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Don't Hide Sin in Your Heart

 Is there unconfessed sin in Your heart? 

Even being a child of God is no guarantee that God will hear our prayers, if we do not regularly confess our sins. In Psalm 66 we read, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." [Psalm 66:18] 

And in Isaiah, "But your iniquities [unconfessed sins] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." [Isaiah 59:2]

Unconfessed sin grieves His Holy Spirit and breaks our fellowship with the Lord. Until it’s confessed, He will not hear our prayers There is one unconfessed sin that is especially serious.

Jesus, in the verses following the model prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer, of Matthew 6, admonishes His disciples: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." [Matt. 6:14-15]

Yet, we need not fear broken communication with our Lord. Keeping the lines of communication open with God our Father is a simple thing. The apostle John assures us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." [1 John 1:9] The key word here is "if." We have a choice. It is up to us whether or not we confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness.

Note that John said "sins," plural. So did Jesus, in His model prayer, when He referred to asking our Father to forgive us our "debts" or "trespasses" -- other words for sins. [Matt. 6:12] We must ask for forgiveness for specific sins, identifying them individually, agreeing with God that we were wrong, and asking His forgiveness.

There is no sin our Lord will not immediately forgive, if we are genuine in asking -- so long as we have first forgiven everyone who has offended us. The moment we ask, He forgives and will again hear our prayers. But think of the consequences of your living for days, weeks, months or years without confessing your sins or forgiving someone. Can you remember any of these sins that you have been practiced - Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like - Galatians 5:19-21

We might pray for years, and never be heard. If you see yourself in such way, make sure you confess all your sins. Never allow your sins to hinder your prayers. God bless you!

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