Prayers That Strike The MarkSample

Removing the Obstacles

As we move forward as intercessors, we will inevitably encounter obstacles. Many of these obstacles appear as hindrances, constraints, or weaknesses in our personal lives. Baggage might be the most useful term. We cannot move forward freely unless we get rid of our “stuff,” which, one way or another, always has to do with sin.

After you identify a sin, you must do something with that information—you need to move on to repentance and confession. First, before God, state unequivocally how you have sinned. Then, declare your intention—with God’s help—to sin no more. Confession means admitting that you are guilty of something that you have been accused of or that you feel convicted of. You may acknowledge this guilt or conviction only to yourself and God, or you may tell a pastor, a priest, or another godly individual. If you are confessing in the presence of another person, that individual may be able to prescribe helpful measures for you to take once you step back into your daily life.

Ultimately, though, it is not just about your confession or agreement. It is about the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from your sin. Scriptural confession leads to biblical cleansing.

Intercession is all about removing obstacles—first the sin in our own hearts, which blocks our forward progress along the road of righteousness and keeps us from praying aright, and then in the world around us, where the wreckage of sin is piled so high it blocks the sun.

All of this confession and repentance would be a worthless exercise if we did not have Jesus’s forgiveness, which wipes our slate clean of sin and sets us back on our feet so that we can operate out of righteous faith. No longer must we stumble along by our own light; we have the true light of Christ to show us the way. And through our intercessory prayers, we can draw others along with us on God’s path as we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Let’s keep up the good work, removing the sin-obstacles one after another as we encounter them so that we can proceed on our journey of faith, interceding as God leads and accurately striking the mark over and over with our prayers.