Goal: Praying A Confession
Fellas, thanks for sticking with it, it's day four.
So today, as we continue to build into the activity of prayer, I want to center our prayer time on word that may be a little foreign to some people. The word is confession. To confess, literally means to "agree with" God. Therefore to confess in prayer means that we are verbalizing what God needs to hear from us not because he doesn't know it, but more because we need to be sharing it. Confession is an opportunity to make our hurts, hang-ups, and sinful habits known with God. God loves it when we are honest with Him and thus honest with ourselves about who we are and even who we want to be. Missing the opportunity to confess during our prayer time is to miss an opportunity to grow closer with God himself. God is the most accepting, loving, merciful, forgiving relationship we will ever have, and learning to confess with him leads to spiritual healing. And who does not want that? Note what James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
Today what I want you to do is reflect on the last 24 hours of your life, consider where you have sinned it, or caused suffering for another and then confess it to God. I do not want you to be general in this confession, but rather specific. Invest 5-minutes in prayer confessing these three things. Tell God who you wronged, what you did wrong, why you did it, and how you would like to be different. That's it. Now, this might be a bit more reflective and have a serious tone but give it 5-minutes in an out-loud prayer today.
So do this today, and then when you are done, comment below by sharing below one thing you learned during your time of confession with God. You do not need to share what you confessed, but what you learned in confession.
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Confession/repentance is my coming under the authority of God, acknowledging my need and surrendering to him. I need it every day!
Confession strengthens my relationship with God.
Yes it does brother. Stay after it.
This is not who I did something wrong to but I have had a grudge against someone who wronged me and I want to ask his forgiveness of me having bad feelings
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I learned more about Gods forgiveness and grace.
Way to go BL
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I’ve been having a hard time understanding how to give a situation to God, I think this exercise just opened my eyes.
The hardest is probably confessing to what you think is a victimless sin, only against God
My mother
I did not spend enough time with her
I dont really know
I.would like to be a more caring son
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I learned that when speaking bad about someone in a negative way. That is a sin.
Confessing today helped me acknowledge what I did and gave me courage to approach that person and apologize.
I asked for forgiveness to those I wronged and what I did wrong, and felt great to do it.
I learned that confessing led to more clearly understanding where I could have applied the Word to avoid problem. I feel better prepared for similar situations.
I like the reminder that God already knows what I’m confessing but it’s for my benefit and the health of me confessing to Him what I want to be, who I need Him to be, what I want to surrender to Him, etc.
It felt more comforting to pray aloud my confession rather than living with it in my head. Amen.
That was a little difficult but it felt good to confess. I’ve certainly learned from it.
Selfish motives seem to be the common thread when I hurt and wrong others. I need to change my motivation to encourage others and point them to Christ.
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I learned I am quick to speak and slow to listen rather than the model James has for us in James 1:19. Lord help me to be more reflective & less reactive.
I can see the importance of being specific. My confession has typically been more general
My actions affect others. Even if it’s something small like my tone in my voice. Keep in mind the thoughts of others.
I am new to 5 minutes a day with God it is foreign yet refreshing it certainly brings peacefulness to my existence I am an active man and I feel good about my life for the first time in a long time. I have been given the chance to have a relationship with a wonderful woman once again and I intend to be to her what she has not had before and I am asking for help to insure longevity is there I know without Christ it will fail neither of us are perfect we need to keep him in our life centered in our life everything else will fall into place I need help leading the house in prayer and worship as a man should
You can certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.
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The thing I learned by confessing out loud today was that I need to love people more.
To really take time to review the day opening up to the Lord daily will keep accountable before Him.
This actually answered my downside, thanks!
Confession brings freedom
It’s relieving and humbling to verbalize our sin. Even taking 5 min out of my day to do that is a weight off the shoulders, especially knowing God cares about our struggles.
It helps you work through the sin, in this case figuring out the root cause so I can work on what is really the issue.
I’m robbing myself. Small compromises lead to bigger ones
As I ask God to forgive my sins and cleanse my heart, I know only then that my tongue be cleansed also.
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Self-reflection is not easy. Finding a way to bear your soul before God is a very uncomfortable situation. Through this process, I recognized my ability to still try and hide, though I know how fruitless this attempt at hiding is.
When I pray particularly about who and why I wronged someone, it helps me to be reminded of the grace God offers me that I should too extend to others. Good stuff.
My impatience comes from forgetting that the Holy Spirit dwells in me.
You are being prayed for today. Be filled!!🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Wow. This fits really nice with something I’ve been wanting to work on.
After giving up drinking several months ago I’ve been sort of taking personal inventory on people I may have wronged over the years. So to me this idea of confessing sin out loud really helped me recognize my sins.
Way to go Ryan! 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼
Going ALL IN!
I learned that there is a difference in heart heaviness when confessing specific sin rather than general sin. Confessing that you sinned still leaves a heaviness because you’re still trying to hide it by not saying it. But when you are specific about what you did and how you want to be different, the yoke is easy and the burden is light.
I learned how forgiving God is. Gave him my everything today, heart, mind soul. Felt like the Prodigal Son. Felt Gods acceptance & love. Lord, more of you- less of me.
I learned that reflecting over the last 24 hours that I can come up with a lot of things that I did that were not super cool.
I realize that the one I have wrong the most is the one who loves me.… Jesus
That I need to let things go
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I learned just how selfish I can be.
Less fear, more peace about that situation that I needed to confess about.
Praying that you will have LESS FEAR!👊🏼👊🏼
Using the who, what, why, how different outline helped me specifically identify my sin, confess, and repent of it and resolve to do better with the help of the Holy Spirit. As I was praying out loud it enabled me to reflect deeper and get to the root of the problem. Thanks.
#BOOM 💪🏼
I learned that confession helps release me from captivity to sin
I learned that by being specific and having a plan related to my confession that it makes it easier to make changes and truly repent.
Be up front and talk about it. The the other person would understand.
God put on my heart a situation that I feel is not right and I have said and emailed things to several people. I realized I was being a whiner and not the change. I realized that by thinking of confessions I needed to confess that
I learned that mistakes don’t make the man, past is the past and I can move forward, forgiven in Christ, and remember to not make the same mistakes again!
Excellent idea ya have here! Truly brings one to a humbling moment before God.
I need to trust more in God and come closer to knowing that he is in charge of my life. That all things will work out through him if it is in line with his will and purpose.
Love it James! 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼
The fear of confession, I think, always carries with it the perception of God’s displeasure. (At least in my mind.) But I know that HE knows… and it’s so much better to just willingly lay it all out of the table, and receive his encouragement and comfort… and help!
I Don’t Think I Learned As Much As I Remembered that Jesus told me to turn the other cheek when I have been wrongfully attacked in any manner. I need to sit and reflect rather on what I may have done to provoke it in the first place.
Freeing
Today I learned that I should ask myself more questions about the sin I commit. Like, why I committed the sin and how would I would like to be different. It’s a different and fresh perspective.
Praying for wisdom and understanding
JK, we are praying for you here 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼
Confession helps clear the the mind to be better next time!
The current culture permeating our nation makes it fearful for one to stand-up for ones believes.
I actually learned 4 things. That I haven’t done this formula for several people but especially the one who I should have, my wife. She deserved me to give her that confession. I did some of it but not all. We have a great marriage now but I gave her my how!
It takes trust to confess and if you can trust God your in the wrong place. Open up to him and he will open the doors for you. Amen
There is an old saying that “confession is good for the soul” and that is absolutely true. It’s like an oil change for your vehicle. Cleans out all the gunk!
I learned that confessing your wrongs is hard. I am a prideful person and I do not like to admit when I have done something wrong. I know if I want to grow and change, I must let pride go.
Great work Carlton 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼
I learned that confessing out loud made me focus in on my actions and asking God to help me change and grow.
Greg, I agree. ⚡️⚡️ Focus helps the process 👊🏼
It better to be 100 percent open about something, than beat around the bush. Don’t do it again, God help me.
Learning: how often my “why” has to do with establishing my own worth or value rather than God, so I am tempted to establish that by withholding from or diminishing others
Proud of you Ben
Lannes
Confessing out loud and using the format Vince suggested helps uncover the reason/motivation for what you did wrong.
Good point Lannes!⚡️⚡️⚡️
It feels good to look back and confess this way.
Proof read mike. (Can’t)
I’ve not been able to post each day and doing the activities each day has taught me that apathy is a silent killer. Praying out loud affirms your words in prayer and allows you to hear your heart expressed, instead of your thoughts. I’m looking forward to tomorrow! Santiago
I learned that I need to slow down in my response to people’s response to me. Just to think about what to say and with the right tone of voice.
I feels good to speak the offense out load!!
Today had me thinking and confessing of actions I did while not realizing it. Unintentional times I’ve hurt my wife’s feelings and it makes me feel terrible. I need be different and always strongly consider how my actions disobey God and the people around me.
I have opportunities to make better choices in the future, no matter what’s happened in the past. I can’t make any meaningful improvement without God, but he wants to help me in my growth
I learned that confessing my sins helps me be more aware of it throughout the day or until next time I pray.
My time of confession I learned that God does not desire to punish us, but remove what may come in the way of our relationship.
I learned that God wants me to be free from sin so I can be closer to Him.
Adding the Why to confessing a wrong to a person really makes me think about how selfish I can be…..
Dittos to what James Delgado shared – self guilt and not forgiving yourself when you’ve confessed your sin before the Father and He remembers your sin no more….but you do through Satan reminding you of it all the time! I’ve learned over time that he speaks to me in my own voice and I now know what it sounds like – condemnation; which there is none for those in Christ! I need to walk in His victory of sin!
As I pray and reflect on my shortcomings, I’m reminded how much I need Jesus to renew me each day with His love, peace, and joy, so I can do to others as I would have them do unto me. Confession brings healing.
I still have problems with anger towards those closest to me. I get easily frustrated and pride and ego still take over before humility sets in. By then it’s usually to late. It’s as if by brain shuts off in the heat of the moment. That leads to shame and it spirals down.
Confessing helps me to take the weight off and give it to God. Not confessing right away or at all makes me feel like I am in control and can affect situations myself. In actuality, God is in control and the confession helps to remind me.
Confessing passed sins and people that I’ve hurt or wronged isn’t easy but somehow gives new life to where I am and where I’m going with Christ.
NEW LIFE ——— love it
That’s right!!!! Way to go.
God already knows my sins – releasing them verbally to him is powerful.
Confession should be a part of our prayers.
Yes it should!
I have learned God forgives our sinful nature.
I have learned that it is important to be reminded of things Gods wants you to share with him. I think we get so busy and comfortable that we forget what Gos wants us to pray. Thank you for the reminders.
Best you can see in the morning !
I learned by confessing my faults before God help me to released the anxiety and burdens I might be holding onto.
One thing that I have learned is that I should not fear the lord when confessing but to allow his love for me bring me peace
I learned that it may be a little bit harder to confess while praying out loud but it felt more confirmed and direct, rather than trying to work around it while praying inside.
Today I learned that it’s hard to confess. This comes from my reliance on self versus God. I don’t want to justify actions that I know to be wrong. I want to love others well and put others first before my self. This will take time but I’m relying on God to work on me and soften my heart.
Pulling the plank out of your own eyes is hard, but letting others know about the plank in their eye is easy.
Actions
Speaking my sins out loud takes away the deceitfulness that was in my life. Telling the Father I let go of those sins and turn them to His Mercy! Praise God for a wonderful Savior who has set me free!
Learning to admit your wrong doings and confessing them to the Lord is something I need to do more often.
I learned that I need to reflect and ask God to change my heart when I do wrong to the people I love.
Taking the time to confess helped me reflect upon my own faults and with the Spirits help to understand how I can do better next time.
Confession – Thank God for His Grace. I don’t deserve it but He gives it anyway.
Sharing with God my mistakes (emotionally, mentally, physically or spiritually)
brings peace to my heart…knowing that I have learned something I do not want to repeat.
And now – I believe that I am forgiven and its my turn to forgive.
I have been selfish and in my marriage, I have thought of myself as most important. I cannot say that I learned this on my own. It took real listening to my wife and admitting that I have hurt her and then taking the time to understand how. It was so easy to think of myself first and put her wants and needs on the back burner. Lord, help me to consistently be aware of this and continually work to change this, amen.
I’ve learned that confession takes the weight and anxiety off of your shoulders and puts it into Gods hands. Ask for forgiveness, learn and process the hurts you’ve caused and the reasons behind it.
God cares and listens…and forgives..
Very challenging and freeing time to share with God and confess what He already knows
I feel better and stronger after I confess
When we act selfishly we not only wrong others but also hurt ourself.
my wife believes that i treat complete strangers better than her. i dont see it that way. i am probably wrong. i think i treat people the same way. i know i need to put forth more effort toward how i interact with my wife. i pray about it every day.
Confessing relieves all the tension and the stress of holding it in. Although, it needs to be a heartfelt and passionate confession. I believe at times I can confess because it’s the right thing to do…but my heart is that exactly in the right place!
I battle be quick to judge others,but just as quickly I remember I do not know the challenges they are facing, it then changes my thoughts.
To be specific in my confession
First, praying out loud has really helped me pray in a focused manner. Second, today I realized, I can pray confidently to God because He forgives. I knew this, but as I began to pray, this conviction came upon me and there was peace in my confession. Praise God!
What’s wild to me is what he said, “to confess is to agree with God.” He knows the offense we have committed, but we have to come into accord with Him that we messed up.
I believe sometimes the hardest thing is coming to God because of shame. But knowing He has already agreed to forgive… wow. Think about the confidence a child gains when they know their daddy will hear them out, and if he punishes it will be in an atmosphere of love. How much more confidently will that child approach their father.
I have had a hard time forgiving myself for a mistake I made in the past and speaking out loud takes a bit of weight from shoulders. I think verbalizing the failure and letting God know I recognize the failure also allows for me to start moving forward.
My biggest wrong was the person whom I had a descructive relationship with, my Ex-Wife whom now I’m greatful to be parted with. When we got married, things went well and I ended up with amazing children of whom I did what I could to maintain the Love with that woman. Myself especially went the other direction due to sin and wrong decisions, parting ways with someone whom I devoted so much to at that time of my life. Fortunately I have a successful family all-around and I would like to be different by being able to maintain wiser choices with what I do I the future for improving on relationships within my circle of Love for awsome people whom are just fantastic. Allowing me to become a better person as I grow in many ways.
To be stronger and fight off temptation! James 4:7
I am thankful for this awareness of vocal prayer. It is better. I was able to ask forgiveness from my brother’s and parents for selfish actions of 30 years ago. Further, i have an ex- wife who i need to talk to the Lord again about
I learned that money has become too important if my life and I need to change that starting with
providing for my wife’s needs.
I’ve learned that I’m selfish with my time which shows a lack of respect for others. Even though what they have to say is not crucial the time spent listening is.
As I confess everyday I feel a load off my chest.Today was no different.
It feels good to talk freely to God about my shortcomings and ask God to help me make progress and improve.
God really spoke to me about attitude and how to approach a situation lightly and with love from this prayer time!
I learned that when you get specific with what you are confessing it gets real personal, but it needs to be personal when talking to God. He already knows what we are thinking and what we have done, but I think He likes that we come to Him and that we are honest with Him.
I’ve learned that praying out loud and confessing my sins make them feel more real and also can feel God’s love and guidance in conquering those sins. I can’t do that by myself but With God’s help I can.
I can let my sin & shame drive me away from God or I can run to Him and confess my sin & bring my shame to Him. The two bring drastically different results.
I learned today that there is freedom in confession. It feels as though my spirit is lighter and the judgment I felt prior to confession is gone.
I learned that confession is agreement with God.
Stop being judgmental towards others,that on judgement day ,jesus is the only one that will judge people, including me.
Convicted
Confession relieves your anxiety and your issues have immediately less power over you. God has conquered help man conquer much and our difficulties are no match for Him
Confessing out loud is difficult. There is a lot of shame involved when I do this. However, confessing puts something dark into the light, taking the power of sin away. I have experienced significant shame and regret in my life and even that I need to confess to my Lord
I confess to God at the end of the day. And it comes easy when throughout the day I have been quick to recognize when I do something wrong. I apologize in the moment. Then confession at night is easy. It only gets hard, when I live selfishly and fail to admit things thru the day.
good morning guys!
I confess to God at the end of the day. And it comes easy when throughout the day I have been quick to recognize when I do something wrong. I apologize in the moment. Then confession at night is easy. It only gets hard, when I live selfishly and fail to admit things thru the day.
Confession refreshes my soul.
My heart and mind are clear and at peace.
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Experiencing God’s forgiveness has a sense of refreshment. Forgiveness from God, something only christians experience.
I still have A LOT of work to do on softening my heart towards the less than lovable people that are going to be in my life hopefully for a very long time to come, my sister in law and mother in law, because I have been known to revel in their defeats and at times respond to their anger and poisonous words in kind. I have made MASSIVE progress in this, but I know that without God as my focus, I won’t CONTINUE to make progress in my attitude towards them.
Keep functioning ,remarkable job!
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I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
I learned that I need to focus on more on making an effort to spread the gospel to others.
I learned that by confessing my sins to God, He renews my heart and allows me to start fresh in my walk with Him and with others in my life…even those who I have wronged along the way. Thank you Lord for being the God of second chances!
It sure is easy it is to get distracted in five minutes. May the Lord bless us all who try to give him our attention and knock on his door for a conversation.
God wants us to confess even the little things
It was really hard to confess for 5 minutes straight, but in reality I probably missed many sins and should be able to do it easily for 5 minutes.
Confession is therapeutic
Evidently I’m far more comfortable in confessing how I’ve sinned, than I am in confessing why I’ve sinned.
It is so “freeing” to confess my sins to God. Even though he already knows my sins, He fully forgives me. Thus freeing me from sin’s power to hold me down.
The old saying goes, “Confession is good for the soul.” Boy, is it ever!
It had been a quiet, positive couple of days for me relationship-wise (I was catching this one up yesterday). However, I had to confess a continued transgression against my own body (and therefore God, since it’s His temple)—overeating. That was a very odd confession to make out loud.
While it was uncomfortable, it was also very freeing. And it set off a great day of good eating choices. I’ll be revisiting this discipline often.
Confessing what I’ve done wrong helps me to let go and let god take my sin instead of me trying to carry it.
I want to be responsive.
Today’s lesson helped me to reveal that I need to include the Lord in this process more and more. In the last 24 hours it has been my lack of patience with others that has caused me to become upset, sometimes nothing they have done, but how I view them not doing it my way. Thanks for your help Lord
I’ve been confessing my sins in prayer every time I spend with God sins I began my spiritual journey 8 weeks ago. I’ve learned to reflect and stay conscious of my feelings in every moment. I am always busy with something and I’ve noticed that interruptions doesn’t bother me anymore. I’ve also noticed that when I keep asking for forgiveness for something I already ask forgiveness for makes my prayer time less productive. Am I right? Or should I keep repenting for the same sins?
I learned that confessing, especially out loud for me is very hard. At the same time it helped me to really embrace forgiveness as well as see the impact of the sin I was confessing.
It made me think about where I fell short over the last 24 hours and what I need to do better.
This really made me feel like a burden had been lifted. My guilt was gone.
The need to be transparent.
There is joy and freedom in confession
One thing I learned during my time of confession is that some times you don’t realize the weight a certain event or subject can have on you until you confess and feel the weight lifting.
Confessing to God about my failures and weaknesses grants me freedom from the things I try to control.
My prayer time highlighted that I still have lots of work to do in how I disagree with others. I have been working on it, working on giving other space instead of shutting them down when they are not correct. This is the first time that I really concentrated and asked God for wisdom to recognize when I am about to dismiss others and help me to see them and have their space so that we may come together.
The who, what, why, and how was definitely eye opening. I realized my confession time has been about the what I did. Looking at the who, why, and how gave a whole new perspective on what I was not confessing. Doing it out loud kinda stopped the squirrels and I was amazed at the things that kept popping up that I needed to confess.
I learned that I often confess to God what I have done but I don’t talk to Him about who I have wronged. Sometimes directly to their face but many times just in my own heart.
One thing I prayed while confessing past sins against others is that while praying, we may anticipate possible future sins, and steer away from them. For example, we may foresee a time of speaking rashly and decide ahead of time to instead keep quiet.
Thank you my brothers for sharing your thoughts.
It appears we are all in the same place. In concentrating on specifics, I am finding more of how I can change to help me be more Christ like.
Thanks again
Blessings
Ted
My heart and mind are humbled through confession. It allows God to move in and replace my selfishness.
My sin affects many people. I need to take simple, practical steps of repentance!
All wrongs begin with a failure to follow God’s will. He needs to be asked for forgiveness first. That prepares our hearts to ask forgiveness from others and to receive that forgiveness.
I learned that if I say it out loud in prayer, it made me act upon my confession. I made a small change today that will hopefully be prosperous and long lasting. Not sure this would have happened had it not been for my prayer.
I learned that specifically answering the questions (who, what, why, and how)regarding my act of sin leads me to take full ownership of it
Confession many times leads to another action. But, sometimes it doesn’t. But it always leads to God working in you.
Yesterday, Brandy and I had a tough argument at the breakfast table. What was rough was that we kept going even with the kids present. Our tone and content were sharp and I know it hurt the kids as well as each other. Asking for forgiveness today for my tone and combativeness. For not taking the conversation away from the kids. Praying today to be more interested in being reconciled than for justice. To be more secure–more willing to be wronged and to love my wife, rather than seeking to be right.
This is day 4 for me I am behind. In this world it can be easy at times to wrong someone and feel justified by it because you were wronged by them. The truth is Christ forgave us for all kinds of sin so it is important to forgive those who sinned against us and show humility. That at times is easier to say then do. I need to go to God for strength and forgiveness before I act.
I’ve been trying to work confession into prayer for quite sometime now, almost always starting with the confession. Most of the time it’s general, knowing that I have certainly sinned in my heart too many times to count, but sometimes it’s specific. I think it’s important to go to God with a contrite heart and knowing that His grace abounds, and it is also important to recognize the areas in which I can improve my “walk” with Him. I don’t think I wrong too many people personally, but I know that I have wild and wicked thoughts driving around and have not-very-Christian attitudes toward random strangers who either don’t understand the etiquette of he road, or who don’t understand that those etiquette rules don’t apply to me when I’m running late 😉 . Confession helps me to see God’s love and forgiveness, which is a polite reminder to act the same, to approach others with kindness and forgiveness. I think Jesus taught his disciples a prayer along those lines…
naming the who, what & why out-loud makes the confession feel more authentic. It also brought to mind other things to confess that I wasn’t aware of before. Then I could make a clear plan of attack.
Reading the other comments encourages my soul. Thanks men.
I found today that confessing helps me get to the root of the matter, which is often different than what I thought at first. This is evidence of the Lord speaking to me through this prayer time.
Hope you don’t mind me joining the FFGers (not sure what that is…).
I agree with Tim, confessing is HARD! The goofy thing for me is that it is easier to confess to God than to others. I know with God that I am forgiven after (and even before) I have confessed the Who, What, Why, and How. With others, they may not be as forgiving. Recently, I had to confess to someone, and I really did not want to based on my fear of how it was going to be received. However, again, as Tim and Vince mentioned, it was a HUGE healing. I am especially thankful for opportunity for the “how.”
Was reflecting and praying about my frustration with the kids yesterday. Between them fighting and not being able to find one at a basketball game, I was angry. Realized that I feel this way partially because I feel disrespected and not in control. I need to pause in these moments and seek guidance, wisdom and peace.
J.T.
I think the biggest thing was acknowledging that I alone am rarely enough to prevent my selfishness from causing me to hurt others. I have to be aware of this and ask that God help to partner with me through the Holy Spirit and others around me to have the discipline to be the man that He created me to be.
I struggled a bit with this one, as I could not think of a sin that I committed in the past 24 hours. Then, I thought of the verse that tells us that if we say that we have not sinned that his word is not in us (1 John 1:10). So, this morning (a day late), I prayed that God would search me, and rid me of any sin that I have committed unknowingly, and that He would help me to grow so that I will see and avoid those sinful situations that I do not see.
Confession is liberating
Through the Grace of God I have been successful in developing a daily prayer regimen that includes honest assessment of my behavior, confession, true repentance and sincere forgiveness. This literally set me free. Don’t hide from my sin, don’t bear hurt or anger regarding others. This took me some 2-3 years to establish, but since then I see myself and especially others with compassion rather than judgement. Don the blame others for my sin, and my identity is NOT that of a sinner saved by grace. Instead I see myself as a saint who occasionally sins & who must quickly take restorative action when sin enters in.
Through the Grace of God I have been successful in developing a daily prayer regimen that includes honest assessment of my behavior, confession, true repentance and sincere forgiveness. This literally set me free. Don’t hide from my son, don’t bear hurt or anger regarding others. This took me some 2-3 years to establish, but since then I see myself and especially others with compassion rather than judgement. Don the blame others for my sin, and my identity is NOT that of a sinner saved by grace. Instead I see myself as a saint who occasionally sins & who must quickly take restorative action when sin enters in.
I have confessed so many times to God for my my Actions over the years and how I have hurt my Wife in the past over decisions I have made in the past.
I am first of all relearning the joy and honesty that praying outloud creates in my being. This morning I was reminded again of the deep selfishness that resides in my heart and how that spills over sadly into my relationships. So thankful that the ultimate example of selfless love is also the provider of ultimate power and love to overcome my selfish nature. Thank you Jesus!
To focus (in regards to sin) not on self-discipline to bring about change…but on the disciple(r), Jesus to bring about change.
Confession about a specific instance taught me how important it is to slow down more and think things through.
Dan M – Confession a) feels liberating b) takes silent reflection c) reaffirms my need / dependence on God for grace / forgiveness / mercy
I was reminded through this that living in the light and confessing our sins is an act of obedience to God.
Not sure what I learned from this time, but I do like the way the questions can make you think a little deeper. Why you did it? How would you like it to be different?
I learned that it got it off my chest and God love’s authenticity – he knows anyway… but being in agreement with God has to be pleasing to him and liberating for us.
Taking a moment to stop and talk about why I sinned is eye opening. Having to Stop and think through why I made those choices was helpful to understand my actions better.
Confession helped me to realize how disconnected from God I had become…spiritually speaking.
Glad to be Back in Game!
Speaking about my sins gave them more weight on me to truly change from who I am to who I should be in that situation.
I confess that I am writing this a day late, too many squirrels, but that upon reflection, God is the most important priority in my life. Moving forward, I rather enjoy praying out loud to Him because it makes the prayers seem real more than just reciting them in my head. I have many prayers I pray on a daily basis, but before starting this year and these 35 day challenges, I did not pray them out loud, now I pray them ALL out loud and it has made them more personal than just rote recitation.
I don’t know that I can really say this as a new thing I learned, but that I am powerless on my own to make the changes that are needed. I can only change by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in me to guide me.
Need for self-reflection and the release of the burden after confession and freedom to pursue the right relationships with the people I wronged
4 steps my pastor shared awhile back regarding prayer and living a prayerful lifestyle are 1. Yield (to the Holy Spirit), 2. Confess (your sins), 3. Repent, 4. Repeat (Daily). I think that is good practice to add to my daily prayer time.
That after confessing out loud I feel relief and forgiveness
I realize that I seem to sin the same over and over again.
I’ve learned; There is no hiding in His Thrown Room.
I learned that I have a lot of anger at God. That makes it very difficult to confess.
I discovered again how freeing and soul satisfying specific confession can be.
Confessing out loud is so much more impactful than confessing in our minds. It makes it so much more real.
I didn’t do this until tonight. It gave me all day to reflect. Confession to God is a great thing. It revealed to me how much it hurts God and the people we wronged.
I learned more that God is there to listen more than I realize with love, mercy and grace. He points my barriers out that stand in my way to Him.
I’ve always been pretty good about repenting. But asking those questions about my sins, OUTLOUD… holy crap, that makes it REAL!
Freedom
I am missing confession in my life. It was a great reminder of being able to reflect not only to confess my wrongs but to also reflect on how to act.
I’ve come to realize that I’m a really selfish and self-righteous person. For me, confession reminds me of the gravity of my sin and softens my heart. I notice that when I belittle /ignore sin, my heart hardens and I continue to act wrongfully because repentance requires that I admit I was wrong. Once I confess, my heart softens so that I can repent.
I learned through confessing these things it lifts the burden off my heart.
I was really surprised that I struggled with this so much. I learned that I need to dig deeper with myself, I tend to just scratch the surface.
Show appreciation to those you love
It’s a bit hard to say out loud what you’ve done wrong, sometimes.
I learned that using the four steps given really helps you think through the sin that you are confessing. It also forces you to look beyond the confession but on to the hope of God’s promise in the future.
The process of thinking deeply about why I did what I did, led me on a journey to contemplating what a healthy sense of identity is and how reflecting the image of God plays itself out in my life. I learned a little bit more about what that means.
I learned I need to be diligent to not settle for the easy way out, the sinful way. I need to stand up for what’s good and insist on what’s right even when it is more difficult and the result of the decision has more hardship.
I felt that the Lord appreciated the confession and that he’s willing to give us a do over. I don’t have times of confession enough especially because I’m sure there’s something everyday that I have done wrong, whether in thought, actions, or words.
Confession helps to keep me humble and shows me that I don’t have it all together. It also shows me the incredible grace and mercy of God.
I learned the gentleness of God and regardless of what I shared In my confession he still loves me. He put it on my heart to confess because he already knows but I already know he loves me, cares for me and shaped me.
Confessing out loud makes my conversation with God seem focused. Allows me to listen for His response.
My selfishness overtakes my empathy; confession frees me to reconnect with those I’ve hurt.
I learned that self evaluation is hard and humbling .
I feel God pushing me to talk and be more open with my wife. With his strength all things are possible
My vanity and love of idols (basketball) turned my attention away from God this weekend.
The Lord showed me that I am to critical of my wife and son. He challenged me to pray for them during my 21 day Daniel Fast.
Hey gents. I’m learning that my sense of “justice” is off. While I may feel it very strongly, It doesn’t mean that it needs to reconcile on the spot.
Felt good.
Relationships ! Pains my heart to see how I’ve missed treated a few people of lately . God please forgive me and thanks for the gift of strength that you have given me to make right my wrongs
Confession a lot of time takes me awhile to get to but man does God redeem me when I do confess, especially out loud. Thanks for the call to action.
It is very easy to forget to ask for forgiveness through confession. I cant remember the last time I confessed like that
Being a dad and husband is a huge responsibility – those that are closest to me seem to be the ones that end up getting the short end of the stick with budgeted time…..
When I confess, and I have to many times each day, the weight of shame and dishonesty is gone. This honesty helps me help others.
I need to guard my tongue, or shall I say, ask the Lord to guard my tongue. Pause and think before I speak.
I like to confess out loud. Not that it is easy to admit failure, but it is so freeing! I have realized that carrying the burden of my sins is far more miserable than owning up to it, repenting, and moving on. I am learning to do this with other men as well.
I need to correct or add email addresses to SOMA STRONG GROUP. Can someone help me edit? Duane 707-576-7263
Please
I pray for self control to not let me blurt the first thing that pops into my head.
By naming and identifying what I was doing, I can now see what I should and will be doing.
I felt a sense of pain when confessing out loud. I actually felt good when I was done as it felt genuine.
Confessing gives a sense of peace. When you talk to God as your father and treat Him as a loving person instead of your genie or cheat code, it floods you with peace.
My time confessing of how I specifically wronged others led me to the conviction that when ever I do that I am ultimately dulling my relationship with God. And if I turn to God first I have way fewer sins.
Saying it out loud is powerful.
I learned that confessing out loud is much more humbling than when praying in my head.
This was a bit of a challenge to recall the wrongs, whatever they may be. But, it’s so easy to “block” those things and live they never happened. But, the Holy Spirit has a unique way of refreshing our memories, just like He did with me today.
I learned that if I’m honest with myself and our God 5 minutes isn’t enough time. I believe it’s important that we bear our souls to Him. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Speaking to Him out loud allows us to be open and brutally honest. At the same time I lean heavily on His grace.
Being in Alcoholic Anonymous, one of the steps is admitted when we were wrong. It is such a relief to clear my side of the street and make amends. Refreshing to read this and take action
It took me a moment to determine what to confess. On most days it would not be difficult to pick out sin…an outburst of anger, a thoughtless word, or a careless action. Days like yesterday can be damaging in a different way, drawing prideful conclusions about how “good” I was. In truth, the sin was more subtle…a fleeting thought. We must examine ourselves closely and confess in the moment.
I l earned that confessing is agreeing with God because he already knows.
The freedom of confession is incredible especially when doing it out loud. Praying out loud and spending time privately with God is really cool.
It was way too easy to come up with items to confess…
That I do not have to carry my sin and feel bad inside. I can ask for God’s forgiveness by confessing my sin and be able to move forward with hope in my life.
God always accepts confession and repentance, He is merciful and restoring.
I confessed and apologized to God for my past actions and being selfish in doing so. I asked him to continue in guiding me in becoming a better man and a man of God. For him my wife my family and friends, so I can be an example of his work
God is faithful to create a clean heart within me.
Sometimes I can be overbearing trying to help people out for what I believe is God’s truth for them at that point. I’ve done this with the belief that I am helping, that obviously is incorrect because it’s not my position to do that, that’s up to God. I need to learn to let God do his thing and stop trying to help God out.
Ha! I did the same thing (praying out loud on the shower because the family was up that is)!
Accountability is huge when it comes to being a parent especially with teenagers and young adults.
Asking for forgiveness can be liberating.
Through reflection and confession I learned that I need to really work on being more patient with certain people and circumstances. I ask God to give me more of His wisdom and continue to soften my heart.
I learned that it wasn’t about what I did, it was about how I hurt the people that were effected by my stupid actions
I can’t change my past, but God’s Grace and Mercy covers it. The old man is gone away, the new man moves forward.
I learned that I need to be more merciful to people I hold a grudge against because if I don’t try to reach out and meet them in the middle then the relationship will never get better
Im learning through confessing and inviting god in that its the only way to find growth and healing. Ive accepted that ill never get it perfected but as long as i continue to seek his way in all matters ill keep pressing on and growing with him.
I learned that I need to stop trying to handle things on my own and in my strength. I need to commit them to the Father.
I confess to you all right now, I cannot do it!
Confessing allows me to be intentional with and focused on God about to what he has to say and how to be more like Christ the next time it comes around.
Thanks for challenge today. Duane
I have come to greater realization that I need to reach out to people of have wronged and ask for their forgiveness. Most times that I treat people “wrongly” is because I’m too focused on my issues and too concerned about “self”. I must give it up to God and follow his greatest commandment, “to Love one another!!”
I learned that for my confession involved less than desirable actions on my part led to why I was confessing, naturally. But it also put into perspective what those actions were. Confessing helped with clarity.
I read Ryan comments before I writing this response. I agree my first thought was what big sin did I do in the 24 hours? I ended up praying for strengthing my marriage, I usually do something every day that frustrates my wife:-) Praying out loud was tough today as everyone was up and a wake. I ended up praying out loud in the shower, hoping others wouldn’t hear me.
By understanding why I did what I did makes it easier to recognize and prevent me from doing it again in the future
I learned that when I confess to God, my soul feels cleansed from the filthy, dusty,crud that I layered on it because of a lack of confession and repentance.
When I confess I find that I’m treating God as the real, tangible God that he is, someone to whom I’m being accountable to. I have learned that he doesn’t shame me, berate me, or cause bad things to happen to me but loves me, cares for me, understands me, forgives me, and just wants me to get up and keep going. When I confess with others, I actually feel the sin being brought into the light by the weight of my sin being lifted off me. It gives me a sigh of relief.
I love the feeling I get after confessing my sins to God. Sometimes, it hits me right away and other times later in the day. But the nice thing is that it ALWAYS happens. Thank you God for loving me with all my imperfections. What a wonderful God we have!!!
Confession is needed in order for you to forgive yourself. Not only do you confess the sin or wrong doings, you also admit to your wrongs and ask for forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness, understanding, and help to be a better person then you were yesterday.
I learned that I have a lot and guilt and shame built up from the way I was choosing to live. I can not and will not live that lifestyle anymore. God is great and he is always listening.
When one stops to take the time to think & confess it sure seems like that basket at times is too full. It was not easy thinking if the topic today & that in itself shows that I need this daily time.
One thing I learned is I have a lot of Shame and guilt built up from the way I have been choosing to live for the past year. I also learned I don’t want to live that way ever again. God is great and he is always listening.
I’ll share a short prayer: Thank you Lord for loving me no matter what. I thank you for giving me freedom in You and showing me how to live there. I am weightless from the burden of sin because you took it all. What Love! Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.
While confessing about the sin I intended to, I desired to confess other things to God. It put my heart in a mode of healing.
excercise patience over judgement as the world around me is not mine to control but my response or outlook is. Peace!
I kind of alluded to it on day 2 I think, but I am really bad at reflecting and identifying sin beyond the obvious big things. This will be good practice for me to begin training myself to get better at recognizing those things in me much earlier and bringing them to the Lord.
What I learned today is the importance of consistency. Today I did a ‘brain dump’, get everything out of my head that’s swirling around, making me crazy to the point that I let regular healthy/helpful routines and habits slip. Write it all down; to-do lists, goals, dreams, fears, joys, plans, relationships, etc. Everything! Then ask God to help me sort it out. This practice is still pretty foreign to me, but I believe it to be helpful for me to move forward from my past practice of ignoring/stuffing things where nothing gets done and ends up in a vicious cycle of defeat.
I need to THINK before I speak. Ask myself these questions: Is it True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind?
Confessing to the Lord reminds me how much I am cared about by Him. It gives me a sense of relief in my heart and mind knowing that there isn’t anywhere I could go or anything that I’ve done in my past that would keep God from loving me any the less coming back to him.
Psalm 139
I learned today that if we cannot think of a sin we have done and/or a person we have wronged, God is pleased to bring these to our minds, that we may confess and be healed
Being able to speak to God out loud and ask for forgiveness feels so much more personal and real. Talking about our sins out loud allows time to reflect on them and to go deeper on what it was we did, why we did what we did and what we can do to change the unwanted actions. It’s Root Cause Problem Solving with God as your facilitator. Love it!
Reflecting on my actions really helped me understand my relationship with this person.
I think you guys nailed it. Being able to speak to God out loud and ask for forgiveness feels so much more personal and real. Talking about our sins our load allows time to reflect on them and to go deeper on what it was we did, why we did what we did and what we can do to change the unwanted actions. It’s Root Cause Problem Solving with God as your facilitator. Love it!
Confessing is hard to do, even to God in the privacy of being on my own. I suppose that’s my pride and the shame felt. But when I do, in the end it is so freeing, so I need to focus on that part and not the during the confession part that hurts and is hard.
This time in prayer was humbling. I was reminded that when I react emotionally to people and situations, I’m rarely providing what is needed and often making a challenging situation more difficult. It is good to keep short accounts when it comes to confession.
This time with Our Lord was a refreshing reminder of how much He loves us, is in our corner and wants to see us free of our enemies bondage.
The one thing I learned is that my cry of confession will lead to repentance and repentance always leads to forgiveness.
My sin does not bring about God’s glory.
I found it somewhat hard too Bill, God did put something on my heart. One of my coworkers is a master communicator and can win any argument he is in, and sometimes I disagree. I tend to push back in ways that aren’t honoring and gossip with others about it later because of my frustration. I need to knock it off, have honest conversations and handle it. Hope you guys are having a great time.
Prayers coming for just that thing BF
Accountability is powerful and needed. Only way to change my heart condition at times. Amazing that the God’s accountability is surrounded in Love.
I’m humbled by your mercy and grace Lord. Thank you.
One thing I learned with my confession is that when being criticized I become defensive and try to defend myself and go on the offensive and join in the battle. That doesnt seem to help. Rather I pray that I can look at the criticism through Gods eyes and act appropriately. Pray on!
James 4:10
Humble thyself in the site of the Lord and he will lift you up!!
I learned during my prayer time today that all I have to do to be a better father is to emulate my heavenly father who never forgets my needs and even my wants and is always there for me in any situation.
I know Vince said we don’t have to share what we confessed, but it is part of what I learned.
In reflecting over the last 24 hours, I realized that I got angry at my kids over not playing a game correctly. When we played the next game, I was over it, but several times I saw my family get angry at each other. They took my lead and followed my path. As the head of my household my wife and kids really do pay attention to my actions. While I like to think they get good things from me, they also emulate the bad. My sin shapes my whole family.
God let your life fill me so your light leads my family rather than my darkness.
Reflecting back on the holidays was where I landed in my time of confession- particularly during the stretch of time when I was sick. Feeling fatigued and empty is such a trigger to be quick to anger, impatient, lack of defense against temptation…and on and on. It’s a reason, but not an excuse!
I’ve hurt some people by things that I’ve done, but more so, by the words that I’ve said to them. Father GOD, forgive me for being quick with a response, for it usually is not in love. I’ve learned that I remember quite a few sins in detail, and that I wish I couldn’t.
I’m a broken man and only you can fix me Father, have your way with me now, and forever I pray.
When confessing I feel a weight being lifted off of me. I feel a closeness to God. He already knows what we’ve done but we need to ask him to forgive us and admit to ourselves what we did was wrong. It makes us think about why we did it which helps us to not do it again.
Confessing out loud reminded me of how so much of my sin is due to selfishness. Speaking it to the Lord gives me a sense of not being alone with those failings. I tend to take God’s forgiveness for granted, so slowing down to reflect on my sin and confess it helps me remember specifics of why I need Jesus.
Confessing out loud is much more powerful and humbling than confessing privately in your heart and thoughts during prayer.
I learned, or rather confessed, that I want to be a whole lot different from the way I think in my mind more often than I’d like.
I find peace in my heart after I confess to God about my sins
Reminded me I’m a sinner , am forgiven , but try and do better next time in those types of situations.
By confessing there is sorrow and relief. It also brings us closer to our god. A personal one on one
I have learned that I need to be more careful with my words, and that if you love someone you would never say something hurtful to them and that some things are so severe they aren’t forgivable in a relationship.
This one was difficult for me. After deep introspection I realized what a terrible sinner I have been. By sinning in this way against other people it creates an easy path for me to travel and repeat this offense against God and the person I intentionally wronged. I pray that God forgives me and so will the people I have wronged. This pattern stops here right now.
I learned that in my prayer I usually just talk about the what and I don’t break it down into the who, why and how I want to be different. It seemed much more like a conversation with God than a confession, which was refreshing and challenging at the same time.
Amen to that. Knock and the door will be open to you. . . It’s pretty awesome that we have a God that invites us to talk directly to him.
I don’t often spend time reflecting over the course of a whole day in order to find and confess sin to God. I think that’s mostly because I’m more afraid of what God might ask me to do, than I care about making things right with Him. I was reminded that I don’t want to live in fear…and I don’t want to be rule bound over relationship bound.
Confession opens the door to forgiveness and releases my bad attitudes and unforgivesness towards others.
Thanx good challenge today
This is something I do a lot during the day as I sin but to reflect back powerful!!
I learned that God gives me opportunities to be more patient and understanding. Jesus, help me to see them and to step into them.
There’s something about speaking your issues out loud that is very effective. Keeping in your head with your mind allows us to minimize, justify or excuse them away.
My prayer focused on my thought life. I’ve sinned against God and my wife. I’ve struggled with an addiction to porn for most of my life. My thoughts still occasionally become dirty. I pray for a pure heart and clean thoughts. I pray God would keep temptation from me. My wife and God both know my struggle. I must confess my sins and ask for healing.
To take time to think of how we wrong others is a good thing. Reminds us how we first sin against God and second how we can damage others around us. Those God has entrusted to our care.
I found it interesting that confessing may be the first step to stopping. Whether it be cussing in church or something else, identifying specific things helps to be…specific. If I am vague in my prayer it allows me an escape route (so I tell myself). This was good.
Hurts, sinful habits, hangups. We all have them. Same keywords as Celebrate Recovery. The hard part is being honest with myself, confessing to God, and then confessing to another brother. I took the Celebrate Recovery 26 week 12-Step Class last year. It’s not just for alcohol and drug addictions. It works for everyone because we all sin. Best thing I have ever done. Great positive reminder, Vince, of the unbelievable power of believing and acting upon James 5:16. I re-learned today that my repetitive habits are either strongholds keeping me trapped in my sins, or gentle yokes leading me to where God wants me to go. Sorry I went off on a tangent here, but this is what my mind thought of today as I prayed.
The one thing I learned is that I must be mature in the word of Christ.
I learned how to take inventory for the day and find how to try and do better moving forward.
—sorry to miss posting yesterday, after praying I jumped into my Saturday! Please pray for my daughters: purity for one as she dates; and passion for the other as she prepares for marriage. Your routine for confession allows the sun to move past shame to Set a path toward healing. Thanks!
Confession “with” God, rather than to God, is a compelling concept that helps me understand that the burden of our specific sin can be cast on to Christ such that our burden becomes a shared burden. The “why” and “how” portions of the act of confession first exposes the deeper heart issue where the sin resides, and secondly, helps us develop a posture of submission around the issue where the Holy Spirit can move to transform us, thereby relieving the burden of that specific sin from our lives. What an amazing process our loving God has offered us to help us flourish and honor Him.
My unhealthy desire to avoid conflict has caused a lot of pain in people’s lives, and is rooted in my own selfishness and pride. The more I belief that my identity is rooted in my relationship with God, and not the pleasing of man, I will be able to be free from this cycle of dishonesty and hurt.
Well said, Michael. Something I continue to battle. I pray that you have many wins and victories.
It was good to break it down to a specific confession.
I thought so too. I usually just list off things instead of focus on one thing, but I liked this better.
Oh boy…who have I wronged? I had quite the time trying to figure out who to single out for this prayer and as I did, I realized of all the people I have wronged it was because of my own selfish desires, for my own personal decision to blow them off because I did not want to take the time. Most of it was before I came to know Christ but I am sad to say there have been some even after. Stress, time, and selfishness are placed on us and we fail to see the problems or needs of others. When we concentrate on those things, we fail to see the person. When we look to Christ is our every day matters this is when others around us become “real”.
I need this daily time. Early in the morning, so as to get my mind on Christ first thing. Start with Christ, end with Christ. everyone and everything becomes clearer in between
Internalizing confession is easier than specific confession out loud. Also made me think over the last 24 hours how I had sinned.
Good to be specific about asking for forgiveness from God about who I wronged. This makes me fully understand how wrong it is.
Reminded me that when I’ve wronged others I have ultimately sinned against God. I know this but it’s a good reminder. Thank you God for forgiveness when we confess our sins.
Oh boy. This one is super hard today because I spent the last 24 hours with several of you in the group and I can’t think of a specific sin but know there were many which scares me because then I am blind to my sins and not being led by the Holy Spirit. I do know that there were some crude jokes, poking fun of others and I probably didn’t give some people enough of my time.
I felt freedom. I felt a relief. I felt good. I’m sitting here with a smile on my face. Thank you Jesus!
Confessing out loud, putting it on paper, and being specific is Humbling. I however do not feel like I’m in the shadows with secrets. I feel I can peruse God Truly!
During my time of confession, I realized that my actions affect others, whether they are positive or negative. I need to be more aware of those around me.
I learned that I need the healing that comes with confessing each and every day.
I’ve learned over the past 3 days the verbally, audibly praying brings a deeper sense of focus and intimacy with my Lord.
It’s Gods plan. Stop judging to my plan.
Confession out loud gives a sense of relief and freedom
It is freeing to confess.
It puts a spotlight on what you are struggling with. Sin cannot live in the light. Amen
I learned how liberating confessing my sins can be. The burdensome weight of carrying the shame, guilt and failure around is instantly gone. As I grow and continue to walk with Jesus I try diligently to confess and repent when the Holy Spirit convicts me. He is faithful in shining a light on my sins, so I must be faithful in promptly confessing and repenting so I can continue to grow and become more like Jesus.
The hardest part of confession today besides being extremely humbled, was the WHY part and why I did do some of those things. I have no idea and God has been waiting a long long time for me to bring this to the surface and today that communication with God lifted a lot off of my heart. Its amazing how selfish we men are until we have to be honest with God, then it all changes and we become that man that he created us to be.
Troy R. They, thank you for having words when I did not. I struggled with the Why part well. Then I read Beresolutes devotion. Thank you again for sharing.
I learned that even as I attempt to move on towards perfection (Hebrews 6) my heart still fosters evil. Thankful that I had some purposeful confession time, as I asked God to search me He revealed a few things that I needed to repent for. Thank you Father!
Good morning men. I learned in a deeper way that my words have more of an impact than I see. I must guard the ones that I speak more closely. Also to remember that if my words are being used to encourage, I need to consider whether there is any pride or boastfulness in them, if so it is better to keep my mouth shut.
What I am reminded of is that God wants us to seek Him out when we are in sin. In the garden of Eden, Adam sinned, and he hid from God. sometimes when I know I have sinned, I hide from God, ignore Him, pretend he does not know how wretched I am.
In my confession today i felt a sense of relief. When I hide from Him the guilt lingers.
Good morning guys… what I am reminded of is that God wants us to seek Him out when we are in sin. In the garden of Eden, Adam sinned, and he hid from God. sometimes when I know I have sinned, I hide from God, ignore Him, pretend he does not know how wretched I am.
In my confession today i felt a sense of relief. When I hide from Him the guilt lingers.
I lam learning that my “instant gratification” and insensitive behavior needs to diminish, and that I should focus more at those times on others…what I can and should be doing for them instead of myself.
I learned that God is merciful. If I received what I deserved I would be in a much worse state BUT GOD has mercy on me despite my failures.
Yesterday I had plans to take a walk with my wife. I was tired and took a nap. Then an old friend came by who talked for several hours. I failed to follow through with my commitment to nurture our relationship. I confessed this to my wife and asked for forgiveness. She did. But the message was given to her… you are less important than me. God, help me to make my wife a higher priority.
Amen.
It showed me trying to build myself up at the expense of others. In reality, after I confessed it, I realized that I was just digging my hole deeper before God with these sins against Him and others.
As a Daddy to young kids right now. God is using them to teach me so much. My Daddy heart loves and yearns for my babies to come to me with a humble heart and admit and ask forgiveness for whatever they did so I can comfort and encourage them. Then God reminds me that he is my Daddy, and he yearns and longs for my humble heart to confess to him so he can forgive, comfort, encourage, and build relationship with me.
There’s something about speaking your issues out loud that is very effective. Keeping in your head with your mind allows us to minimize, justify or excuse them away.
I read a devotional after my prayer time. It concluded with this. It is basically what I wrote I. My journal before reading this devotion.
PRAYER: God, I have tried life my way so many times. Even now, again, I am a victim of my choices. Take from me my decisions and consequences. I give up my ways. But please, I beg you, show me yours.
This time in reflection and confession helped me see where I have sinned. I’m thankful for God’s grace!
Good prayer time this morning. Confessed some thing that have been on my heart for a while.
My sinning affects many, not just me.
This was a bit more reflective. It took a minute to figure out that I have sinned against my wife and children (the only people I have been with for the passed 24+hours) by not putting them (and Him) first as I took time to pursue some of my own interests this weekend.
Confessing makes me feel better but exactly what it is teaching me I’m not sure but I feel that in time God will show me more specifically.
The weight of the sin is lifted (forgiven) once fully confessed. I particularly like the specificity of the approach above … I never thought about identifying “why” I did a specific sin but it is powerful.
It’s good to slow down and reflect. And to be honest with God. It is humbling. As it should be 🙂
Humbling indeed
I learned that confession helps me to allow God to revisit situations that I could’ve handled in a more loving manner and identify areas that I can tell the person I’m sorry and seek reconciliation and forgiveness.
I learned that when you talk with someone about an issue and feel you make progress, that it’s okay when you have setbacks. When The Enemy tries to steal your joy and progress, you know you’re doing something right. If The Enemy doesn’t like it, surely it aligns with what God wants for you.
Confessing out loud really does have a powerful effect on how I perceive forgiveness by a gracious God. Now I need to let that gracious God change me into the man he wants me to be.
It put the heart in checkmate, Made me take a look at my own walk.
Grateful for fresh starts daily via confession of my sins.
I realize that the temporary high I get from judging someone produces lingering consequences in my heart as I feel the conviction. Cleanse my heart Lord and help me to be All In!
Praying and repenting out loud is healing, I feel the presence and love of Christ when I pray/talk with Him.
To love as Jesus loves ,To think of others first to be light and salt is not easy, and doesn’t come naturally
To be a better communicator with my wife regarding both the small purchases and the large ones. Even if I believe it is for the good and is not that big of a deal. My rationale is if we can afford it and I’m not spending money on useless things rather on items that are going to turn a profit, than it shouldn’t matter. Communication has always been a struggle for me. Something I have to work on.
I think realizing why I did something is really useful and it makes it easier to not do it again.
The one thing i learned is how important confession is for our lives. How important is to call wrong wrong and agree with God that i’ve committed a wrongful act. He tells us in His word that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.” Being able to acknowledge that and seeking that forgiveness feels wonderful
God’s grace is an amazing thing. I am a sinner every day. Thank you God for not giving up on me
I struggled a bit with this. I asked God to reveal to me any situation where I wronged someone, or sinned in the last 24 hours. Is it possible I’m oblivious to sin that I’m committing? I trust God totally you help me become acutely and completely aware.
He’s always there for me, no matter where I am, if I ask Him He joins me!
Looking at the rewind of the past day of where I was wrongly ‘me’ focused and not putting God and others first. 1 John 1:9.
Completed today’s challenge. I learned it’s not easy to confess!
I have learned how truly selfish I can be and that I need to pray against selfishness everyday.
Ultimately, God is the one wronged and He is also the only one who can help us make it right.
I know that Jesus she’d blood cleanses me and I believe Him when He says He does the cleansing. I know throughout a busy day, we don’t always see who we offended, but at least I can bring it before Him and ask Him to not only reveal who it was or how, but know that my relationship is so close that I can freely confess it to Him, knowing I will receive mercy.
I know more often than not, I have not loved Him with my whole heart or others, I don’t always put Him first and try to keep the day’s distractions from keeping that from happening, but it does, and yet, I am thankful that I have such a wonderful, loving Father that rejoices over me.
Missing confession is a missed opportunity to grow with the Lord- Confession is such an important part of our faith journey and healing. James 5:16 is a great verse to center this reflection on. Thanks Vince.
What I learned from my time in confession: while my sin was not directly impactful towards others, by naming the individuals whom it created distance between as a result, I found myself connecting more personally and emotionally with the consequence that sin creates. It can be easier to miss or avoid that dynamic but confessing aloud and reflecting on the specific people impacted, it brought to light the damaging effects of sin.
So amazing how confessing makes you feel relief. This out loud praying has been a game changer as my prayers seem more focused.
I learned that not confessing actually causes a great burden on me. I don’t think I have really noticed how much pressure not confessing your wrongdoing toward others actually holds you back. I also learned when trying to think about what I had done to wrong someone else how much conviction things which I thought were insignificant held over me.
I’m learned that I need to have better systems in place for times like holidays, which tend to hijack my good habits. Needs better systems, self management and self-control.
I have learned that confession of my wrongs are the beginning of the healing in the area where God is changing my heart.
The one thing I learned from this time of confession is the reminder of the importance of reflection and self-evaluation…in order to have the understanding of what to confess, you need to first assess/reflect or take time to simply slow down enough to understand what missteps did I have over a period, and what burdens am I carrying because of my actions or the circumstances I’m facing. This process allows me to create the margin I need to humble myself for Christ to come in and give me the freedom I need.
I asked God for forgiveness for two prior events. I know that I won’t forget what I did but I am at peace with my past.
Not forgiving yourself is the hardest part of forgiveness.
Guilt is a terrible thing, especially after God hears your confession and forgives you.
It will eat you up inside. Self Guilt doesn’t hurt anybody but yourself. Let It Go and Let God.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
I learned that speaking my sins out loud and actually telling them to God makes them feel real. I wasn’t able to lie to myself about them anymore and keep hiding them. Now i can start to move forward.