Power of a Praying Woman 10/17/06 9:02 AM Page 39
Lord, Cleanse Me…
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I remember having resentment toward my husband for words he said that hurt me deeply. As long as I held on to the hurt and resentment, it made me feel physically ill. I didn’t want to confess it because I thought my feelings were justi?ed and he was the one who was wrong. But I ?nally realized that all sin is sin, so I confessed my resentment to God as sin—and the moment I did, the feeling of sickness in my body left. “There is no soundness in my ?esh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness” (Psalm 38:3-5). Life is hard enough without us having to carry around old, dry, sick, weak bones. Nothing is heavier than sin. We don’t realize how heavy it is until the day we feel its crushing weight bringing death to our souls. We don’t see how destructive it is until we smash into the wall that has gone up between us and God because of it. That’s why it’s best to confess every sin as soon as we are aware of it and get our hearts cleansed and right immediately. Confession gets sin out in the open before God. When you confess your sin, you’re not informing God of something He doesn’t know. He already knows. He wants to know that you know. Confessing, however, is more than just apologizing. Anyone can do that. We all know people who are good apologizers. The reason they are so good at it is because they get so much practice. They have to say “I’m sorry” over and over again because they never change their ways. In fact, they sometimes say, “I’m sorry” without ever actually admitting to any fault. Those are the professional apologizers. And their confessions don’t mean anything. But true confession