21 Days of Prayer: Day 4
Barriers to Worship – Unconfessed Sin
“The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’”
READ JOHN 4:1-18.
Yesterday, we saw that our worship is broken, yet God pursues our greatest good by pursuing our worship of Him. Like the Samaritan woman, we run to wells that cannot satisfy or save us. But God pursues our worship through His Son Jesus Christ… Let that thought overwhelm you.
Jesus has just told the Samaritan woman that He is the ONLY one who gives living water (true life): “The water that I will give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Praise be to God! Jesus plainly tells this woman what she needs, and then He offers it to her. But the woman totally misses it… The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come up here to draw water.” Salvation and satisfaction are staring her in the face, but she misses it. Instead of asking for Jesus, the woman asks not come to the well again… Why does the woman ask not to come to the well outside of Sychar?
Jesus’ instructions are telling: “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Why is Jesus telling the woman to bring her husband? The woman answered Jesus, “I have no husband.” … Jesus wanted the woman to get to this point. He tells the woman that she is correct – she really has five husbands in addition to another lover who is not her husband… The woman is a harlot and does not want to come to the well because the other women gossip about her. She does not want her sin to be exposed to the other women or to Jesus. The woman bends the truth about her marital status to get around exposing herself to Jesus… But He exposes the woman’s sin.
Why would Jesus call this woman out? Isn’t that hateful? If Jesus really loved the woman, He would leave her be… My friends, this is far from the truth. Jesus exposes the woman’s sin BECAUSE He fiercely loves her…. What is the logic behind that? The answer lies in the effect of sin on the human heart. Sin deteriorates the human heart to such an extent that it can no longer see or desire what is good. Instead, sin blinds the human heart and twists it to be a factory of evil (see Rom. 1:28-32). This is why the Samaritan woman misses Jesus’ offering of living water. And this is why she bends the truth to get around Jesus’ pursuit of her worship.
Yet Jesus is determined to save this woman for Himself! Jesus knows that the wicked desires of the heart ultimately lead to death (see Jas. 1:14-5). He will not give this woman over to broken worship; He has set her apart for Himself. Therefore, Jesus calls the woman’s sin so that she may be SAVED.
We will only turn to Christ in worship when we see just how hardened we are in sin. The only way we will see ourselves for who we truly are is if we CONFESS our sins. If we remain in our posing, our hypocrisy of sinlessness, we will remain in the darkness of our sins (see 1 Jn. 1:8). The Samaritan woman has unconfessed sin in her life that is preventing her from experiencing Word of life Himself. This is what happens to us if we let sin remain unconfessed in our hearts – we are blinded…
But if we confess our sins, Christ promises to forgive us (see 1 Jn. 1:9). At this point in the story the woman confesses her sin and her eyes are opened – to who she really is and to who Jesus really is. When we too confess our sins, scales fall off our eyes and we finally see the Light of the World…
No one likes to be put under a magnifying glass because others see our cracks. But it is only through telling God your brokenness that you – like the Samaritan woman – will be made whole.
Do you see that? If we try to hide our sins like the Samaritan woman, we run from the only Savior who can satisfy us. But if we run to Christ with our sins, He makes us new.
So stop trying to fool yourself, other people, and especially God. Stop going to the wrong wells that do not satisfy… Confess to God that you have already given the worship owed Him to other things… Run to Him and be FREE!
Personal Questions:
1. Why does the Samaritan woman miss Jesus’ gift of living water?
2. What are the effects of sin on the human heart?
3. Will you confess your sins to Christ and be set free to worship Him forevermore?
Prayer Points:
· Ask God to reveal to you and our church any unconfessed sin.
· Ask God to heal you and our church from a twisted heart that prevents true worship.
· Ask God to set you and our church free to worship Him like never before.