“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Psalms 66:18
Before writing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” before becoming a leader of the Reformation, before his 95 Theses, Martin Luther was a Catholic priest. One thing that did not change for him was a passionate conviction that Christians must repent and confess their sins.
As a priest, Luther’s confessions were excruciating both for himself and the confessor who had to listen. He did not have the kind of lurid, scandalous confessions that might leave his confessor thinking, “Oh, how wicked... Tell me more!” He tediously confessed every thought, word, or deed he thought was even questionable.
At the end of one confession, his exhausted confessor asked, “Is there anything more?”
Martin Luther, in great agitation, said, “Yes, I can think of one more thing. At supper, as the bread was being passed, I noticed another priest had a piece of bread that looked a little bit bigger than mine. I remember being envious, wishing I had that little bit bigger piece of bread.”
God is infinitely patient in hearing our sincere confession. Humans are not. That was his confessor’s breaking point. “Martin... Go out and kill someone... Then come back and confess... when you have something to confess!”
The Bible emphasizes again and again the need to confess.
Job must have been one of the best men on earth for God to ask Satan, “Have you noticed my servant, Job?” But even Job had to fall in the dust, repent, and confess his sins.
When Isaiah saw God’s purity and holiness, how did he respond? “Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips!” When he saw the God’s purity and holiness, he emphatically confessed his own impurity and unholiness.
Daniel received an incredible visit from the angel Gabriel In Dan. 9. Do you know what he was doing when the angel came? Let’s read Daniel 9:20-22
“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill, while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.”
Daniel was confessing.
Andrew Murray wrote, “If you go back to the scripture records, you will find that the men who lived nearest to God, and had the most power with him, were those who confessed their sins and their failures... If these holy and good men felt that they were faulty, should we not tremble, and endeavor to find out if there is anything in our lives that God would have us get rid of?”
The words translated repentance in the Bible refer to a change of mind, a feeling of regret or remorse, or turning from one thing to another. Specifically, it is the turning from sin and turning to God. But the definition of the feeling of regret or remorse cannot be ignored. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 refers to godly sorrow leading to repentance. If we do not abhor the sin, if we are not grieved for having committed it, have we truly repented?
Even the “change of mind” definition may be more significant than I first thought. Spurgeon said,
“I heard a person say, and, as I thought, say very flippantly, that it was a great thing to know the Greek language because, in that way, you found out that repentance ‘simply meant a change of mind.’ The brother who said that did not appear to me to know much about the English language, and I was quite certain that he did not know alpha from beta in the Greek language; but that was what he said, ‘it simply meant a change of mind.’ Ah! it does mean a change of mind, but what a change of mind!
“In my opinion, such a translation of the Greek as that would not imply that repentance was anything less than it is commonly understood to be, but a far greater thing. It is an entire and total change of mind, a turning of the mind right round, so that it hates what once it loved and loves what once it hated; it forms different judgments from what it ever did before, and no longer puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; darkness for light, and light for darkness.”
Repent does not mean a simple change of mind, but a total change of mind.
A writer wrote of his daughters singing in a detention facility. They then visited with the girls in the facility. One of them told one of his daughters that she wanted to become a Christian, but she was not yet ready. She was testifying at her boyfriend’s trial the next day. She was planning on lying so he would get off.
A few days later, at a follow-up service, that girl went forward to accept Christ. The counselor, by the providence of God, knew about her conversation with the singer a few days earlier. She asked how everything went at the trial. The girl said that she had testified, her boyfriend got off, and everything was just fine.
The counselor asked, “Are you sorry you lied?”
The girl said, “No.”
The counselor said, “Then you are not ready to accept Christ. You have not yet repented of your sin.”
The definition of the feeling of regret or remorse in repentance cannot be ignored. If we do not abhor the sin, if we are not grieved for having committed it, have we truly repented? How often do we ask for forgiveness without being grieved?
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear,” Is 59:1-2. “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened,” Ps 66:18.
Repentance and confession are essential keys to prayer.
For three weeks I have struggled with how to explain the need for repentance and confession to good people. When I say, “good people,” I know the standard is Jesus and none of us come close to the standard. When I say, “good people,” I know I am comparing you to other people, none of whom can approach the standard set by Jesus.
Next May, if the Lord tarries and if he allows me to tarry, I will have been a Christian for 50 yrs. That seems like a long time to me, but someone here may have been teaching SS before I was born. I have been struggling with how to teach the need for repentance and confession when I really should learn from some of you.
Most of what I found about repentance does not apply to you. Most is directed to unbelievers. Prayer meeting is attended by our most faithful believers. Much of the rest of the material is about blatant sin or hypocrisy. We could talk about those.
We could talk about drugs, drunkenness, child abuse, spouse abuse, and infidelity. We could talk about gang violence and kids in high school or even junior high getting pregnant. If those are problems for any of you, I’m unaware of it.
We could talk about hypocrisy. We could talk about prayerlessness as a sin, and the need to repent of prayerlessness, but the people who most need to do that repenting don’t come to prayer meeting. We could talk about acting holy on Sunday and living for the devil the rest of the week, but I am unaware of that being a problem for any of you.
Of course, all of that could just mean I don’t know some of you very well. Some of you could have some shocking secrets. If you do, if you have hidden them, you really know you need to repent.
It seems that the people who most obviously need to repent are the least likely to be in prayer meeting.
For three weeks I have struggled with how to explain the need for repentance and confession to good people. While I have been teaching for several months on Wednesday nights, the fact is, I need to learn from some of you.
When we talked about pure motives as a prayer key, we considered how it is possible to ask for the right thing with the wrong motive.
I have prayed that God would so move among us that we would become a praying church, one where we are as anxious to be in prayer meeting on Wednesday night as we are to be in worship on Sunday morning. That is a good thing to pray for. God wants us to be a praying church. But it is possible to ask for good things with bad motives.
I began teaching during the Wednesday night prayer meetings almost eight months ago. Suppose I prayed every day for all those months for God to make us into a praying church. Suppose I prayed morning, noon, and night for God to make us a praying church. Suppose I prayed fervently for God to make us a praying church.
Suppose, while praying daily for God to make us a praying church, I picture myself teaching about prayer before we pray. The sanctuary is filled to capacity, even though it is not full on Sunday mornings. The balcony is filled to capacity, even though it is not even used on Sunday mornings. All eyes are on me. I announce the scripture. The sudden rush of turning pages is almost thunderous. Then, it is quiet, as everyone waits for me to read. I read. I teach. Through-out the sanctuary, people can be seen feverishly taking notes. The sound of my teaching is repeatedly punctuated by shouts of “Amen!” and “Yes, Lord!” and “Hallelujah!” Everyone is hanging on my every word.
When it is time to pray, groups form everywhere. Prayers raise the roof and heaven comes down. When the glory can no longer be contained, we march out, ready to take Everman for Christ, or die trying.
Suppose, while praying daily for God to make us a praying church, all that is in my mind. Would I be praying for God’s glory, or my own? I would be praying for the right thing, but would I be praying with the wrong motive? Would I need to repent?
If I can imagine Bro. Jim replacing me as the teacher with the same results, if I can imagine Steve replacing me with the same results, if it does not matter to me at all who is teaching when that revival comes, then I am praying for God’s glory. If that vision is less satisfying with anyone but me teaching, I need to repent because I am asking with the wrong motive.
The picture in my mind does not need to be so grandiose for me to be guilty of wanting the glory for myself. The pictures in your mind do not need to be so grandiose for you to be guilty.
Just moments ago I said that while I have been teaching for several months on Wednesday nights, the fact is, I need to learn from some of you.
If, when I said that, you were hoping I would call your name as an example for all to know, you need to repent and confess. The visions in our minds do not need to be grandiose.
I do need to learn from some of you. Maybe the safest, the most truly humble thing to think would be to immediately think of someone else, “He’s probably talking about... so and so,” as you recall how they have helped you.
This kind of sin is much more subtle than the blatant sins and hypocrisy mentioned earlier, but it still hinders our prayers. Any sin against the infinitely holy God is an infinitely wicked sin.
Some of us may sin in more subtle ways than others. Consequently, God may convict us for attitudes and actions other people never notice.
One of the subtle ways we can sin is by omission, not doing what we know we should do. This may be the most subtle way to sin. While many commands are given in God’s word, only we know what He commands us personally to do. Only we know when He prompts us to get out of bed early to pray or read the Bible, but we don’t do it. Only we know when He prompts us to give more than a tithe, but we don’t do it, or we give more than a tithe but not as much as He prompts us to give. Only we know when He prompts us to serve, but we don’t, maybe thinking it is time someone else do it. Only we know when He prompts us to be a witness, but we hesitate until the moment is past.
We can sin by omission with no one noticing. It still hinders our prayers.
If sinning by omission is not the most subtle way we sin, maybe it is by making a promise to God and not keeping it. Have you ever told God, “If you do something, I will do something”? As long as we tell no one but God, only he knows when we don’t do it. Have you ever made a promise to God about your prayer life, or your Bible reading, or your giving, or your witnessing, or your serving, or anything? Have you kept every promise you ever made to God? If not, have you repented, confessed, and asked God to forgive you and tell you what you should do now?
Subtle sins hinder our prayer as surely as the blatant ones. “If I regard iniquity in my heart...” It does not have to be blatant. It does not have to be an outward action. It does not have to be anything anyone else knows about. “If I regard iniquity in my heart...” If I love a sin, if I hold onto a sinful attitude, if I choose to ignore God’s prompting, if I make a promise to God and don’t keep it, if I make an excuse for my sin, if I choose to hold onto my sin instead of repenting and confessing it, the Lord will not hear me when I claim to be praying.
