Letting Go to Connect with God
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.” Psalm 66:18,19 ESV
Basketball was not my main sport in my teen years. However, I still recall one coach that was very poetic in his coaching style. When I hesitated or was slow to see an open drive to the basket he would yell. “Summers, you have to make up your mind!”
In our spiritual life we need to constantly “make up our mind.” Will we go all out for God or will we struggle to let go of that which is holding us back? In this psalm we see an important connection between holding on to sin and that which is displeasing to the Lord and confidence in our prayers being heard.
Isaiah the prophet addressed the ability and willingness of God to act, but at the same time the barrier that disobedience plays in our life. “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.” (Isaiah 59:1,2 NIV)
More often than not the disconnect in our lives with God is not on God’s part, but on ours. We see this concept in the New Testament in John’s epistle,
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3:19-22 ESV)
God by His Holy Spirit is able to keep us on track in our relationship with the Lord. I notice the key word of Psalm 66 is the word, “cherish.” It is not just, “if I have sin.” It is “if I cherish sin….” That challenges us to ask, “Do I love sin, more than God? Am I want to get the most out of God, by giving the least to God?”
I have always felt that times of prayer should begin with confession of any known or unknown sin. That is an aspect of the worship order in many liturgical churches. It is an important practice. But it goes beyond, just recognizing the need for forgiveness to pushing us on to “repentance.” Confession of sin recognizes the wrong, repentance reveals a willingness to change. It is, “I’m wrong forgive me and I will lead a new life, I will change my actions and attitude.”
Psalm 66 recognizes the hindrance of sin, but it celebrates the joy of connecting with the Lord out of a relationship of love and obedience. “But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”
Prayer for today…. Lord, enable us to live in an open and free relationship with You. May we lay aside and turn from all that would hinder our prayers and our obedience to You. Thank You for Your grace that doesn’t require human perfect, but does call for the affection of our hearts to be toward You.