The problem for many of us begins when we sin, or when we know we're not living the way the Lord wants us to. We become convicted by the Holy Spirit. That's good! That's what's supposed to happen and shows that we're hearing from the Holy Spirit. Our job then is to confess our sin and repent. That phrase simply means that we're to agree with God that what we're doing is a sin, ask His forgiveness and then turn away from the sin and not repeat it again. No problem, right? I think we're all used to doing that.
The problem can come though when we do repeat the sin, whether it's right away, or a year later. We again are convicted, but often Satan will join the fight at this point and tell us we can't be forgiven, or that God doesn't love us anymore, or that we can't be saved because if we were, we wouldn't do such a thing, and of course, he usually throws in that God won't hear our prayers any longer because we've sinned. Every single one of those statements is an outright lie from Satan. But he often manages to take our feelings of guilt, and mix it with some scriptures taken out of context or misunderstood, and pulls it off. He causes God's child to stop praying and causes them to believe that God won't listen to their prayers any more. So while Satan rejoices, God and His child are weeping, and the child is feeling lost without their father.
If we think about this logically though, we can easily see through his lies. If you're a parent, and your child disobeys you, what happens? Do you throw your child out of the house, and disown them, or refuse to hear anything they say, refuse to provide for their needs, letting them go hungry until they behave? Of course not! And neither does God. Basically, parents attempt to get their child to admit what they did, they dish out discipline if needed, and let their child know they're forgiven. Before that happens, there's a separation between the parent and child. The child is uncomfortable in the parents presence because they know they've done wrong, even if the parent has discovered it yet. That puts a wall up between them because the child can't be comfortable with the parents love until they come clean. Once they have though, then once again the parent and child can be comfortable together.
And that's pretty much how it is between us and God too. He first convicts us of our sin, so that we will come to Him and tell Him about it. He already knows about it but wants us to tell Him so we can get it off our conscience and know without any doubts, that He's forgiven us. When we don't talk to Him about it, it eats at us and causes us all kinds of problems emotionally.
David tells us how he felt when he didn't go and confess his sin to the Lord in Psalm 32:3–4. He said the longer he went without talking to the Lord about it, the worse he felt. We know that because he wouldn't admit to his sin with Bathsheba and her husband, the Lord had to send a prophet to him, to tell him that the Lord knew about what he'd done with Bathsheba and how he'd killed her husband. Finally then David confessed to the Lord, (psalm 51) and of course, since David was His child, the Lord heard his prayer and forgave him. We know that due to the seriousness of the sin, that David was also disciplined for it and suffered some serious consequences from it as well. The consequences were not the Lord's discipline, they were simply the consequence of sin in his life and that's true for all of us when we sin.
But what about all those scriptures that say that God doesn't hear the prayers of sinners, we ask when we're confused and ashamed of ourselves. Again, we need to really think about what they're saying. God doesn't hear the prayers of the wicked, and sinners are wicked in His eyes. But my dear friend, remember, we are not sinners any longer! We're saints, His children, and there is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ! God does not stop listening to our prayers when we sin. If He did, I'm afraid that He wouldn't have very many prayers to listen to.
In psalm 51, David asks the Lord not to cast him from His presence or take the Holy Spirit from him. He doesn't ask that because that's what God normally does. He asks that because he knew that because of Saul's great sins, God removed His Spirit from him. The Holy Spirits role in the Old Testament was different then it is now. Having the Holy Spirit didn't have anything to do with salvation then, instead it was given as an enabling presence. The loss of the Spirit then didn't mean loss of salvation, but loss of enablement for whatever ministry the Lord had wanted them to do. God rejected Saul as King and removed His Spirit from him, and David was asking God not to do that to him. And of course, we know He didn't.
You know, we often think about how God chose David to be King of Israel, and then David went and disappointed Him. But the truth of the matter is that God knew what David was going to do, long before He ever told David that He'd chosen him to be King. It's the same with us too. He knows about all our sins. He knows what we're going to do today, next year and every day after that. He knew it when He chose us to be His child and called us to Himself. He knew when He hung on the cross for us. And you know what? He didn't change His mind! He still loved us then, and He still loves us now!
So what happen when we repeat a sin? God wants to hear from us, and He still hears our prayers. When we repeat a sin later, that doesn't mean that we didn't really repent before, it simply means we sinned again. God knows we're not perfect and He knows we will make the same mistakes over and over at times. He doesn't have a set limit for us that once we cross then it's all over. What matters to Him is what's in our hearts. If an alcoholic confesses his drinking and is truly sorry for his sin, repenting of it, promising he won't do it again, then he's forgiven, period. If he turns around an hour later and drinks again, and again confesses his sin, truly repenting of it, he is again forgiven. And he will be forgiven again, and again, and again, and again, as often as it takes until he learns how to overcome it with God's help. The same is true of any other sin as well.
Sadly, it's at times like this that Satan often comes in and convinces the person that God won't listen to them anymore.
But God loves us and will always listen to our prayers and answer us. Yes, we may be disciplined for our sin, but that's simply more proof that we're his beloved children, and He loves us! What happens when we've fallen for Satan's lies and we're too afraid, ashamed or embarrassed to pray and ask His forgiveness? God doesn't leave us. He is always with us and always will be. He will continue to take care of us, and continue to love us, and He will continue to convict us of our sin and constantly try to draw us to Him in prayer and draw us into His Word so He can show us the Truth. Think how you would feel and what you'd do if your child had done something wrong and was too afraid, ashamed or embarrassed to come and talk to you about it... it would break your heart, wouldn't it? And so it breaks our Father's heart too. Hear the heart of our Father: Isaiah 49:15–16 —“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! *See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. * And again when He had to discipline His children: Jeremiah 31:20 —Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD. *
Let's make sure we remember this the next time Satan tries to convince us otherwise, and go running to the Father who loves us and wants only the very best for us!
