Series: Intercessory Prayer Training - Lesson 2
Topic; Confession of sin
Last week we began a spiritual journey on intercession. The objective of this lesson is to enable us to be more effective in our prayer lives. It is designed to take us from praying for 60 seconds to at least 60 minutes or more
This training course is a prayer strategy based on 12 Biblical Steps of Intercession, which is to be divided into two parts as we had indicated in our previous lesson: INTIMACY and then INTERCESSION
We began by looking at how to BE STILL in the presence of God. Our scriptural foundation was Daniel 11; 32b and Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am thy God..."
Today we want to look at lesson 2 and our topic is confession of sin
Confession of Sin……..Daniel 9;5-13, psalms 4;4
Psalm 4:4 “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.”
Jesus emphasized the need to deal with sin each time he spoke of prayer.
In the Lord's Prayer he pointed out the need to forgive as well as ask for forgiveness as a condition to answered prayers.
In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus further deals with sin in prayer by saying that when we come to God's altar with an offering we must first do something about broken relationships before we pray and offer praise!!! ;vs23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; vs 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Isaiah wrote in chapter 1 from vs 11-20
1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
1 John 1:8 John, the beloved disciple, warns us against an attitude of innocence before a holy God “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• To say that we have nothing to confess to God is to call Him a liar, and to practice self deception before our Maker.
David says in (Psalm 51:5): "Behold I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
And Isaiah adds to his own unworthiness before a holy God when he says: "All of our righteousnesses (that is, our best efforts) are as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) Most of us misread that passage and think that God means “all of our unrighteousnesses.” But it is all our best effort at right living that are still as filthy rags.. He saw himself in the light of God’s holiness and cried "Woe is me I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips." (Isaiah6:1-5)
a) We are not just to come into God's presence presumptuously, but humbly (2 Chronicles7:14) contritely, with a sincere perspective on our own nature.
b) We need a vision of ourselves, our true fallen nature, our minds which are unclean, and of which God knows every passing thought. (Psalm 139:1-5)Bankruptcy Until we recognize our own state of bankruptcy before a holy God we cannot truly lean upon His Righteousness, without which no man will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
c) Most of us come into his presence as the Pharisee, proud, bragging of his kept laws, righteous deeds, his right to gain the Father's favor.
d) We should not be deceived by our gifts, talents, abilities, positions, careers and achievements in life.
e) We, are as the rich church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22.
f) We need to see ourselves as God sees us. “Lukewarm...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
"We need to admit...the shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, the worldliness of our lives, our fleshly fallen nature thatlives on, yet un judged within us, un crucified and unrepudiated, and the hyphenated sins of the human spirit, self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence,self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, self-indulgence, and a host of other self-sins. They are not something we do, they are something we are..."The Pursuit of God
REGARDING INIQUITY IN MY HEART
"If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18
To regard iniquity means;
a) to leave it alone,
b) to tolerate it,
c) to know it is there and do nothing about it.
d) It is to hide it,
e) to cover it by excuses,
f) to consider it unimportant,
g) to ignore its dangers.
God considers any iniquity to be an abomination..God calls rebellion in any form "as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry." (1 Samuel15:23)
Daniel was conscious of the subtle ways in which sin surrounds us and creeps into our thoughts,actions, and in-actions.In his exemplary prayer in Daniel 9 he identifies nine faces of sin.
WE HAVE ...
a) Sinned v 5 Missed the mark, fallen short
b) Committed iniquity v 5 Deliberate conscious sin
c) Done wickedly v 5 Life-style habitual sin
d) Rebelled v 5/9 Said no to God!
e) Not hearkened v 6 Closed our ears, ignored
f) Not obeyed voice v 10 Grieved the Holy Spirit
g) Transgressed law v 11 Legal term, to know law and disobey
h) Departed from God v 11 Backslidden, wandered away
i) Made not prayer v 13 Sin of prayerlessness
THE GLORY OF GOD REVEALS OUR SINFUL NATURE
Many a times when we come for prayer meetings or in our own prayer time. We normally go to God religiously. We go to him with our prayer items, challenges, needs, petition etc
The presence of God has two major categories of assignments
a) Manifest the glory of God
b) Reveals our filthiness.
A man that truly enters into the presence of God cannot but help to see himself as unclean.
Example;
a) feeling of Isaiah before the throne in Isaiah 6, and of
b) Daniel 9;5-13
c) Peter standing before Jesus in Luke 5;8.When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SIN
We are exhorted to confess our sins to God (I John 1:8-9), and even admit our faults one to another (James 5:16) so as to pray effectively and fervently and be healed.
a) Conviction is seeing sin as exceedingly sinful.
b) Repentance is "Agreeing with God about my sin," and turning from it.
c) Confession is exposing it to God & asking Him to forgive and cleanse.
We cannot pay the penalty of our sins. The penalty or "wage of sin is death." Therefore God has provided a better way. We lay our sins on Jesus. Isaiah 53
What happens to confessed sins?
1. They were paid in full - Romans 5:11 / Isaiah 53:6
2. They were forgiven/pardoned – 1 John 1:9
3. They were laid on him – Isaiah 53:6
4. They were washed whiter than snow – Isaiah 1:18
5. They were covered – Psalm 32:1
6. They were cleansed by blood of Jesus – Hebrews 9:22/ 10:4
7. They were blotted out – Isaiah 44:22
8. They were removed as far as east from west – Psalm 103:12
9. They were cast in depths of sea – Micah 7:19
10. They were forever forgotten – Jeremiah 31:34
Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 139 as part of your confession of sin.
Dr. Tg Badia
