“Confession in Prayer”

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11

Last week, we began a 4 week series on prayer. Until Thanksgiving, we will be considering what prayer should be about – that it isn’t just expressing some need to God, although that is certainly part of prayer – but there is no much more. We talked about the acronym A-C-T-S as a good reminder of 4 important aspects of prayer. The first letter stands for ADORATION – it is our joy in knowing the God of creation and his guidance for our lives. It is our praise for his goodness, our response to simply being in his presence, and being asked to share our life with him.

Today we take a look at the second letter, the “C” of ACTS – Confession. 1 John 1 tells us why confession is so important for every heart that would live in Christ.

Read 1 John 1:8-10

John tells us that it isn’t God who needs to hear our confession – it is something that each of us needs if our broken relationship with the Lord is to be restored! In sin, it isn’t the Lord who moves away from us – it is we who have moved away from him, it is we who have turned our backs on the ways of God. And even beyond that, we read that when we ignore our sin, or worst – claiming that it isn’t sin – we deceive ourselves into believing that everything is still OK. But the reality is that the truth of God cannot live within us when we deny our sin, and in our denial, his word will depart from us.

The other issue at play here is that the longer we try to hold sin in and hide it, the more stress we will have to deal with. It’s not a natural thing to try to hide anything from God – we all know that he already knows our deepest and innermost secrets, so why bother to even try to keep them to ourselves? It’s a failure from the start!

Confession is important for our lives.

Read Philippians 2:5-11

The call for us to submit and conform to God’s way is modeled for us by Jesus Himself. Even though his very nature was God, he never used that for his own benefit. He never sought any honor, never sought any praise, never sought any privilege for himself – Jesus Christ humbled himself to become our servant. And this servant’s heart led him to Calvary, to give his life in sacrifice, that if we would give our life to him, he would make us worthy to come before the throne of God without fear or hesitation. And as a sign that he was approachable by faith - at his death, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom, against the weave, to break the barrier that the ways of earth had set in place to divide us from the Holy of Holies – that very presence of Almighty God (Matthew 27:50-52), which in and of itself, is sin.

In the humility of Christ, he was raised to glory, and when we humble ourselves in confession, we are restored to that same God-promised glory that rests upon our Lord Jesus. But whether we surrender to him today, or wait for his glorious return to earth, we will be humbled, one way or another. The difference between the two is that if our confession is during this life time, we receive forgiveness. But if we decide to wait until the Day of Jesus’s return, condemnation will remain upon us, and eternal life will be but a distant memory.

It’s our choice – confession, or condemnation.

Read Romans 10:8-13

“If you declare with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is what faith must be – certainty, confidence, complete trust that his is the only way that will led us to eternal life. And faith must include confession – not just that Jesus is Lord, but that in and of ourselves, we are unworthy of his life.

Faith is more than just believing – there must also be a response to what we believe. Without a response, we will only be living a half-faith, and a shallow half at that. Paul tells us that faith begins in our heart, but that it doesn’t end there. A heartfelt faith is our preparation – our justification, if you will. Justification comes in that moment when we give our life to Christ, and proclaim that he is our Lord and Savior. But in grace, Justification must lead to Sanctification, which is the time that begins with our surrender to Christ, and continues until we leave this life and join him in his glory. But that time is in no way a passive time – it is a time of growing in trust and faith, it is a time of becoming a stronger and bolder disciple of the Lord, it is a time to continue to shed those things of earth and to replace them with the ways of Almighty God.

But as we all know, rejection of the ways of earth is a constant battle. Earth doesn’t go into the night quietly! To simply confess our sin is nowhere near enough – it demands a wholehearted commitment to end its influence, to end its incursion into our life, to stop it as soon as we sense its presence. Sin doesn’t give up, and neither can we.

Confession is the only way, because the power that Satan bestows on his aberrant ways will always be greater than our strength. Confession seeks the Lord’s power, the Lord’s forgiveness, the Lord’s destruction of Satan’s power over our lives. Confession acknowledges our weakness and inability to stand against the powers of Satan, and that without Christ, we will lose. Confession seeks the power and presence of Christ, to help us to stand against the dark onslaught, and to fill us with his light of grace and vision.

Confession is our kneeling before the throne of grace, seeking the right to return to the relationship that our sin has shattered. Confession is calling on the name of Jesus to seek his forgiveness for our sinful and weak hearted ways. Confession is our opportunity to let God know that we desire and desperately need his way to life, and that we know that our tendency is to follow the ways of earth, and that that way can only lead to destruction.

Confession truly is good for our soul.

Will you pray this prayer of confession with me:

Lord of Life and Love, my life has been anything but reflective of your way. I have sinned, and am unworthy of your hope and promise. But you have told me that if I confess my sin, and repent of its power over me, that your forgiveness will be mine, and that you will welcome me back into your glory. Lord, hear the individual prayers of your people, as we confess our sins, as we repent of our love for the ways of earth, as we seek your forgiveness.

- Silent Prayer –

Lord, by your grace, we know your forgiveness for our wayward ways, and desire nothing more than your joy, your word, and your way for us. Glory and honor to you for all that you bring and all that you have won on our behalf. May the purity and the righteous heart of God be ours once again. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.