Derek Prince - Unconfessed Sin Can Be A Barrier To Healing
This is an excerpt from: Invisible Barriers To Healing
We come to the third barrier which is not in every life but in many. It's unconfessed sin. Proverbs 28:13 lays down a principle. Proverbs 28:13. He who covers his sins will not prosper. You may try desperately to succeed in life and you may seek many things but if there is covered unforgiven sin in your life you will not prosper. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. I don't know but in the lives of many of us I suspect there are sins that have not been acknowledged, they've not been confessed, they've not been repented of. We've covered them up, we've hidden them away.
You know, in dealing with people about the confession of sin which is so important, I've discovered that many think this way: If I don't confess my sins to God He'll never know about them. Really, I've found lots of people who think that way. Let me tell you God knows already. And God is not asking you to confess in order to find out what you've done. God is asking you to confess because when you do that He can help you. It's for your good, it's not for His information. And let me tell you, too when you've told Him the worst about yourself you haven't shocked Him and He knew it all before you told Him.
And I tell young people, there are things you might never be able to tell your parents because you'd be too embarrassed and too ashamed. But you can tell God and God is never embarrassed. Isn't that wonderful? So, I'm going to give you and each one of us here tonight an opportunity in the presence of the Holy Spirit to see if there's any unconfessed sin in our hearts and lives. And then very simply very quietly, not out loud, confess any sin that the Holy Spirit shows you. The Bible says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, if you will confess, God has committed Himself in His faithfulness and His justice to forgive you and to cleanse you. And no matter what there might be on your conscious or in your heart tonight.
If you in faith in God's faithfulness, will confess those sins or that sin you can go out of here later this evening just as if you'd never committed a sin in your life. Because when God forgives our sins He blots them out. He doesn't hold them against us ever again. This we're not going to do publicly. We're going to take just a few moments. I invite each one of you just to shut yourself in for a moment with God and let God show you is there something that I have done or said. Maybe some years back. The Holy Spirit brings it to your remembrance. And you respond by saying, God, I acknowledge. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Cleanse me in the blood of Jesus. Just take a few moments of quietness.
Now, I don't want anybody raising their eyes or their heads. If you want to just proclaim triumphantly that you've confessed something and you know God has forgiven you you feel so good about it, would you just raise one hand for a moment in testimony. God bless you, God bless you, that's right. Now, remember, you're not only forgiven, you're cleansed. There's nothing between you and God from this moment onwards in that respect. Let's just say out loud to God, "Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you for forgiving me, God". Can you say that? "Thank you for forgiving me, God. I receive your forgiveness". And one more thing you may need to do, you may need to forgive yourself. Sometimes that's the hardest. Say this: "God, because you've forgiven me I forgive myself". Amen.