Can anything be as tedious as a guilty conscience?* That’s probably why the Psalmist declared:
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin (Psalm 32:1–2, 3, 5).
Indeed, a sense of guilt weighs on the mind and heart, often subconsciously.
When you don’t deal with your guilt and receive God’s forgiveness, it becomes a barrier. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, you hide. Oh, you may not run but you hesitate to pray, sure that God has some great punishment to mete out to you. You’re reluctant to deal with God because your guilt is always in the way.
Now, guilt may not rob you of praying entirely. However, when you do pray, guilt becomes a veil between you and God. You’re so conscious of it, that it becomes your focus. Thus, you miss God and you miss your prayers. As a matter of fact, your prayers are crushed because you are not experiencing freedom. You are not offering to God honest, surrendered, heart prayers. As I note in my upcoming book, How to Pray, when you’re not dealing with your guilt you may resort to the well-known phrases in your praying.
If guilt can crush your prayers, then what can you do? Do like the Psalmist. Confess to God. Do so with the assurance of forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Then live in liberty and offer free, unencumbered prayers to God and experience God fully.
Experiencing the shift to clarity and peace through honest, surrendered, whole whole-hearted praying.
Image courtesy of KellyB., Flickr
*John Webster: “How tedious is a guilty conscience!”