Sin and Prayer

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29. Sin and Prayer.

I have a three-year-old granddaughter who has suddenly developed an ear big for words and freezes,

which she loves to use, although she doesn't always understand what she's saying.

The results are sometimes garbled.

The other night at bedtime, she was saying her prayers.

Besides her usual Thanksgiving, she brought in some freezes and petitions used by daddy and the pastor.

As a result, I'd came this strange Thanksgiving.

I thank the Lord for all my sins.

No, Mary did not know what she was saying, although her mother quickly corrected and instructed her.

However, all too many churchmen might as well be praying the same way.

They seem so contented with their sins and unhappy over their duties.

A 17th century poet commented about man's habit of pricing his sins rather than his duties,

and they spoke of us as cherishing our darling lusts.

Much better was the prayer I heard some years ago by a man who had paid a painful price in the courts and prison for his rebellion and sin.

No, I quiet, faithful Christian he prayed.

I thank the Lord for tripping me up, laying me out and stomping me down in my sin, and for then making me a new man in Jesus.

The confession of sin is an important part of prayer, especially private prayer, but it must be specific.

People are ready to make a vague confession of sin, but never a specific one.

They wouldn't confess to being stingy towards God, mean to their family,

ill-tempered toward loved ones, careless with the truth or anything else.

In other words, they confess to being vaguely a sinner, but a sinner without any specific sins.

We mustn't treasure our sins, nor be grateful for them, but confess them by name and ask God's grace to cope with all of them.

How many specific sins have you dealt with in your prayers?

How can you overcome a problem or a sin you do not acknowledge and confess?