The Prayer of Confession

1 John 1:8-9 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The next step in our prayer life that serves to put things in perspective is confession. The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). While we are no longer slaves to sin and we strive toward the goal of perfection, the truth is that as long as we wear this suit of skin we will always fall short in some way or another.

God knows this and has provided the way for those sins to be atoned for through the sacrifice of His Son. That forgiveness, though, needs to be accessed and applied. The process starts with our admission of sin. This not only overcomes denial, it keeps us humble and dependent on him. We deserve nothing. In fact, we deserve death.

When we confess our sins it sets in motion a series of events that serve to wipe the slate clean so that we can enter into His presence with boldness.

Ps 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Heb 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

While confessing accesses Christ’s propitiation, it also does a work inside our heart.

I can remember my days as an addictions counselor in the old Manna House at Metropolitan Ministries. As the men walked their steps to recovery there came a point where they had to confess their sins. This was a pivotal point in their recovery. At first, they would struggle with the concept of God forgiving all the horrible things that they had done in their drug/alcohol induced state. Along the way, they would come to an understanding of God’s grace and mercy as a result of Christ’s sacrifice. It helped that Scripture tells us that the only sin that God cannot forgive is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. That meant that their sin no matter how big as far as numbers or heinousness was covered and could be forgiven.

Where they struggled is when the magnitude of their sins began to dawn on their sober minds and when they realized how deeply they had wounded those around them. That is the point in the prayer of confession. It brings us face to face with our sin and the consequences of our sin not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us. As the men’s awareness grew, their difficulty became forgiving themselves. It made me recall the following incident:

George Wilson was sentenced to hang after he was convicted of killing a guard while robbing a federal payroll from a train. Public sentiment against capital punishment led to an eventual pardon by President Andrew Jackson. Unbelievably, Wilson refused to accept the pardon. Can one do that? The case became so legally confusing that the Supreme Court had to rule on it. Chief Justice John Marshall delivered the verdict: "A pardon is a parchment whose only value must be determined by the receiver of the pardon. It has no value apart from that which the receiver gives it. George Wilson has refused to accept the pardon. We cannot conceive why he would do so, but he has. Therefore, George Wilson must die." Consequently, Wilson was hanged. God's grace becomes a pardon from sin only to those who receive it.

While it is sometimes a painful process, it is a necessary process. George Wilson never could, but In time and with God’s help we can get to the place where we accept His forgiveness and where we forgive ourselves and learn to love this new creation we have become in Christ.

Coming through this process also makes us aware that anyone can allow themselves to do horrible things when they allow the schemes of the enemy to take them captive and if God forgave us, how then can we withhold forgiveness from someone else. In fact, the prayer Jesus taught the Disciples seems to suggest that accessing His forgiveness is conditional upon us forgiving those who have sinned against us. Confession leads to repentance which leads to forgiveness.

Forgiveness then is the final point in our liberation. When we hold on to unforgiveness we give power and control to the person that has wronged us. In essence we allow them to re-injure us again and again. The thing that most people struggle with is thinking that if you forgive someone who wounded us then we are somehow condoning the sin or relieving them of responsibility. Forgiveness is not about them, it is about us. Forgiving someone breaks the power that that person has to hurt us. They can no longer control our emotions through their actions. Forgiveness breaks the bonds that hold us slaves to so many things in our lives.

It all starts with the prayer of confession.