Bad Confessions or "I Can't Get No, Satisfaction!"

"Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believith unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9-10

As Christians, we all make the Great Confession. We confess in our belief in the deity of Christ. We confess that we believe in ALL of the promises of our Holy Bible. We confess that we believe in John 3:16 specifically. We confess our whole faith in God. But happens when we practice bad confessions? What happens when we admit to the truths of the Bible but then hold back. One might say: "I know God does all things for all people and will take care of my needs" in one breath and then say how worried they are about their bills. In this case you have two confessions, the faithful first confession, then the faith failing second confession where the worry comes in.

I know from personal experience as a former type A personality that it is quite difficult to "let go and let God." But to give into worry and the enemy is to deny the Lord's truth, that He can take care of everything. To pray fervently to God then to not act as if God will answer will negate your prayer. Perhaps He may answer your prayer, but not to the extent you want. If you want satisfaction in your prayer answers, you got to really believe that He will give you your request then act as if it's coming. Otherwise, not acting in faith is bad confession.

A lot of what I am saying sounds a bit like that found in positive motivational and sports motivational tapes doesn't it? In the motivational genre they tell you to picture the outcome and eventually see the outcome. Well, God wants that in your faith too! He wants you to ask Him for what you want or need then just consider it done. He may not give you the exact outcome you expected, but as the Holy One with all knowledge, His answer will work out better anyway, after all, only He can see the big picture.

So, if you're having any challenges in your prayer life, start small with your requests, as your faith may not be at the level to expect something big. Start out with the following faith building exercises and don't forget the Christians' Affirmations I sent in my last lesson.

Confession Lesson:

If I confess "the Son has made me free" (John 8:36) then I possess absolute freedom. If I confess "the righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1), I possess lion-hearted boldness in spirtiual warfare.

I will send more in my next lesson, but I encourage you to find your favorite scriptures in the Bible and do the preceeding Confession/Possession exercise and you can quickly find out just how great things are through the power of God.

Meanwhile, may the Good Lord bless and keep you all, in Jesus' name, Amen