One of the ways that sin ensnares believers (and non-believers) is through the false idea that sin is better left secret, hidden, and kept to yourself. In the darkness is where sin can grow and spread like cancer into every area of your entire life and family. Satan loves it when sin is kept hidden and secret. He loves it when a person feels like they cannot be honest with themselves or with other pastors and leaders who want to help them. This hidden sin builds up either shame, condemnation, or apathy within the sinner and continues to lead them away from a place of repentance, healing, and spiritual wholeness. One of the greatest weapons we have against sin and its effects is prayer. In prayer, we openly confess our sins to God. We bring those hidden sins out into the light where they can be exposed and dealt with in an honest and healthy way. The best way to deal with sin is to first openly admit the sin you are struggling with. Whether it is pride, lust, anger, or bitterness, when we honestly admit what is going on in our hearts and minds, it marks the first step towards healing. We first confess sin, and then we pray a prayer of repentance. To repent means to turn from sin and instead turn to God in the midst of the struggle. This means that we don’t return and continue to engage in the same sin we just repented of. This is what is known as false, or not true, repentance. True repentance always leads you away from that sin and into a great relational connection with Jesus. That doesn’t mean that the temptation will leave us, or that we will never slip up and sin in that way again, it just means that we have sincerely decided in our hearts to resist that temptation when it comes and move our lives in an opposite direction. We have chosen to leave a certain lifestyle or pattern of sin behind us and instead pursue God over that selfish desire. The temptation will still remain, yet we honor God by choosing him. This is also something we should pray for: pray that God would give you strength to resist the temptation so that he would be glorified when sin is resisted.

Below is an example of a prayer where someone is confessing or bringing a hidden sin out in the open. This is included in this resource not for you to see as a formula or to copy exactly. Instead, it is simply an idea for how you can begin to pray against sin in your own life, no matter what that looks like. Use your own words and fill in the area you struggle with, but use the prayer below to stir up your heart and mind in this area.

“Lord, I confess there is sin in my life I can’t shake. I’ve struggled silently with this for too long. I’ve dismissed it, justified it, tried to convince myself it isn’t as bad as I know it really is. Lord, I know Satan desires me to leave my sin in the dark and to continue to hide it. I confess it to you now, and bring it to light. Lord, I need your strength to defeat this sin. I am thankful that your power is made perfect in my weakness. I don’t boast in my sin but boast in you who works in my weakness to make me more like you. I know that I have the opportunity to glorify you by fighting against this sin in my life and seeing victory. Give me wisdom and perspective in the moment I am tempted – help me in that moment to see my sin as you see it, and not to give in to selfish desires or old habits. Thank you, Lord for rescuing me and saving me from my sinfulness. Thank you for your grace and mercy. Help me to continue to grow spiritually and become more like you with each day. In Your Name I pray, Amen!”