Intro:
God wants us to come to Him and ask forgiveness. My prayers need to include some form of confession. This is a difficult thing to remember to do in prayer since most of us do not come from a church background where confession is regularly practiced.
One Korean theologian made the comment, “As goes mother church so go her children.” In other words, we will recognize the activities of the Christians by the church they attend. Our approach to worship, evangelism, discipleship, etc. will reflect what we see at church on a weekly basis. So, if we see very little confession in our corporate worship services, it stands to reason that we will find very little confession in our personal worship times with the Lord.
So, we come to this area with the understanding that it is unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable. And yet, important. How important it is to confess our sin before God! It keeps us humble and broken before Him and humble before others as we stay aware of our own weaknesses. It opens us up to the relationship restoring forgiveness of God on a daily basis.
Think about your children and confession. We seem to have a home where things break on their own. It is not uncommon to enter a room and find a busted lamp … the victim of indoor football. How nice it would be to have our children come and confess to us BEFORE we find the busted lamp!
Jesus here invites us to confess our sin to God whenever we pray.
Read: Matthew 6:9-13
9Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
Think:
There are 2 main reasons we are to confess our sins before God and seek His forgiveness:
1. Because He has forgiven us – in Christ on the cross, leading to salvation
2. So He will continue to forgive us – in daily living, leading to increased communion
There is a risk here. We are asking God to daily forgive us based on our forgiveness of others. This is not related to our salvation but our daily communion with God. So, if I harbor bitterness and unforgivenss toward another person I run the risk of not knowing God’s peace in a practical sense.
GO DEEPER
: the word confess (homologia in the Greek) means to “say the same thing” as God already has said (homo = same, logia = word). This word is found in 1 John 1:9 where we are told to confess our sins to experience the daily cleansing of God. So, what is confession? It really is sort of simple, when we are praying and God reminds us of something we are guilty of we simply agree with Him. Say the same thing back to Him.
Do:
Do you know God’s ultimate forgiveness for your sins? Have you been “released” by His claims on your life? Have you been set free? If you want to know for sure, read the post: http://devolink.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-know-jesus-personally.html
When you come before God this day and you hit this section on forgiveness/confession, slow down and ask God if there is anything that needs forgiveness from Him. Any attitudes, behaviors, neglected discipline, missed opportunities, brazen rebellion, etc. If you are convicted or hear Him on an issue take time to agree with Him and ask Him to forgive you.
If in prayer you realize there is someone you need to forgive then take care of that immediately. Leave your prayer at the altar and go be right with your neighbor, then come back and finish your prayer time (Matthew 5:24).
God wants us to come to Him and ask forgiveness. My prayers need to include some form of confession. This is a difficult thing to remember to do in prayer since most of us do not come from a church background where confession is regularly practiced.
One Korean theologian made the comment, “As goes mother church so go her children.” In other words, we will recognize the activities of the Christians by the church they attend. Our approach to worship, evangelism, discipleship, etc. will reflect what we see at church on a weekly basis. So, if we see very little confession in our corporate worship services, it stands to reason that we will find very little confession in our personal worship times with the Lord.
So, we come to this area with the understanding that it is unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable. And yet, important. How important it is to confess our sin before God! It keeps us humble and broken before Him and humble before others as we stay aware of our own weaknesses. It opens us up to the relationship restoring forgiveness of God on a daily basis.
Think about your children and confession. We seem to have a home where things break on their own. It is not uncommon to enter a room and find a busted lamp … the victim of indoor football. How nice it would be to have our children come and confess to us BEFORE we find the busted lamp!
Jesus here invites us to confess our sin to God whenever we pray.
Read: Matthew 6:9-13
9Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
Think:
There are 2 main reasons we are to confess our sins before God and seek His forgiveness:
1. Because He has forgiven us – in Christ on the cross, leading to salvation
2. So He will continue to forgive us – in daily living, leading to increased communion
There is a risk here. We are asking God to daily forgive us based on our forgiveness of others. This is not related to our salvation but our daily communion with God. So, if I harbor bitterness and unforgivenss toward another person I run the risk of not knowing God’s peace in a practical sense.
GO DEEPER
: the word confess (homologia in the Greek) means to “say the same thing” as God already has said (homo = same, logia = word). This word is found in 1 John 1:9 where we are told to confess our sins to experience the daily cleansing of God. So, what is confession? It really is sort of simple, when we are praying and God reminds us of something we are guilty of we simply agree with Him. Say the same thing back to Him.Do:
Do you know God’s ultimate forgiveness for your sins? Have you been “released” by His claims on your life? Have you been set free? If you want to know for sure, read the post: http://devolink.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-know-jesus-personally.html
When you come before God this day and you hit this section on forgiveness/confession, slow down and ask God if there is anything that needs forgiveness from Him. Any attitudes, behaviors, neglected discipline, missed opportunities, brazen rebellion, etc. If you are convicted or hear Him on an issue take time to agree with Him and ask Him to forgive you.
If in prayer you realize there is someone you need to forgive then take care of that immediately. Leave your prayer at the altar and go be right with your neighbor, then come back and finish your prayer time (Matthew 5:24).
DevoLink: Devotions to help you Link with God.
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