June 7

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Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

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🔊 The Holy Spirit cannot be poured out and mixed with sin. Therefore sin is the most serious obstacle to a true New Testament Church, and to a true outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We must confess and utterly forsake sin. Our hearts must be emptied of all uncleanness. All habits that weaken our hearts must be renounced. We must take time so that our repentance is deep and thorough. If repentance is not taken seriously, there is no reason why God should take us seriously when we pray for an outpouring of His Spirit. The ‘religious’ person has more to fear than the worldly sinner in this respect. The worldly sinner has nothing to lose. Everyone knows that he was not a Christian, and did not profess to be one. However, when the religious person confesses and repents, they have more to lose. They must lay down their reputation. This will be harder the longer a person has claimed to be a ‘Christian’ and the higher their position in the Church. God does not want to shame people – that is not the purpose of repentance – but we must have a broken, humble attitude that indicates a readiness to acknowledge mistakes and sins of prayerlessness, pride and spiritual dryness. Sin that we have not repented of is an inner wound that festers and will breed infection. Deal quickly and decisively with all that mars your inner walk with God, and abide in the joy of being right with God.