prayer

[Chrysostom]

You ask God to forgive your sins, iniquities, and transgressions, and to cleanse you from them all. That is a good prayer, but listen to the instruction the Apostle gives: tell your offenses in particular. When you bring a generalized request, how will you know what you have been forgiven? How will you grasp the greatness of the gift? Make mention of them first. Name your sins before God. Say, "I lied," "I was consumed with envy," "I looked with lust," "I neglected mercy." Then ask forgiveness. Then you will learn what you receive, and you will become grateful to your Benefactor. For even in the Oblation we first bear up our sins and then ask for pardon, as Christ Himself bore sins when He sanctified Himself for our sake. He took them from men and bore them to the Father not for condemnation, but that He might forgive. And do you see the immensity? That the blood of the Son should be shed for us, this is greater than adoption, greater than all other gifts. So do not treat the benefit lightly.

You also ask for help to overcome your sins and temptations through the Holy Spirit. That is right, because no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. He gives patience and a swift release. Yet never forget that even these common trials cannot be borne without assistance from God. He is the One who grants the power to endure. So do not rely on your own strength. Refer all things to Him.

But do this also: do not sink into despair. Even if you sin daily, approach Him, entreating, beseeching, asking forgiveness. In this way you will become more guarded against sin, you will drive away the devil, and you will draw forth God's lovingkindness. For the grace of forgiveness and the cleansing of the Spirit remain with you if you do not destroy them by indolence. Christ freely forgave your sins; now draw that grace to yourself by good deeds. A soul forgiven and still earnest in repentance is blessed, as David says: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven." Where blessedness is, shame is removed and glory follows. So let your request be full of both contrition and confidence, knowing that He who healed the paralytic first proclaimed forgiveness of sins, an unseen work far greater than restoring limbs, and then gave a visible sign so you might believe. Therefore, examine yourself, confess specifically, flee to His mercy, and with His help press on to overcome.

 

[Silas]

The very prayer you have lifted up already shows that your spirit is alive, that the Holy Spirit is at work within you. The deep cry for forgiveness and the longing to overcome sin are not something the flesh can produce. That desire comes from God, who has placed His Spirit in you as a seal of ownership and a down payment of your full redemption. Right now, the Spirit is testifying to the truth that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

You asked for cleansing, and you have it. God does not merely overlook sin; He blots it out through the sacrifice of His Son. When you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and to purify you from all unrighteousness. The Spirit bears witness in your heart that this is real. Where sin abounded, grace abounds much more, not as a license to keep sinning, but as the power that breaks its dominion. You have died with Christ, and your new nature cannot practice sin as a settled pattern. That old life is dead.

The struggle you are facing is not a sign that you are failing; it is the normal warfare between the flesh and the Spirit. Your redeemed spirit lives in a body that still carries the pull of sin, and the two are contrary to each other. You cannot walk in victory by sheer willpower. The help you need comes when, by the Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives you the strength to choose rightly in the moment of temptation. Temptation itself is not sin, even Jesus was tempted. It only gives birth to sin when you yield to the desire. But when you respond after the Spirit, you experience the joy of His enabling grace.

Be filled with the Spirit continually. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Jesus Himself was filled and led by the Spirit as our example, and He relied on that anointing to stand against every scheme of the devil. Ask the Spirit daily to control your thoughts, your words, and your reactions. He will teach you what you could never learn on your own, giving you an intuitive knowledge of what honors God and how to walk in newness of life. As you yield, He perfects the love of God within you, replacing sinful reactions with responses of love, patience, and self-control.

There will be times when you stumble, and when that happens, you have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Run back to the fountain of grace. The same Spirit who convicts you of sin also points you again to the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work. Do not be discouraged. The earnest desire you expressed, that God would help you overcome, is proof that He is keeping you. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that all the full redemption purchased by Christ will one day be yours completely. Until then, walk in the truth that you are dead to sin and alive to God, and trust His Spirit to bring your actions into harmony with your faith.