If there is sin you keep returning to, that’s an iniquity. It’s a sin with which you continually struggle. Just as the Holy Spirit freed me from lust, He wants to do the same for you right now.

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” -- Ephesians 4:31-32

Before I was saved, I was an immoral person. Yet, even after I received salvation, I continued to struggle with lust. But on my 30th birthday, the Holy Spirit allowed me to live victoriously in that area of my life. Every year since I became a Christian, He has asked me what I want for my birthday, and for my 30th birthday, I asked for the ability to hear God more clearly.

The weekend before my birthday, I ministered at a prophetic meeting at a church. The first night, I was hearing God and prophesying like never before. When I returned to my hotel room after the meeting, I flipped through the channels on the television and saw something I shouldn’t have seen. After I watched it, I felt so unclean and immediately confessed my sin to God and repented. However, the next night at the prophetic meeting, I couldn’t hear anything from the Lord.

The following day at the Sunday morning service, one of the other speakers asked if he could preach instead of doing the prophetic meeting. I was secretly relieved—until I heard his message. He preached on iniquity and bondage and how even mature Christians experience these. I knew he was talking to me. Then he said, “When the Holy Spirit convicts you about a sin and you do it anyway, it grieves Him. God told me to say that if you’ll humble yourself and come to the altar, He’ll set you free.” I went forward and God did a work in my heart I’ll never forget, and since that moment I’ve been able to hear God more clearly than ever before. The next morning was my birthday, and as soon as I opened my eyes I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Happy birthday!”

If there is an area of sin you keep returning to, that’s an iniquity. In other words, it’s a sin with which you continually struggle. Just as the Holy Spirit freed me from lust that morning, He wants to do the same for you right now. Will you humble yourself and ask Him to set you free? 

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, please reveal to me any iniquity in my life. Today, I ask that You would set me free from any bondage and give me a clean heart. Thank You for helping me live victoriously. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

• Mark 16:17–18; Acts 8:18–23; Hebrews 12:15; James 3:14

 

Taken from The God I Never Knew, a Gateway devotion.