Bible Study - How to Pray (6) - A Prayer of Confession - Matthew 6:12-13 and Psalm 51:1-12 - November 18, 2018

Bible Study – How to Pray (6) – A Prayer of Confession – November 18, 2018

This is lesson six (6) in our series entitled “How to Pray.”

Our focus scripture is Matthew 6:12-13 and Psalm 51:1-7, 10-12.

GOD forgives when we come to HIM in repentance.

The love and forgiveness of GOD is overwhelming. GOD not only forgives but HE forgets our sins once we confess them. Scripture tells us that our sins are buried in the deepest part of the sea. But remember whereas GOD forgives and forgets our sins once we confess and repent, Satan will attempt to keep your sins ever before us. Satan’s strategy is to defeat all Christians and prevent them from obediently serving GOD.

When Satan brings on the guilt trip, confess whatever he brings to your mind, and ask GOD to forgive you, unless you have already confessed it to GOD. If you have already confessed that sin, then tell Satan to bug off because GOD has forgiven you. That sin has been washed away by the shed blood of JESUS.

Christians must keep in mind that GOD placed our sin onto JESUS and GOD placed the righteousness of JESUS onto to all who, by faith, accept JESUS as their Savior.

What interferes with prayers? Un-confessed sin, not being good to your spouse, bitterness, lack of faith to name some hindrances.

Let’s read Matthew 6:12-13:

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

Quid pro quo is a legal term which means “a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.” In essence, if you do something for me, I will do something for you. JESUS taught that Christians are to forgive others as we expect to be forgiven by GOD.

This comes very close to what we call the “Golden Rule,” “Do unto others as we expect others to do to us.”

13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]

This is often a difficult verse to understand. In essence, we can consider “Father, do not let our nature lead us into the things that tempt us but guard our center of decision making (the eyes of our hearts)  from making such sinful decisions. Let us see that the “evil one” is using our human nature to lure us into sin. When we recognize that Satan is using our old nature to entice us to sin, then we can seek the strength we need from GOD to avoid that sin.

Keep in mind that JESUS was tempted to sin but HE did not yield to sin but HE overcame sin because of HIS relationship with HIS Father, GOD.

Temptation began in the Garden of Eden. When we get in a conversation with Satan in our own strength, we will lose. Eve did and she was enticed to sin and so will we. As Christians, we live in GOD’S Kingdom, through faith in JESUS. GOD is a Christian’s power through the indwelling Holy Spirit to avoid the temptation to sin. When Christians are in right relationship with GOD, they see HIS Glory and trust HIM. GOD is the “go-to-power” when temptation raises its head in their lives.

A person’s Spiritual health is one of the keys in battling temptation. Often, a key indicator is thinking we can handle anything that comes our way. Beware, because you could be headed for trouble. Just do not go there! Our human nature is for us to rebel against GOD and that is SIN! Consider what did the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:23:

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let’s consider the verses following our focus scripture in Matthew 6:14-15:

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Quid pro quo! (Consider Matthew 18:32-35. Also, GOD does not tempt any person, consider James 1:13. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:13 - GOD provides the power to resist temptation but we need to look for that power and apply it.)

Let’s read Psalm 51:1-7:

A Prayer for Restoration

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. GOD knows all things. We will never hide our sin from GOD.

[GOD considered David as a man after GOD’S own heart as recorded in Acts 13:22 - 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Yes, there is life after sin, when we confess it, repent and when we realize GOD’S complete forgiveness and continuing love for us, it is overwhelming. But there are consequences which result from our sin.]  

1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. 

2 Wash away my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. 

3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. 

4 Against You-You alone-I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge. 

5 Indeed, I was guilty [when I] was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 

6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within. 

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 

9 Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. 

Our proclivity to sin has a beginning. Let’s consider 2 Samuel 11:1:

1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 

King David rearranged his schedule. Did he have an ulterior motive? Had Satan enticed him to change his schedule? King David should have gone with his men but instead he stayed home. Often, Christians interpret a fork in the road of life as an opportunity GOD arranged. Let me be very clear GOD will NEVER lead you into a relationship that results in sin. We know King David sinned in a most grievous manner. He not only committed adultery but also had the husband of the woman with whom he committed adultery put in a situation where he was killed. David tried to hide it until GOD led the Prophet Nathan to bring David’s sin to the forefront.

Once David realized the gravity of his sin and that GOD knew it, it broke his heart. GOD forgave David but David had to suffer the consequence of his sin.

Notice, even though King David’s sin was most grievous, GOD’S plan for the lineage of King David did not change. The lineage of JESUS came through David’s ancestral line, which included the lineage of Bathsheba. GOD foreknew what David would do. GOD also foreknew the utter devastation David’s sin would cause in his life and HE did not prevent it. GOD foreknew David’s repentance and his desire to be restored to walk with GOD.

Do not let this result in you attempting to justify sin. GOD will never lead you to another person for an adulterous relationship. Remember this! GOD does NOT bring you together with another person while you are married.

King David longed for his sin to be thoroughly washed away. He desired to have the memory of what he had done removed. But Satan will make sure that we remember our sin. Since the passion of JESUS and a person’s faith in JESUS, true confession of his/her sin and repentance restores him or her Spiritually. Let’s consider Hebrews 9:14:

14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Faith in JESUS gives us hope. 1 John 1:9 is another verse that gives us hope along with 2 Corinthians 5:21 - 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. John 3:16-17.

GOD loves you unconditionally and HIS desire is for you, as a Christian, to build an intimate, loving, abiding relationship with HIM. HE desires to be your Very Best Friend and for you to confide in HIM as you journey through life.

Sin brought David to his knees as he expressed in Psalm 51 but his hope for forgiveness and restoration was still in GOD.

Let’s read Psalm 51:10-12:

10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

11 Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. 

12 Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit. 

King David had known the absolute joy of being in right relationship with GOD. Sin broke that relationship. He longed for GOD to restore that intimate relationship. He desired to walk in the presence of GOD every moment of his existence. He pleaded with GOD not to take away the Holy Spirit from him.

Yes, GOD anointed some kings and leaders with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The thoughts of GOD abandoning him was more than he could comprehend. Sin had stripped David of the joy of experiencing the presence of GOD. David longed for GOD to restore that overwhelming JOY he had experienced. He longed for GOD to build within him an everlasting Spiritual nature that would never disappoint GOD again. WOW!

That is exactly what GOD does in the lives of every Christian. Let’s consider 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 

20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

When a person receives JESUS as his or her Savior, GOD sends the Holy Spirit to indwell him or her as a guarantee and security deposit of HIS forgiveness and assurance that he or she knows with certainty he or she has been Spiritually born into HIS family. This is the miracle of Spiritual rebirth and that which will live eternally with GOD in bodily form. David longed for it and all who receive JESUS, by faith, as their Savior, since the passion of JESUS and the Day of Pentecost receive the indwelling Holy Spirit.

When a person knows the truth of an intimate, loving relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS, he or she never wants it to be compromised. But our sinful nature leads us toward sin or entices us and when sin takes place, it crushes you.

The Good News is that GOD never leaves you or forsakes you, even when you sin.

If sin has come into your life and you are a Christian DO NOT LET Satan defeat you but confess it and consider 1 John 1:7-10:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

GOD’S Grace is greater than our sin. Grace is not a license to sin but GOD’S canopy of love as HIS Son or Daughter. Why confess our sin? It is to maintain our fellowship with GOD through faith in JESUS!

Blessings!!!