Feb 02 – To Yourself!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties.” (Psalm 139:23)

When you sit in the presence of God for personal prayer, the very first thing the Lord does is reveal you to yourself. You begin to recognize your shortcomings, your failures, and the emptiness within you. Not only that, you also realize how deeply you need to depend on the Lord alone.

When the prophet Isaiah went alone into the temple of God and waited at the Lord’s feet, the Lord first revealed to him his true spiritual condition. That is why Isaiah fell before God and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

The Scripture says: “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’” (Isaiah 6:6–7)

The Lord sees our hidden faults. When we confess them to Him and forsake them, we need not be troubled by them again. While we confess sins committed unknowingly before God, if we have sinned against another person, we must meet them personally, express our regret, and seek their forgiveness. Whether face to face or even through a letter, we must humbly ask for their pardon and receive their forgiveness and love.

Every time we kneel in the presence of God, the Holy Spirit not only reveals us to ourselves but also brings a deep inner awareness. He gives us a broken and contrite heart. That heart enables us to cry out, “Lord, how can a sinner like me serve You? How can I even utter Your holy Name? Have mercy on me!”

When Peter confessed his sin, the Lord made him a fisher of men. The Bible says: “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18–20)

Likewise, when Isaiah confessed his sin, the Lord raised him up as a mighty prophet. Children of God, make every effort to confess your sins and become vessels fit to receive the Lord’s blessings.

Verse for further meditation: “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me.” (Psalm 19:13)