Pray Anyway: Turning to God Amidst Our Failures

Reading of the Word

1 John 2:1–2 NASB 2020

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Prayer of Illumination

Gracious and loving God,

As we come before You to hear Your Word, we ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds. Open our eyes to see the truth, our ears to hear Your voice, and our hearts to receive Your message with humility and grace.

In 1 John 2:1-2, we are reminded of the profound truth that we have an Advocate with You, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Lord, help us to grasp the depth of this love and the significance of Christ's advocacy and atonement in our lives.

May Your Word penetrate our souls, bringing clarity and understanding. Transform us through this teaching so that we may live more fully in the light of Your grace and truth. Guide us to respond with gratitude, faith, and obedience.

Speak to us now, Lord. Your servants are listening.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Advocate, we pray.

Amen.

Introduction

1. In an episode of Gilmore Girls, things are going well between teacher Max Medina and Lorelai Gilmore until Max tells Rory, Lorelai’s daughter, to call him by his first name away from school. More than a little freaked out about the effect her relationship could have on her daughter, and rather than talking it through with Max, Lorelai ghosts him (season 1, episode 11, “Paris Is Burning,” directed by David Petrarca, aired January 11, 2001, on WB).

2. Have you ever avoided someone because you knew you’d wronged them? You didn’t want to confront it. You didn’t want to feel guilt or shame … or that awkwardness! So you kind of ghost them. We can do that in our walk with God too. Guilt sometimes makes us avoid God: he must be mad at us because we have sinned!

The Work of Forgiveness

We can run but we cannot hide from God.

We are seeking one thing: Freedom.

CJ Quartlbaum writes about musician Sam Smith’s song “Pray,” in which the singer faces the evil and brokenness in the world and, despite not having a history of faith or desire for organized religion, is driven to pray. What else can one do? “In some way, we are all saying that same prayer. Can we get a one-on-one with God to just talk about freedom? At our core, it’s what we all want: freedom. We want to be free from the turmoil and mental anguish. We long to be free from the guilt and pain. In our hearts, we want to know God and this is why we cry out to Him” (CJ Quartlbaum, “Everyone Prays in the End: Reflecting on Sam Smith’s Theology of Prayer,” Christ and Pop Culture, December 5, 2019,

The guilt and shame overwhelms us.

Guilt and shame are not from God.

It occurs because we think sin is going to satisfy. It does for a short time but afterwards, the devil wants us to feel condemnation so we will run away from God.

We run away from God instead of to him because of the guilt and shame.

Adam and Eve hiding from God in the garden after they sinned.

Psalm 139:7–12 NASB 2020

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

Feeling guilt and shame after sinning is not a bad thing. It means the Holy Spirit is working in us.

If we do not feel this, we need to begin worrying.

That feeling of guilt, the conviction that we have done wrong, is an invitation to repentance.

Conviction is NOT condemnation.

The misconception is that Jesus came the first time to condemn the world.

John 3:17 NASB 2020

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

Jesus came so that the whole world would have the opportunity to experience freedom and fellowship with God.

Propitiation - to satisfy God’s righteous demands so that the Creator is favorably disposed toward those who place faith in him for eternal life.

He didn’t just do this for past or current believers but for everyone, whether they are believers or not. Nobody is outside the mercy of God. The whole world is saved from sin but it is the question on if each individual will accept or reject Christ for salvation.

I found something very interesting about this word as I studied it in the Greek. Listen to what this word says to us. It shows us who God really is!

Word Studies in the New Testament Chapter 2

“that the scriptural conception of the verb is not that of appeasing one who is angry, with a personal feeling, against the offender; but of altering the character of that which, from without, occasions a necessary alienation, and interposes an inevitable obstacle to fellowship

He is not in heaven waiting for us to do something wrong so he can strike us down! He is in heaven yearning for a relationship with us and is doing everything possible to make that happen!!!!!!!

He loved us so much that he wants to prevent us from condemnation. Condemnation never works in drawing someone to Jesus. But the Holy Spirit convicting someone does.

The Holy Spirit is a gentleman.

He doesn’t force himself into someone’s life where he is not wanted.

But he will quietly nudge us, showing us that what we are doing is wrong so that we have the opportunity to run to Jesus for forgiveness and freedom.

He is trying to draw us back to Jesus and away from the sin.

He is pointing us to running to God for forgiveness.

So what do we need to do?

Recognize the fact that the Holy Spirit is working in us for our good.

Run to Jesus when we sin, not away from him.

In our text, Jesus is our advocate to the Father. This is why he went to heaven because he had to take on this new role as high priest for us.

The Tony Evans Study Bible Chapter 2

If you are a believer, Jesus represents you before the bar of God’s judgment. You were a bankrupt sinner who couldn’t afford a lawyer, but the Father appointed his own Son in your defense. This advocate doesn’t share your sin problem; he’s the only righteous one. He paid your debt on the cross, and his shed blood continues to cleanse you today.

Confess our sin, repent, and receive the forgiveness that is awaiting us.

Confess Our Sin

Sinners need an advocate and Jesus, the Righteous One, fits that role perfectly. He becomes our comforter and helper in overcoming sin.

He especially comforts those who know Christ in salvation but also recognize that there are still serious failures in their live that God needs to cleanse them from. There is more work for God to do.

Hannah put her house on the market this week and has been checking out new homes in our area. One home that she went to inspect was an adorable, old, perfectly restored cape style home right up the road from our house. Hannah reports that the house was gorgeous, perfect and the decor looked like it had been done by an interior designer. After her appointment was over, I drove past the “said” house on my way back from the bank and noticed the owners in the driveway, lugging trash bags full of items they’d hidden for the showing back into the house. I chuckled to myself, totally able to relate to this poor home owner who probably got a half hour notice that people were coming through her house again to “inspect” it.

Repent From Our Sin

Repenting is critical in receiving forgiveness. Just as John spoke about, we are not to keep on sinning just because God’s grace will cover it. We must, by the Holy Spirit, strive to reject temptation.

Seek and Find God’s Forgiveness

Forgiveness is something that God loves to do for us. 1 John 1:9 proves this for us.

1 John 1:9 NASB 2020

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Our anguish, despair, and guilt can either push us away from God or lead us to him.

So what happens next…..we release it from our hearts and lives.

The Power of Release

God wants to take that guilt and shame and release us from it, giving us freedom and joy in his Name.

But sometimes the past wants to stick with us, even after God has already forgiven us.

vs. 1 - He wants to release us from sin so that we can you may not sin “continue sinning” and walk in the light of life.

Let me go back to that word propitiation for a moment. It also has another meaning. It also talks about the fact that we will have defilement removed from us. In finding release from sin through Christ cleansing and sanctifying us with his Blood, we find in him fellowship and purity of heart.

There is a difference between Christ washing us from our sin but cleansing our heart from sin.

Washing is representative of baptism. Water is used to show us that we can become clean. For example, we can take a shower but we will become dirty again. Washing takes care of the punishment of sin and its consequences.

Cleansing takes us to a whole new perspective of work in our heart. Purifying is shown many times in the Bible through fire. To get the defilement out of precious metals, it must be brought to a very high temperature so that they are removed so that the metal will be purified. Christ, through the Spirit and by his Blood, will remove the defilement from our life so that we may be purified and made whole, a new creation.

c. When he releases us from the grip of sin, it gives us what we desired in the beginning. Freedom. But not freedom to do whatever we want. Instead, it is freedom found in Christ.

He isn’t done yet…

The Restoration of Healing

God wants to make us into a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB 2020

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Only when we run to him can he restore us.

Jeremiah 30:17 NASB 2020

‘For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying: “It is Zion; no one cares for her.” ’

Not just physically but especially spiritually. He wants to give us a clean bill of health spiritually and to do that, he must heal us of those wounds that sin causes.

He will put together the broken pieces of our life. Not with just super glue but he will take those pieces and make you into something new.

Isaiah 64:8 NASB 2020

But now, Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter, And all of us are the work of Your hand.

He is making and molding the child of God into something beautiful that will reflect the image of his Son.

When the Holy Spirit cleanses us from sin, it leaves gaping wounds and a void in our life. It is our nature as humans. But Christ wants to heal that with his presence by filling those holes with his presence and love.

He wants to give our soul relief from sin and its consequences.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 2

The gospel, when rightly understood and received, sets the heart against all sin, and stops the allowed practice of it; at the same time it gives blessed relief to the wounded consciences of those who have sinned.

To Sum It Up: We will not let our guilt keep us from turning to God; we will confess our sin to him and receive forgiveness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the journey of forgiveness, release, and restoration is a profound spiritual process that can only be truly accomplished through the power of prayer. When we are overwhelmed by the weight of our sins, prayer becomes our lifeline, connecting us with God's infinite mercy and grace. It is through prayer that we receive the strength to forgive others and ourselves, breaking the chains of bitterness and guilt.

Forgiveness is not a mere act of will but a divine grace that we must seek from God. As we pray, we invite the Holy Spirit to work within us, softening our hearts and filling us with compassion. Through earnest prayer, we are reminded of Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the cross, where He forgave even those who crucified Him. This divine example empowers us to extend forgiveness beyond our human limitations.

Release comes through prayer as well, as we surrender our burdens and pains to God. In prayer, we find the courage to let go of past hurts and embrace the freedom that comes with trusting God's perfect justice and love. As we release our struggles to Him, we experience the peace that transcends all understanding, a peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Restoration is the beautiful culmination of forgiveness and release, and it is through prayer that we witness the transformative power of God's love. Prayer opens our eyes to the possibilities of reconciliation and healing. It aligns our will with God's will, enabling us to seek and accept the restoration of relationships and the renewal of our spirits. As we persist in prayer, even in moments of overwhelming sin, we are assured of God's promise to make all things new.

Therefore, let us commit ourselves to a life of prayer, trusting that through it, we will experience the fullness of forgiveness, the liberation of release, and the joy of restoration. May we continually seek God's presence in prayer, especially when sin threatens to overwhelm us, knowing that He is faithful to hear us and to heal us.

Prayer After Message

Heavenly Father,

We come before You with grateful hearts, having received Your Word today. Thank You for reminding us of the transformative power of forgiveness, release, and restoration through prayer. As we reflect on the message, we acknowledge our deep need for Your grace and mercy, especially when we feel overwhelmed by sin.

Lord, we ask for Your help to truly forgive others as You have forgiven us. Soften our hearts and fill us with Your compassion, that we may extend grace to those who have wronged us. Help us to release our burdens and pains into Your loving hands, trusting that You will bring healing and peace.

We pray for restoration in our lives and relationships. May Your Holy Spirit work within us, renewing our spirits and reconciling us with those from whom we have been estranged. Align our will with Yours, Lord, so that we may seek and accept the healing and renewal that only You can provide.

Teach us to commit ourselves to a life of prayer, especially in times of struggle and sin. Remind us that through prayer, we can experience the fullness of Your forgiveness, the liberation of release, and the joy of restoration. May Your presence guide us, strengthen us, and transform us each day.

In the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray.

Amen.

Benediction

May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, be with you. Though we strive to live without sin, let us find comfort in knowing that we have an advocate in Jesus, who intercedes on our behalf. He is the atoning sacrifice, not just for our sins, but for the sins of the entire world. May His love and sacrifice guide us, protect us, and keep us in His righteous path now and always. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and one another.

Amen.