\u201cI cannot pray after so great a sin.\u201d
\nAnd are you too ill to see a doctor?
\nToo thirsty to drink?
\nToo dirty to take a shower?<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
It is better to risk being seen as a hypocrite by praying after sin
\nthan to risk growing cold in God\u2019s arms by refusing to.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
From the perspective of despair,
\nsin is the end of prayer.
\nFrom the perspective of hope,
\nsin is the beginning.
\nChrist stands on the side of hope
\nwhen he describes the just prayer:
\n\u201cGod, have mercy on me, a sinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Effing up
\nis the precondition
\nfor being saved.
\nTherefore:
\nStop being such a pansy
\nin regards to the effing up.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
It is not remorse.
\nIt is not piety.
\nWhat keeps you from praying
\nimmediately after sin
\nis a secret love of sin.
\nYou do not pray
\nbecause you want to leave a space
\nfor sinning again \u2014
\nsometime later,
\nwhen the pain is less acute.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
You really want to undo the devil?
\nThank God for allowing you to sin.
\nYou now have a blindingly obvious opportunity
\nto call upon His mercy.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
You want to conquer sin?
\nRecognize this:
\nEvery sin is an opportunity to rejoice
\nin the marvelous grace of God,
\nwithout which you would have done
\nsomething far more miserable.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Do you think Jesus lied:
\n\u201cThere will be more rejoicing in heaven
\nover one sinner who repents
\nthan over ninety-nine righteous persons
\nwho do not need to repent?\u201d
\nWhy, then, are you wrapping yourself
\nin layers of self-loathing?
\nYou have become the potential cause of song in Heaven,
\na song brighter and louder
\nthan if the entire world had never sinned \u2014
\nand here you lie in bed.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Netflix is insufficient.
\nFeeling bad is insufficient.
\nDenying the existence of sin
\nis fun for about a week \u2014
\nthen abysmally insufficient.
\nChrist alone suffices.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
\u201cO Happy Fault,
\nO necessary sin of Adam,
\nthat won for us so great a Redeemer!\u201d
\nThe sin that cursed the whole world is called \u201chappy,\u201d
\nand you grow despondent over your own?
\nWhat strange powers are granted you \u2014
\nGod, who sings redemption
\nout of mankind\u2019s fall from grace,
\nis reduced to a mewling incompetent
\nover your idiotic sins.
\nBut this is what it means to refuse to pray after sin \u2014
\nto rate yourself as something infinitely darker
\nand beyond-help than Adam,
\na thing whose faults
\ncan never be happy faults.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
If there is beauty,
\nthere is redemption.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Now then:
\nOh my God
\nI am heartily sorry
\nfor having offended Thee.
\nI detest
\nof all my sins
\nbecause of Thy just punishment.
\nBut most of all,
\nbecause it offends you,
\nMy God,
\nwho are all good
\nand deserving of all my love.
\nI firmly resolve
\nthrough the help of Thy grace
\nto sin no more
\nand to avoid the near occasion of sin.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI cannot pray after so great a sin.\u201d And are you too ill to see a doctor? Too thirsty to drink? Too dirty to take a shower? * It is better to risk being seen as a hypocrite by praying after sin than to risk growing cold in God\u2019s arms by refusing to. * From […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n