Meditation for Spiritual Guidance & Intercession: Letting Go for the Sake of Others.

Our scripture today, Psalm 66.8-9, 13-19, caused me to look both into the mirror and into my own heart.  I remembered the sentiment from my youth “Get yourself right with God before you prayer for others.”  It was once said to me in hopes that my fervent prayers would be even more effective, more clear of a voice into the ears of God.  May this gentle spirit of confession bring strength to your prayers for self, others, and the world.
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Psalm 66:18 – “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
Let us pause and enter a sacred stillness—inviting the Holy Spirit to search us, not only for our own healing, but so we might become vessels of healing for others.
"Cherished iniquity" is not the sin we fall into in weakness—it is the sin we hold onto in defiance. It is when we know something is wrong, yet we treasure it. We protect it. We find ways to justify it. We allow it to live comfortably within us, often naming it something harmless: a personality trait, a struggle, a preference. But in truth, it is something that separates us from the nearness of God.
When we cherish iniquity, we are not just hindered personally—we are hindered spiritually. Our hearts become less tender, our prayers less clear, and our spiritual authority weaker. Our ability to intercede for others, to pray powerfully and purely, becomes dulled.
If we are to be true intercessors—standing in the gap for the broken, the lost, the weary—we must first allow the Holy Spirit to clear the clutter from our own hearts. We must be willing to surrender what we have cherished that grieves the heart of God.
This isn’t about shame—it’s about freedom. It’s about becoming clean conduits for grace. If we want to see strongholds broken in the lives of others, we must first allow God to break the strongholds in our own.
Ask yourself:

• Is there anything I’ve made peace with that is not in line with God’s holiness?
• Have I been numbed to something I once knew was wrong?
• Am I willing to surrender it—for the sake of deeper communion with God, and for the sake of praying with power on behalf of others?

Let us remember: a heart filled with cherished sin cannot be a heart filled with powerful intercession. But a surrendered heart—broken and honest before God—can shake heaven with its prayers.
What are the prayers on your heart today that you lift to God with a surrendered heart of humility?

Rev. Derrick