Scripture to Read: Nehemiah 1:6-7
Confession is a huge part of our prayer life, or it should be if it is not. Confession is NOT about gaining God’s forgiveness, but confession is all about us staying in right fellowship with God Almighty. Confession comes when God, through His Spirit in us, convicts us of sin that we have committed and have not dealt with yet. Sin breaks our fellowship with God because we have chosen to turn our backs on God to follow our fleshly desires (Romans 6:12-14; Romans 8:5-14; Galatians 5:13-21). When we confess our sin (1 John 1:9), we agree with God that we have sinned and we are willingly turning away from that sin to walk in right fellowship with our Lord God Almighty. We already know God has forgiven us (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:13-14; Colossians 2:13-14); therefore, we thank Him for His forgiveness through Christ Jesus our Lord. As we read Nehemiah 1:1-11, we see in Nehemiah 1:6-7 that Nehemiah is praying on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. Nehemiah is confessing that Israel as a nation has sinned against God and that he, Nehemiah, and his family have all sinned against God as well. Nehemiah names the sins specifically in verse 7, and as we confess our sin, we must do the same. Naming the sin keeps us from minimizing the sin we have committed so that we never take lightly any sin we have committed.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about confession and staying in fellowship with Him?
2. Stop and ask God to reveal to you any unconfessed sin in your life. If God the Holy Spirit reveals sin to you, name that sin to God and thank God for His forgiveness through Christ our Lord.
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!