Prayer - Confession

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This is perhaps one of my favourite verses from the Old Testament. Again, in these words we find the dual aspects of confession, - penitence and pleading. 

From these words we can detect that God doesn’t listen to prideful complaining, but he does listen to humble confessing.

God responds to humility. Many people hesitate to admit their sins because they think they’re going to get punished. But God already knows about all our sin! He knows every mistake we’ve made in our entire lives. He just wants us to confess them. He wants us to show humility.

When we are humble before God, he doesn’t respond with punishment. He responds with forgiveness, mercy, and blessing. As one writer puts it, “God’s not going to take us down—that’s what your pride does. When you humbly confess your sin, God is quick to forgive. He gives grace to the humble.”

The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo. Homo means “same.” Logeo means “to speak.” To confess simply means to agree with God about our sin. We say to him, “You’re right. That was a sin. We don’t want to make excuses for it.”

Merciful God, from you comes all truth, all healing, all that makes our world good and whole. Forgive us, O Lord, those times when we have listened to those who do not speak for you. Forgive us for the weakness that has led us at times to seek the water of life at springs which can never satisfy. Forgive us for not testing the spirits that are around us: forgive us too for how we play with empty knowledge and delight in useless predictions that help neither us or those around us. Have mercy on us and speak once again to us. Help us to hear the word you send and to turn away from the words that come from false prophets and those who do not know your ways. Amen