Confession in Prayer: Part 2

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account” (Romans 4:7-8).

A tool to help you to pray (A.C.T.S.)

A (adoration):
C (confession): With adoration, there are “You are” statements (“You are a holy God”), but in confession, there are “I am” statements (I am a sinner). The word “confess” does refer to an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9), but in this acronym, confession has more to do with acknowledging or admitting one’s sins before a holy God. When we confess our sins, we agree with God and what His Word says about the severity of sin. What does the Bible say about sin?
• All sin is sin against God (Matt 5:21-28)
• Sin separates us from God (Rom 3:23)
• Sin breaks the law of God (1 John 3:4)
• Sin brings forth death (Rom 6:23; James 1:15; 1 John 5:16)
• Christ died on the cross for your sins (Rom 8:3-4; 1 Pet 2:24)
You will not grow as a Christian unless you come open and humble with your sins. God is pleased with the “broken and contrite heart” (Ps 51:17).
T (thanksgiving):
S (supplication or intercession):

Application:
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin that is hindering your walk with God.
• Immediately confess that sin and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. He is eagerly waiting for you!

Confession in Prayer

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

A tool to help you to pray (A.C.T.S.)

A (adoration):
C (confession): The verb “confess” means “to agree with or say the same thing.” When we confess our sins, we don’t deny it, blame it on others, or cover it up. When we confess our sins, we agree with God and what His Word says about the severity of sin. We admit that sin destroys our walk with God and we grieve with God over our sins and how it offends Him.
• Unconfessed sin hinders our prayers (Ps 66:18)
• Unconfessed sin impedes our health and joy (Ps 32:3-4)
• Unconfessed sin destroys our livelihood (Prov 28:13)
• Unconfessed sin brings deception to our lives (1 John 1:8)
• Unconfessed sin pollutes our relationship with God (1 John 1:6, 10)
Note: God does not demand sinless perfection, but He does expect His people to humble themselves and seek His forgiveness. God is pleased with the “broken and contrite heart” (Ps 51:17).
T (thanksgiving):
S (supplication or intercession):

Application:
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin that is hindering your walk with God.
• Immediately confess that sin and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. He is eagerly waiting for you!

Love: the most powerful spiritual gift

"More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world."
-William Barclay

Prayer: Knowing God

“I believe…that the proper study of God's elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.” Quoted in J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 17.

A tool to help you to pray (A.C.T.S.)

A (adoration): Before thinking of anything else, focus on the person of God first. Begin your prayer with praise and admiration of our God. There are certain natural attributes of God that set Him apart from His creation:
His omnipresence: He is present everywhere at the same time (Ps 139)
His omniscience: He knows all things (Ps 139)
His omnipotence: He is all-powerful (Ps 139)
His immutability: He never changes (Mal 3:6; James 1:17)
His eternal nature: He has no beginning and no end (Ps 90:2)
His sovereignty: He controls all things (Ps 135:5-6)
His triunity: B. B. Warfield, “…there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence” (“Trinity,” ISBE, 3012). See Dt 6:4; Is 46:9; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14.
C (confession):
T (thanksgiving):
S (supplication or intercession):

Application:
• Praise God for His great character!
• Meditate on an attribute or two this week on the character of God.

Trusting God in your fear

When I find myself in fear of anything, I am reminded of a Swedish adage which says: “Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.” Fear has a way of gripping our lives; therefore, paralyzing us from any movement. It was Edmund Burke who wrote “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”

Every one of us has some phobia. Whether it is the fear of rejection, failure, commitment, or loneliness, we all struggle with some haunting fear. No one is exempt or immune to fear. The question is not whether you have fears, but how will you respond to the fears in your life. It is one of Satan’s most powerful tools. The reason that fear is so powerful is that it keeps you from trusting and depending on God. Many people refuse to trust God and will either not risk any movement in their life or find ways to make this life work for them.

It is interesting that the most quoted command in the Bible is “fear not.” More times than any other command, God realizes what fear does. He gives you this command because He understands that you will face fear and that fear will cripple you if you don’t trust in God. A well-known example of this type of fear was an occasion where the disciples of Jesus were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Storms in this area approached fast and furious, and while the disciples were rowing their boat, a storm begins to rage against the boat. Matthew tells us that in the “fourth watch of the night” (3-6 am) Jesus came to them while walking on the water (Matt 14:25). The disciples thought that Jesus was a ghost, but Jesus speaks to them saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). It is interesting to me that the thing that frightened the disciples the most was the thing that Jesus was walking on. You have nothing to fear in the presence of Christ.

The greatest reason that you have nothing to fear is because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. You are not alone. The term Holy Spirit is the word “comforter.” It is a legal term which refers to a lawyer or legal assistant who “comes alongside of you in your need of help.” When you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit immediately comes and dwells within you. You know what that means? You have the very presence of God with you at all times. He will never be caught by surprise by the events in your life. He is never caught off guard. He knows every situation that you are facing. He is with you all the time.

Unless you have a clear understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, you will misunderstand His role in your life. The person of the Holy Spirit is introduced in the first few verses of the book of Acts because Luke wants you to understand the connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Both work in concert together. “Until the day when He (Christ) was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1:2). Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will now play a key role in their lives.

Luke is telling us that there is a close connection between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus began to do and teach in His physical ministry He will continue to do through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God has called you to worship Him, serve Him, and tells others about Him. He has not left this task to you to accomplish all alone. No! He has given you His very presence to help and aid you. When you are sharing the gospel with someone and you feel that you will not have the power or words to explain the message about Christ, the Spirit is right there with you and He will guide your every thought and word. All you have to do is pray and ask Him.

Adoring God: Part 2

“I feel it is far better to begin with God, to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another. In general it is best to have at least one hour alone with God before engaging in anything else.” E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer

A tool to help you to pray (A.C.T.S.)

A (adoration): Before thinking of anything else, focus on the person of God first. Begin your prayer with praise and admiration of our God. The Bible gives us some names that describe our great God.
Here are some examples:
• Elohim (Strong One) who created and sustains the universe
• Adonai (Master or Lord) who deserves our complete allegiance
• Yahweh (Lord or Jehovah) who has made a covenant with His people
• Ancient of Days who is above time and space (Dan 7:9)
• Yahweh Jireh who will provide (Gen 22:14)
• El Shaddai (God Almighty) who supplies comfort (Gen 17:1; Ex 6:3)
• El Elyon (Most High God) who is supreme and sovereign (Gen 14:18)
• Yahweh Shalom who gives peace to His people (Judg 6:24)

C (confession):
T (thanksgiving):
S (supplication or intercession):

Application:
• Praise God for His great character!
• Meditate on a name or two this week on the character of God.

Is there purpose in our affliction?

"Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experience that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it were ever possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence by means of some drug or other medical mumbo jumbo...the result would make it too banal and trivial to be endurable. This, of course is what the cross signifies. And it is the Cross that has called me inexorably to Christ."

- Malcolm Muggeridge