8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to His children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. ~ Psalms 103:8-14
This Psalm states that the LORD is a merciful and gracious God, abounding in steadfast love. He is not willing that any should perish, so much so that He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities, but has great compassion for us.
He wants us to all come to repentance and forsake our sins, and leave off our iniquities, not keep them hidden as secret sins. If we do that and keep our sins hidden, how can we find forgiveness? Not only that, but it could cause us not to be heard by God.
Ever wonder why your prayers are not being answered in a timely manner? The short answer is possible secret sins. How did I come to this conclusion? The Psalmist is saying that if he saw iniquity in his own heart and did nothing about it, it would hinder his prayers, but because he did not do that, he cleared his conscience before God, and therefore, God listened to his prayer and answered him. And that is true of all of us.
Maybe, we don’t see more of our prayers answered because of secret sins. Maybe the answer is we have cherished iniquity in our own hearts. In other words, we have entertained sins that we should be casting out and building up strongholds we should be tearing down. We are to do what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “…take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Dear LORD, please help me to tear down every stronghold. Help me to remove every secret sin from my life. Help me to remain in Your love. Teach me to overcome evil with good. Strengthen me to cast down every evil and wicked thought that enters my mind. Teach me to walk in Your ways and cling to Your Word. Help me to run the race set before me with great endurance so that I might finish strong. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
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