time to intercede on someones behalf for repentance. There is a time to pray without ceasing.
The key to all aspects of pray goes back to our one relationship to God. Keep that right and everything else works right too. Let sin in and immediately either our prayers go silent or they fall on God's deaf ears. Don't pray for God to give you victory over sin. He already did. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. It is finished. There is our victory at Calvary once and for all. Prayer without ceasing works seamlessly with our one relationship to God.
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
How to Get on Praying Ground
This classic sermon from Dr. Adrian Rogers should be mandatory for any discipleship 101 relationship. Listen in and then come on back to this blog for the rest of the story.
Click Here to Listen
The Scriptures he quoted are tough to take and he admits that. Read them again and then we will ponder a few more questions.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Psalm 66:18
Proverbs 15:29
We have talked about this subject a lot in this blog. Dr. Rogers examined the typical response of human nature when presented with these verses, "But my prayer is so beautiful...." He uses generic sarcasm to point out that the flesh can get in the way of our prayers. Proverbs 15:29 describes our flesh with a harsh term - wicked.
Human nature again steps in and violently denies the label, "No not me!" Or we would rather soften it a little with more seeker sensitive wording. But we cannot escape the fact that God calls us (in the flesh) wicked. Yes, Christians who walk in the flesh can be downright wicked. Evil. As Dr. Rogers points out again with no holding back, Christians in the flesh can be servants of the devil. He asks, "So why should I pray for you to be healed just so you can go on serving the devil?"
Ouch. What do we do with that? Allow the Word of God by the dagger of the Holy Spirit to do its Hebrews 4:12 work. It is a good thing from the goodness of God. Fight the urge to deny and see your flesh as God does, or allow Him to show you.
Even though we are saved, God did not do anything to our flesh. It is still the same as it was before Jesus saved us from our sins. It is still completely capable of wickedness, evil, and sin. The point Dr. Rogers (and I) want to get across is for us to recognize and admit the utter depravity of the flesh and its consequences. It's solution is simple - walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
Rather than delve into just how wicked we can be, better I think it is to realize the consequences instead. It is enough that God will not hear our prayers. That means more than communication is shut off. It means that our "one" relationship with Him is also compromised (John 17:23). It feels almost like we are not saved. It feels just like we are wicked sinners again. The conscience feeling is correct. Don't ignore it. Instead, allow God to take it to its necessary conclusion - death.
I go back to what I have shared many times on this blog - die to self and sin (Romans 6:11). The victory over the flesh was enabled at the cross and it is our responsibility to do it - reckon yourself dead; I am crucified with Christ. Life in God only arises through death to the wicked flesh. If we let the flesh have its way, then I agree with Dr. Rogers. Why pray for things that will ultimately bring dishonor to God's name?
Pastor Rogers' next series on the Six Keys to Answered Prayer is an excellent follow-up. I encourage you to listen to that message as well. It's playing today here.
Click Here to Listen
The Scriptures he quoted are tough to take and he admits that. Read them again and then we will ponder a few more questions.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Psalm 66:18
Proverbs 15:29
We have talked about this subject a lot in this blog. Dr. Rogers examined the typical response of human nature when presented with these verses, "But my prayer is so beautiful...." He uses generic sarcasm to point out that the flesh can get in the way of our prayers. Proverbs 15:29 describes our flesh with a harsh term - wicked.
Human nature again steps in and violently denies the label, "No not me!" Or we would rather soften it a little with more seeker sensitive wording. But we cannot escape the fact that God calls us (in the flesh) wicked. Yes, Christians who walk in the flesh can be downright wicked. Evil. As Dr. Rogers points out again with no holding back, Christians in the flesh can be servants of the devil. He asks, "So why should I pray for you to be healed just so you can go on serving the devil?"
Ouch. What do we do with that? Allow the Word of God by the dagger of the Holy Spirit to do its Hebrews 4:12 work. It is a good thing from the goodness of God. Fight the urge to deny and see your flesh as God does, or allow Him to show you.
Even though we are saved, God did not do anything to our flesh. It is still the same as it was before Jesus saved us from our sins. It is still completely capable of wickedness, evil, and sin. The point Dr. Rogers (and I) want to get across is for us to recognize and admit the utter depravity of the flesh and its consequences. It's solution is simple - walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
Rather than delve into just how wicked we can be, better I think it is to realize the consequences instead. It is enough that God will not hear our prayers. That means more than communication is shut off. It means that our "one" relationship with Him is also compromised (John 17:23). It feels almost like we are not saved. It feels just like we are wicked sinners again. The conscience feeling is correct. Don't ignore it. Instead, allow God to take it to its necessary conclusion - death.
I go back to what I have shared many times on this blog - die to self and sin (Romans 6:11). The victory over the flesh was enabled at the cross and it is our responsibility to do it - reckon yourself dead; I am crucified with Christ. Life in God only arises through death to the wicked flesh. If we let the flesh have its way, then I agree with Dr. Rogers. Why pray for things that will ultimately bring dishonor to God's name?
Pastor Rogers' next series on the Six Keys to Answered Prayer is an excellent follow-up. I encourage you to listen to that message as well. It's playing today here.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Book Review - Believing God Chapter 4 - Wisdom for the Asking: James 1:5
Thankfully there are no "ism"s in this chapter. That makes it much easier to read. But there is a reader hook in here that I did not like. The author writes, "Our inability to believe the promises of God may grow out of our prior inability to believe in the power of prayer. We will look at other promises related to prayer in the coming chapters, but for now, let us consider the question we have all wrestled with since we were children—why do I receive some things I ask for in prayer but not others?" The hook is a reference to better stuff in later chapters. If it's important now, then get into it now. Why don't we believe in the power of prayer?
You'd think the Bible would have recorded numerous questions the apostles posed to Jesus while He was with them on earth. Surpisingly, there are few. One of them was posed more as a request in Luke 11:1b, "...Lord, teach us to pray...." More rightly, teach us HOW to pray. We tend to learn prayer more as rote phrases, WHAT to pray. I have posted many blogs regarding this subject, all stemming from the excellent teaching of Adrian Rogers on Romans 11:36-12:2 and the daily meditations of Oswald Chambers, particularly like today's "My Utmost for His Highest". I encourage you to go back to there references before proceeding with the remainder of "Believing God".
Upon salvation, wisdom was the principle thing I prayed for. One of the first answers to that prayer was a lesson that many others follow. The book of Proverbs was written by the wisest man, Solomon. With God dictating, Solomon penned His wisdom into thirty-one chapters, each conveniently read on a corresponding day of the week for a given month. I have done this diligently for nearly thirty years of my Christian life. Am I wiser for it? Indeed. For my mind at the day of salvation was put into Jesus' hands a ruined waste. It needed not only spiritual renewal and transformation, it also needed physical rebuilding. God indeed answered (and continues to answer) that prayer.
Sproul enters into an interesting supposition in this chapter that bears further exploration. He writes, "We are not yet like Him, however. We are still sinners and still doubters. That may be why we (happily?) cling to what follows as our tool for reducing this promise down to something manageable." (First I must violently oppose his statement that we are still sinners. Saints are not sinners. We still have the sin nature, but through Jesus, and the life we now live in the flesh by His faith, we are free from sin and its power over us. Again I point you to previous blogs to get the full up on this topic.) "Promise reduction" is an interesting phrase he introduces. I see this happen all the time whether in church or business or in casual circumstance. We can read simple words on a medium and even as we read them aloud to someone else, completely different words come out of our mouths. Our eyes and minds "see" one thing, but then our minds (smart as we are) translate/reduce/deduce certain words and out comes our own version. This happened to a colleague of mine just yesterday.
We were presenting a very important briefing. In this case, the words on the chart should have been read word for word, just as they were intentionally written with a very specific meaning. But instead, he paraphrased, and out came something totally different that was just plain incorrect. It sounded good. Most folks in the audience did not catch the error.
So it is with us Christians. Along with our multitude of Bible translations, we actively reduce the Word of God through teaching, conversation, and prayer, sometimes to the point that what comes out of our mouths is just plain incorrect. Now perhaps that does not seem to bad to you. After all, we can be corrected if we or someone else catches the error. That's a good thing. But when such accountability is lacking (II Timothy 3:16) then Satan has an inroad to allow the word to be corrupted and believed. This ultimately is sin for what we have done is added to or taken away from God's Holy Word (Revelation 22:18-19, Proverbs 30:5-6). Observe this process as God describes it in James 1:14-15. Where accountability lacks, lust may enter. When lust enters, Satan comes with it to corrupt. He'll tempt us to get into this "reducing" state. If we succumb, then the fruit of our words have multiplied in the ears of our listeners. If our Words are not holy (the Word of God), then it is possible that they are wicked. Sin has born its fruit of unbelief (or belief in a lie).
So how do we know the truth and remain free? The author allows God to answer that from James 3:13-18. But to recognize truth, we must be walking in the truth. We must be walking in Jesus, His holiness and righteousness. We must not allow sin to stain our minds or twist our tongues. This is a great discipline, and one that God teaches us well through the examples of Paul. The author points out strongly that failure to walk in such a manner quickly lends us to "every evil thing" as found in James 3:16.
Sproul concludes this profound, worthwhile chapter well when he states, "We learn that it exists for God's glory." The "it" here referred to this earth. But indeed it is so much more. We Christians exist for His glory. We are the manifestation of the light of Jesus. Here is a staggering statement/prayer of Jesus that I often quote from John 17:22, "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one."
I have until now focused on the "One" aspect of His prayer. But look again at the first part of His statement. Jesus gave us His glory. Do you believe it? Do you see it? Read Luke 11:34, "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness."
You'd think the Bible would have recorded numerous questions the apostles posed to Jesus while He was with them on earth. Surpisingly, there are few. One of them was posed more as a request in Luke 11:1b, "...Lord, teach us to pray...." More rightly, teach us HOW to pray. We tend to learn prayer more as rote phrases, WHAT to pray. I have posted many blogs regarding this subject, all stemming from the excellent teaching of Adrian Rogers on Romans 11:36-12:2 and the daily meditations of Oswald Chambers, particularly like today's "My Utmost for His Highest". I encourage you to go back to there references before proceeding with the remainder of "Believing God".
Upon salvation, wisdom was the principle thing I prayed for. One of the first answers to that prayer was a lesson that many others follow. The book of Proverbs was written by the wisest man, Solomon. With God dictating, Solomon penned His wisdom into thirty-one chapters, each conveniently read on a corresponding day of the week for a given month. I have done this diligently for nearly thirty years of my Christian life. Am I wiser for it? Indeed. For my mind at the day of salvation was put into Jesus' hands a ruined waste. It needed not only spiritual renewal and transformation, it also needed physical rebuilding. God indeed answered (and continues to answer) that prayer.
Sproul enters into an interesting supposition in this chapter that bears further exploration. He writes, "We are not yet like Him, however. We are still sinners and still doubters. That may be why we (happily?) cling to what follows as our tool for reducing this promise down to something manageable." (First I must violently oppose his statement that we are still sinners. Saints are not sinners. We still have the sin nature, but through Jesus, and the life we now live in the flesh by His faith, we are free from sin and its power over us. Again I point you to previous blogs to get the full up on this topic.) "Promise reduction" is an interesting phrase he introduces. I see this happen all the time whether in church or business or in casual circumstance. We can read simple words on a medium and even as we read them aloud to someone else, completely different words come out of our mouths. Our eyes and minds "see" one thing, but then our minds (smart as we are) translate/reduce/deduce certain words and out comes our own version. This happened to a colleague of mine just yesterday.
We were presenting a very important briefing. In this case, the words on the chart should have been read word for word, just as they were intentionally written with a very specific meaning. But instead, he paraphrased, and out came something totally different that was just plain incorrect. It sounded good. Most folks in the audience did not catch the error.
So it is with us Christians. Along with our multitude of Bible translations, we actively reduce the Word of God through teaching, conversation, and prayer, sometimes to the point that what comes out of our mouths is just plain incorrect. Now perhaps that does not seem to bad to you. After all, we can be corrected if we or someone else catches the error. That's a good thing. But when such accountability is lacking (II Timothy 3:16) then Satan has an inroad to allow the word to be corrupted and believed. This ultimately is sin for what we have done is added to or taken away from God's Holy Word (Revelation 22:18-19, Proverbs 30:5-6). Observe this process as God describes it in James 1:14-15. Where accountability lacks, lust may enter. When lust enters, Satan comes with it to corrupt. He'll tempt us to get into this "reducing" state. If we succumb, then the fruit of our words have multiplied in the ears of our listeners. If our Words are not holy (the Word of God), then it is possible that they are wicked. Sin has born its fruit of unbelief (or belief in a lie).
So how do we know the truth and remain free? The author allows God to answer that from James 3:13-18. But to recognize truth, we must be walking in the truth. We must be walking in Jesus, His holiness and righteousness. We must not allow sin to stain our minds or twist our tongues. This is a great discipline, and one that God teaches us well through the examples of Paul. The author points out strongly that failure to walk in such a manner quickly lends us to "every evil thing" as found in James 3:16.
Sproul concludes this profound, worthwhile chapter well when he states, "We learn that it exists for God's glory." The "it" here referred to this earth. But indeed it is so much more. We Christians exist for His glory. We are the manifestation of the light of Jesus. Here is a staggering statement/prayer of Jesus that I often quote from John 17:22, "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one."
I have until now focused on the "One" aspect of His prayer. But look again at the first part of His statement. Jesus gave us His glory. Do you believe it? Do you see it? Read Luke 11:34, "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness."
Sunday, February 22, 2009
In the Beginning
This new profile picture should be familiar to space afficionados as "Earth Rise" taken from Apollo 8 as it circled from around the moon. Later, on Christmas Eve, the crew read Genesis chapter one during a live broadcast to the world. It remains one of the most pleasant and spine-tingling events of my life.
Far surpassing though are the times spent at the throne of God in prayer. God reminds me very often lately as I begin to pray, speaking to Him, that He prefers to speak first to me. It is usually a divine interruption and He says, "Worship me." We are so often in such a hurry to bring our issues to God that we forget our place and priority.
God says in Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."
To worship in the beauty of holiness is first and foremost His Holiness, then that which is imputed to us.
Afterwards, in obedience to Romans 11:36-12:2, I discover God's will for me that day. What a privelage to receive such knowledge, grace, and certainty. Have you learned to purposefully climb upon the altar, bind yourself, and allow God to utterly consume you so that you may know His good, acceptable, and perfect will? Have you so exercised yourself so that you do not jump off when the flames are too hot? Have you willingly forsaken all so that you may freely accept His will as your own with no attachments or exceptions? Only the pure saint can do this.
Far surpassing though are the times spent at the throne of God in prayer. God reminds me very often lately as I begin to pray, speaking to Him, that He prefers to speak first to me. It is usually a divine interruption and He says, "Worship me." We are so often in such a hurry to bring our issues to God that we forget our place and priority.
God says in Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."
To worship in the beauty of holiness is first and foremost His Holiness, then that which is imputed to us.
Afterwards, in obedience to Romans 11:36-12:2, I discover God's will for me that day. What a privelage to receive such knowledge, grace, and certainty. Have you learned to purposefully climb upon the altar, bind yourself, and allow God to utterly consume you so that you may know His good, acceptable, and perfect will? Have you so exercised yourself so that you do not jump off when the flames are too hot? Have you willingly forsaken all so that you may freely accept His will as your own with no attachments or exceptions? Only the pure saint can do this.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Does This Seem Unusual to You?
Last week in Sunday school the teacher was discussing Isaiah 6. He read the verse aloud and then asked something like this, "Has this ever happened to any of you?" I was about to answer when he continued right on with, "I mean, this is ISAIAH and there were ANGELS, and he had a VISION and GOD TALKED TO HIM." The tone of voice matched the emphasis here indicating that this was some kind of strange, unusual, and mystical experience. So of course everyone laughed (but me) and allowed him to proceed with the rhetoric (but me).
I said, "Yes, this happens to me all the time." (Crickets chirping, pins dropping, deer in headlights looks, etc.)
I continued to explain.
But first, let's all take a look at the verses that made jaws drop.
Isaiah 6:1-10 - "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
Indeed at first glance this would seem to be very unique. But what are the principles behind it that should make this type of experience very common in the life of a believer?
Consider the reality of prayer. Where are you and who are you with at the time? According to passages such as Ephesians 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," we are immediately in the very presence of God in heaven.
Take a moment for that to sink in if you never realized it before. In prayer, we are at the throne with God. The Holy Spirit is there groaning alongside us (Romans 8:26). Jesus is there as our Great High Priest making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:24-25) Sometimes Satan is there too (Job 1:6).
Therefore, every time we go to prayer, boldly entering the heavenly throneroom, and sit with Jesus, it just doesn't get any more real than that. Of course your experience there will not be just like Isaiah's, but nevertheless you are there and God is talking to you. What else is going on? Let's go back to the passage and understand the principles.
Isaiah starts out with a vision. The holiness of the LORD is pronounced and Isaiah realizes there is some sin in his life to deal with. He repents. Then God speaks because it is only at this point that Isaiah is able to hear Him. Finally Isaiah responds and takes action.
Let's put this back on your side. Perhaps it goes something like this as it often does to me:
I start the day reading God's Word. Some sharp dagger pierces me and I see myself before the LORD in His holiness and I know I am convicted. Whether in a vision, or by an angel, or straight from the Word of God, such work of the Holy Spirit (today) is done by the hearing of the Word. My response is to repent and get right with God.
Now I am free to worship. Now my ears are free to hear. God speaks. I obey.
Doesn't this seem a little more normal to you now? Rejoice. Be free indeed. Be bold in prayer and in the truth. Enjoy the spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
Copyright Lawrence J. Caldwell 2009
I said, "Yes, this happens to me all the time." (Crickets chirping, pins dropping, deer in headlights looks, etc.)
I continued to explain.
But first, let's all take a look at the verses that made jaws drop.
Isaiah 6:1-10 - "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
Indeed at first glance this would seem to be very unique. But what are the principles behind it that should make this type of experience very common in the life of a believer?
Consider the reality of prayer. Where are you and who are you with at the time? According to passages such as Ephesians 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," we are immediately in the very presence of God in heaven.
Take a moment for that to sink in if you never realized it before. In prayer, we are at the throne with God. The Holy Spirit is there groaning alongside us (Romans 8:26). Jesus is there as our Great High Priest making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:24-25) Sometimes Satan is there too (Job 1:6).
Therefore, every time we go to prayer, boldly entering the heavenly throneroom, and sit with Jesus, it just doesn't get any more real than that. Of course your experience there will not be just like Isaiah's, but nevertheless you are there and God is talking to you. What else is going on? Let's go back to the passage and understand the principles.
Isaiah starts out with a vision. The holiness of the LORD is pronounced and Isaiah realizes there is some sin in his life to deal with. He repents. Then God speaks because it is only at this point that Isaiah is able to hear Him. Finally Isaiah responds and takes action.
Let's put this back on your side. Perhaps it goes something like this as it often does to me:
I start the day reading God's Word. Some sharp dagger pierces me and I see myself before the LORD in His holiness and I know I am convicted. Whether in a vision, or by an angel, or straight from the Word of God, such work of the Holy Spirit (today) is done by the hearing of the Word. My response is to repent and get right with God.
Now I am free to worship. Now my ears are free to hear. God speaks. I obey.
Doesn't this seem a little more normal to you now? Rejoice. Be free indeed. Be bold in prayer and in the truth. Enjoy the spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
Copyright Lawrence J. Caldwell 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Death
Here's a curiousity: Part of awakening to righteousness involves death. What does this mean and how does it work?
As I was driving into work this morning I asked God to tell me what He wanted me to write about today in this blog. You see the answer unfolding before you. But first let me tell you what led to it.
I woke up and knew there was sin in my life. The Holy Spirit was faithful to tell me so. The only way to deal with sin is to obey Proverbs 28:13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." and Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The magnitude of confessing, forsaking, and reckoning is beyond calculation. Even the smallest sin cost the life of the Son of God, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)
To awake to righteousness (I Corinthians 15:34) and sin not, you must be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God. Unless this transaction is willfully done on your part, God will not do His part. First of all, He will not hear your prayer.
"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2)
Second, He will not set you free. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:31-36)
As long as you live and serve in sin, you are in bondage to it. The only thing that unstops Gods ear is your obedience to His Spirit's prompting you to confess, forsake, and reckon yourself dead to sin. Immediately you are free and alive in Jesus.
This has nothing to do with salvation. This has everything to do with righteous daily living. Perhaps you have never heard this truth before or perhaps you do not believe it. Perhaps you do not know the difference between the positional righteousness and life given to you through Jesus upon salvation (you can't lose it) and the experiential righteousness and life that you are responsible to maintain on a continuing basis (you can lose it).
That is the power of sin. Immediately it is in your life, it separates you and God. Not in terms of leaving and forsaking (Deuteronomy 31:6) but in terms of discipline God turns from you. He simply will not have any sin in His presence for He is holy and calls us to be holy too.
That is the privelage of holiness. Immediately it is in your life, it brings you boldly into the presence of God. The Scripture means be being holy. It is an ongoing thing, an experiential thing. A thing that is our personal responsibility to maintain by the power given to us through Jesus first at the cross and His Holy Spirit second at salvation.
Now I leave you with this final thought that God gave to me in answer to my prayer this morning. God tell me what to write.
Psalm 116:15 - "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Never before had I thought of that verse in any other context but physical death. But today God showed it to me in the light of death to sin. That is precious to God because it immediately puts me into His presence to worship. That is something He desires more than anything else, worship. And that was the rest of my ride into work this morning. Worship.
As I was driving into work this morning I asked God to tell me what He wanted me to write about today in this blog. You see the answer unfolding before you. But first let me tell you what led to it.
I woke up and knew there was sin in my life. The Holy Spirit was faithful to tell me so. The only way to deal with sin is to obey Proverbs 28:13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." and Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The magnitude of confessing, forsaking, and reckoning is beyond calculation. Even the smallest sin cost the life of the Son of God, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)
To awake to righteousness (I Corinthians 15:34) and sin not, you must be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God. Unless this transaction is willfully done on your part, God will not do His part. First of all, He will not hear your prayer.
"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2)
Second, He will not set you free. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:31-36)
As long as you live and serve in sin, you are in bondage to it. The only thing that unstops Gods ear is your obedience to His Spirit's prompting you to confess, forsake, and reckon yourself dead to sin. Immediately you are free and alive in Jesus.
This has nothing to do with salvation. This has everything to do with righteous daily living. Perhaps you have never heard this truth before or perhaps you do not believe it. Perhaps you do not know the difference between the positional righteousness and life given to you through Jesus upon salvation (you can't lose it) and the experiential righteousness and life that you are responsible to maintain on a continuing basis (you can lose it).
That is the power of sin. Immediately it is in your life, it separates you and God. Not in terms of leaving and forsaking (Deuteronomy 31:6) but in terms of discipline God turns from you. He simply will not have any sin in His presence for He is holy and calls us to be holy too.
That is the privelage of holiness. Immediately it is in your life, it brings you boldly into the presence of God. The Scripture means be being holy. It is an ongoing thing, an experiential thing. A thing that is our personal responsibility to maintain by the power given to us through Jesus first at the cross and His Holy Spirit second at salvation.
Now I leave you with this final thought that God gave to me in answer to my prayer this morning. God tell me what to write.
Psalm 116:15 - "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Never before had I thought of that verse in any other context but physical death. But today God showed it to me in the light of death to sin. That is precious to God because it immediately puts me into His presence to worship. That is something He desires more than anything else, worship. And that was the rest of my ride into work this morning. Worship.
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