How To Pray When You Just Messed Up Again

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

No, the devil's nightmare here. From its time to man up. Challenging men to step into their true manhood. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it. Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network.

And now, here's James. It's a sin that has settled into your life, you know, and you just have trouble getting rid of it. It may have aspects of addiction, physical addiction about it, like alcohol or drugs or mental addiction, like pornography. It may go deep personally and be something that's so ingrained that there's this part of you that justifies it, even though deep inside you know it's wrong. You know, it may be something that you're convinced yourself isn't wrong because everyone else does it.

You know, gossip falls into that category. It's so easy for us to be, as the Epistle to the Hebrews puts it, hardened by sin's deceitfulness, isn't it? Oh man, that's so true. You know, it's like swimming in the ocean.

You jump in at one place and before you know it, it carries you to another. But I always like what Hebrews 4 says about Jesus, that he's been tempted in every way that we really have been, but he didn't sin, so really he understands us perfectly. Yeah, that's so comforting, isn't it? And some people wonder about that. You know, how can Jesus have been tempted in the same ways I was when he lived 2,000 years ago? And I like to look at it like this. Have you ever noticed how sometimes when you've had a little success in doing good, you know, doing something for God, that the devil isn't far behind? You know, you might not see it at first. He has a way of attacking you when you least expect it, because, you know, remember he doesn't go after those who aren't living for God.

He's already got them. But if he can disgrace you when you've been on the right track, I mean, we've seen it, haven't we? I mean, think about some of the influential pastors who have messed up badly, and again, we've heard about that recently, you know, and of course they didn't start out that way. They didn't start out saying, oh yeah, I'm going to fail big for Jesus, you know, and it's always money or sex or whatever. And so we know that the devil really goes after us, again, unexpectedly, when we're trying to live for God.

And it's those little choices along the way that creep in and turn into bigger things, you know, the so-a-thought, reap an action, sown action, and reap a habit kind of stuff that really gets us. So can't you just imagine how the devil must have gone after Jesus? I mean, again and again, even when he tried to tempt him in the wilderness, Luke tells us that he left him until an opportune time. In other words, he was coming back, so he stayed at it. Oh, so Jesus knows what we're facing really better than we do.

So let's get to our title. How do you pray when you're telling God, haven't we been here before? Yeah, yeah, when you've messed up again. I think that what we need to do most of all is understand God's heart. When you and I sin in the same area again and again, I think we often end up thinking, well, how could God forgive me for this? Because, you know, we're disappointed with ourselves, we're convicted, we're upset, and of course the devil rubs it in, you know, do you think God really loves you? So we end up staying away because we think that God is angry with us, but there's an important distinction. God is grieved and sometimes angered by our sin, but he still loves us, and that's the thing that we cannot miss. If that weren't his heart, then Jesus never would have come. So we really can come to him. He wants us to come to him after we've messed up and done the same thing over and over again. Yeah, that makes sense because at the same time when Jesus talks about obedience, he also talks about love, you know, and we need to be close to God's love so, you know, we can grow and learn obedience.

Yeah, I really believe that. I think that's a great point, and there's a passage in Isaiah that illustrates this. It's just a verse, but you've got to remember Isaiah was written in a crucial time in Israel's history where things were about to get really bad because of their sins, but God says to them, return to me for I have redeemed you.

Now here's what gets me about that. He has redeemed them before they've returned to him, right? Return to me for I have redeemed you. So his love, his faithfulness is right there, you know, watching, waiting. It's what God does here that shows us his heart, and it's like, you know, the father watching for the prodigal, you know, before he comes home, and I think this is so applicable to the believer in Jesus who's received salvation but is stuck on the same old sin.

Return to me for I've redeemed you. And right before that, in Isaiah 44 22, God says, I've swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist, and then he says, return to me for I've redeemed you. Isn't that beautiful? Oh, wow.

Really remarkable when you just take another look at it, right? Because God shows us his heart. You know, he really is tender-hearted towards us, but what do you say to the person who goes down the road of, well, I can just do it again because it's all grace, and God will just forgive me again?

Oh, man. Well, the first thing I'd say is, haven't we all done that at one time or another? But the question is, where is your heart? You know, so what I'd really say is careful, careful, you know, because God's word tells us that those whom the Lord loves, he also chastens, or the Lord disciplines the one he loves, you know.

So do you really want to go there? Because that's what you see in the lives of those pastors and others who have lost their witness and their ministries, because, man, you know, sometimes he'll give us a long leash and we'll get into trouble. But the truth is, God is stronger than whatever sin we may struggle with, and he will help us in so many different ways. Yeah, a lot of this is really about staying humble, to keep coming back to him, and he will give us the help we need.

Yeah, that is the heart of it, Robby, I think. So could you pray for all of us in this as we wrap up? Pray for, you know, our listeners, pray for ourselves, that we could just do that, just have hearts that please God in this. Oh, Lord, I thank you, thank you for giving James this message today, this passage in Isaiah 44. I'm going to have to go look at it hard, because that's, Lord, help us to see that and not be afraid to come to you that loves us more than we could possibly imagine. Help us to have hearts that see your heart and realize that's where we belong right next to you. Lord, I pray that you'd give us all the wisdom to see and feel that. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.