One Thing The Devil Hopes You’ll Keep Putting Off—Do This Today
TODAY'S TEACHING
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
—James 5:16
I was thinking about how quiet distance from God usually is. Not dramatic. Just that dull feeling like you’ve been talking but not really listening, praying but not quite connecting. Sin does that. It doesn’t usually shove us away from God, it convinces us to back up on our own.
There’s a strange instinct that kicks in when we know we’ve messed up. We avoid eye contact with God the same way we avoid people we owe an apology to. We still believe in Him. We just don’t want to talk yet. Maybe later. Maybe once we feel cleaner.
But forgiveness isn’t something we earn by waiting long enough. God forgives when we genuinely repent, not when we’ve punished ourselves sufficiently. Still, the enemy loves delay. Loves secrecy. Loves anything hidden, because hidden things get tough to handle in the dark.
Some struggles don’t loosen their grip just because we prayed about them privately. I don’t love that, but it’s true. There are moments when bringing something into the open, with the right person, drains it of its power faster than weeks of silent wrestling as today's scripture reveals.
I remember sitting on the edge of the bed one night, jaw tight, annoyed with myself for feeling jealous of someone I genuinely cared about. I’d prayed. Repeatedly. It still followed me around. Saying it out loud to my wife felt humiliating, like admitting something I should’ve been past by now, but the moment I said it, the heaviness cracked.
That’s the thing the enemy hopes we’ll keep postponing. Confession. Real confession. Not vague prayers, not spiritual language, but honest words spoken to God and sometimes to a trusted person. Pride hates that. Freedom doesn’t.
Go to God first. Always. But if He nudges you toward help, don’t argue with Him. Don’t protect your image at the cost of your peace.
If this resonates with you, here's a short prayer you can say today:
"Dear God, I bring You the things I keep circling around but never quite say out loud. The parts of me that hesitate, that stall, that pretend time will fix what honesty right now could heal. Please forgive me. I don’t want distance dressed up as patience anymore. Stay with me while I open what I’ve been keeping shut and trusting You to help me walk through it. Amen."
God bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Daniel
Daily Effective Prayer
P.S. - Thank you for allowing me to connect with you through email. If you ever want to UNSUBSCRIBE you can do so at the bottom of any of my emails - no questions asked. God bless you.
DONATE TO THE MINISTRY
SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER
Get powerful prayers to your inbox!
Don't worry, we don't spam.
PINTEREST IMAGES
Pin It For Later
DEVOTIONAL QUESTIONS
1. Why do Christians tend to pull away from God when we know we’ve messed up?
Because hiding feels safer than being exposed, even with God. Somewhere along the way we picked up the idea that disappointment requires distance, like we need to give God space until we get ourselves together and all cleaned up. It’s strange, because He’s the only One who already knows everything anyway, and yet we still duck our heads and run for cover.
2. What makes confession feel harder than just living with the struggle?
Confession costs something upfront. Pride. Control. The ability to keep acting, pretending we’re fine. Carrying the struggle quietly feels manageable until it starts leaking into everything else, and by then we’re tired but still not sure we want anyone to see it. The longer we leave it, the harder it is to confess.
3. How do Believers recognize when something has too much power over us?
Usually it’s the thing we think about when we don’t want to think about anything. The thing that shows up late at night or right after prayer, like it’s waiting for the noise to die down. If something keeps pulling us back into the same loop, it’s probably asking to be brought into the light. That's when we know that we can't keep putting it off.
4. Why doesn’t praying alone always bring the freedom a Christian hopes for?
Prayer isn’t weak, but sometimes isolation is loud. God often answers prayers through people, which is inconvenient if we’d rather handle it privately. Needing help doesn’t mean we failed spiritually, it just means God designed us to heal in community whether we like that or not. Yes, go to God first because that may be enough, but if He wants to use someone else to help us, we need to listen.
5. What actually shifts when we stop putting off obedience?
Life doesn’t suddenly smooth out, but the weight changes. Secrets stop taking up so much space. We don’t spend as much energy managing what’s hidden, and that alone feels like relief. Something starts moving again, even if it’s slow. And over time, things start getting better as God brings healing and restoration.
SUBMIT A PRAYER REQUEST
SUPPORT MY PRAYER MINISTRY
SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL
YOUTUBE PRAYERS OF THE WEEK
Please watch & share the prayers below!
Create a playlist of prayers that apply to the situations in your life and watch them as needed. When you do, it tells YOUTUBE to suggest THE PRAYERS to others which reaches even more people for JESUS CHRIST!
SHOP CHRISTIAN MERCH
* If you buy anything while shopping online our ministry may earn some coffee money (at no extra cost to you) which we promise to drink while continuing to create faith-inspired content for the website. God bless you.
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK
Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
—Psalm 97:10
Enjoyed this newsletter very much T.Y. also, the prayers that were also shared, May The Lord Bless You & Your Family.🙏😇
Blessings to you
Thank you so much
You’re very welcome
This really spoke to my heart.