Prayer Changes Stories #3

Templo Cleansing

Today the duelling place of God is not a templo of brick and morder but the soul of men.

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Confession is necessary to private prayer because it initiates the process of cleansing the templo.

Psalm 139:23 ESV

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

Andrew Merry

“God can not hear the prayer on our lips because often the desires of our hearts after the world cry out to him much more strongly and loudly then our desires for Him.”

Did you ever feel that you are unworthy to come to God in prayer? because of your failure

to combate these thoughts we need to remind ourselves of the promises of God concerning confession.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession is the solution to the problem of sin guilt in prayer.

What is Confession?

The greek work to confess mean:

To agree with God concerning his opinion of a matter.

The act of declared admission.

Confession is importante to God because it indicates that we take seriously our mistakes and failures.

God does not ask us to confess our sins because He need to know we have sinned but because He knows that we needs to know we have sinned.

There is a study that of the psychological impact of prayer also discus the importance of confession. According to these studies; People should think less about what they ought to do and think more about what they ought to be.

If only there being were good there works would shine brightly.

This brings to our attention an essential law of prayer. My prayer life will never rise above my personal life in Jesus Christ. If my personal life touches to much of the world my prayer life suffers

Psalm 66:18 ESV

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

There can be no efective prayer life where sin maintain its gripe in the life of the believer. This is why confession is critical to our praying and should be implemented early in prayer.

It clears the conscious of faith killing guilt and opens the heart to truly believe God hears our petitions.

Why is it so difficult?

Confession is really the most painful part of personal prayer. The moment we admit that a particular act displeases God, we recognise the responsibility to change it. Immediately an inner battle of the will take place. This period must contain a moment of pain. Specific and sincere confession of our own sin is no joyous exercise and self content how ever salutary is not pleasant.

Spiritual surgery

This act of declared admission gives God access into the heart of the believer removing all hindrances to efective prayer. It could well be described as spiritual work surgery

Confession opens the sower drains the poison and heals from within. There can be no healing within until there is first confession without.

Confession is conditional to Cleansing.

Before you pray for a change in the circumstances you should pray for a change in caracter.

We should pray daily

Psalm 139:23–24 ESV

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Those most mightily used by God were also those most willing to confess there weaknesses. Only when Isaiah cried “i am undone” did the Lord invite him to serve. When Job confessed his sins and prayed for his friends God changed his circumstances and gave him more blessing than his days of prosperity.

Isaiah 6:5 NIV

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

These Godly servants of Gog have learnt and importante secret of power. The holy spirit works best through a clean vessel and confession begins the process of cleansing

The necessity of confession

Is not an option to spiritual growth. It Is crucial for all spiritual growth.

Isaiah 59:2 ESV

2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

It is that necessarily first step to repentance.

Before we will willingly turn from sin, we must first admit that what we are doing is SIN.

Exodus 8:8 ESV

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Charles Spurgeon:

“A fatal flaws manifest in Pharaohs prayer. It contain no confession of sin. He says not , “I have rebel against the Lord intreat that i find forgiveness”

Spurgeon concludes: “A prayer without penitence is a prayer without acceptance, if no tears fall upon it it is withered”

There must be confession of sin before God or our prayer is faulty.

During the time of confession specially be on guard for the little things, those unseen sin that grow to cause such severer damage. Every major spiritual failure begins as a tiny seed of misconduct .

HOW? of Confessing

David’s confession on this psalm is a pattern for daily confession.

Psalm 51:10–11 ESV

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

First he cries out for… 4 things

Divine Holiness

“Create in me a clean heart, O God”

Can’t be forgiven by my own actions. Forgiveness is something only God can do.

First a ask GOD what needs cleansing. look back at your day and you will see the need for confession. Ask yourself

Did i failed God in any areas of personal conducted?

Was I honest in dealing with others?

Were my thoughts pleasant to God?

As God reveals various spiritual short comings, confess them and proclaim total victory

Divine Attitude

“and renew a right spirit within me”

the first petition concerns a right relationship with God “a clean heart” this petition concerns a right relationship with others “ a right spirit”.

Bitterness towards others drains prayers of power.

“the great danger in having enemies is not what they may do to us it is what we do to ourself as we allow harsh, bitter angry reaction to develop.

Divine guidance

"Cast me not away from your presence”

Here we confess our need for God’s presence through out the day specially to defeat temptation.

Matthew 6:13 ESV

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

To confess my confidence that God will be with me when temptation comes helps prepare me for these attacks .

Divine unction

“and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

God has no intention on removing his spirit from believers but still this aspect of confession is important .

It is a renewed affirmations that we can not accomplish anything apart from the direct spiritual aid of the holy spirit.

it is to admit that with out God spirit operating in and through us all efforts will be hopelessly ineffectiveness.

Conclusion

Following your time of silent waiting immediate ask God to search your heart for unconfessed sin!

Mentally examen your recent activities to discover possible areas of spiritual failure that need confessing

Confess any specific sin you may be guilty of either against God or your fellow men.

Confess your need for specific divine guidance and supernatural unction.