Emptying Oneself Before Prayer
As I seek Your face, Father, I want to be empty of me. How can this happen, LORD? Can I truly be empty?
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21
Dennis Nunn taught us in Lesson 5 of “Every Believer a Witness” on How to filled with the Holy Spirit.
As we approach God in our Prayer life, it is a good practice to empty ourselves of anything and everything that does not please God.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 English Standard Version (ESV)
1 John 1:9 English Standard Version (ESV)
Today’s discussion could be titled: “Dealing with sin before we pray workshop” .
How do we deal with sin to empty ourselves before God?
From the book “Respectable Sins” by Jerry Bridges.
- Apply the Gospel
- Start by remembering that we are forgiven by the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without it, this discussion would be pointless.
- Depend on the Holy Spirit
- But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. Romans 8:13 (AMP)
- Recognize our responsibility
- We must diligently pursue all practical steps for dealing with our sins.
- Identify Specific Sins
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the pattern of sin in your life.
- Have a humble attitude and willingness to face that sin.
- Memorize and apply appropriate Scripture
- I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalms 119:11 (ESV)
- Store them up against future needs: the times we are tempted to sin.
- Cultivate the practice of Prayer
- Prayer is the single most important direction for dealing with sin.
- The Holy Spirit and Scripture must be applied.
- Involve one or a few other believers with you
- Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (ESV)
- Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs (27:17)
Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV)
The New Life
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Discuss various sins:
- Profanity. (Continue with Ephesians 25-32, possibly 1 Peter 4:11)
- Ungodliness – describes an attitude toward God, while unrighteousness refers to sinful actions in thought, word or deed.
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Colossians 1:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
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- Anxiety or Frustration –
- Discontentment
- Unthankfulness
- Pride
- Selfishness
- Lack of Self Control
- Impatience or Irritability
- Anger
- Judgementalism
- Envy, Jealousy, etc
- Sins of the Tongue – gossip, lying, slander, critical speech (even when true), harsh words, insults, sarcasm and ridicule. Any speech that ends to tear down another person.
- About 60 references in Proverbs warning us of our speech.
- Mathew 12:36 – I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
- Worldliness
Make this your “wake up” prayer every morning:
“Lord, I want to glorify You in my life today. Help me love people like You love them. Give me a burden for lost people. Help me look for opportunities to witness today.”