When you pray, do you picture God drumming His fingers wishing you’d hurry it up? Or do you see him leaning in, compassionately listening to every word?

How about when you seek God’s help to overcome a sin or a bad habit that has ensnared you year after year? Do you wonder if you’re wasting God’s time with your constant “Sorry”s and “I’ll never do it again”s?

• After a year, or perhaps a decade, of giving in to a besetting temptation, is it taking you longer to feel shame after lying to your coworker? 
• Or is it scaring you that your conscience barely bothers you when you curse or watch something inappropriate on TV? 

If not these, what sin harasses you? You thought you had it conquered, only to discover it’s creeping back into your life. At first only now and then, but now much more often.

Should you go to God and repent – again? 

Absolutely. 

But after praying about this issue ad nauseam, what “new” prayer would get His attention? With your history, what could you say to Him that would make this next year a better one? 

Perhaps these questions wouldn’t be an issue if you could see your heavenly Father in a different way. Read Psalm 18:16 (AMPC), 

He reached from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

 Although David the psalmist wrote about being physically delivered from the murderous King Saul, God also stands ready to deliver you from your sin.

Read the verse again, but this time, try praying it aloud to your heavenly Father. Picture Him actively rescuing you from your ensnarement – that habit you can’t seem to escape from. 

For example, 

Father, I’m drowning in my sin. Hold me. Reach into my thoughts, my will and my heart and draw out the hate (or whatever sin you’re struggling with) that’s destroying me.

God commands us to be holy, but He isn’t shouting down at us, “Stop sinning! Be holy!” 

Rather, when we repent, He listens to our every word, reaches into our lives – directly into our messes – and pulls us out of the many waters. As often and as compassionately as we need Him to.

What do you think? 

• Do you have trouble going to God after giving in to the same temptation over and over again?

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