ELEMENTS OF PRAYER – PART 2 – CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, Lord my God, give attention to Your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying in Your presence. May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which You said You would put Your Name there. May You hear the prayer Your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.” (vv 18-21)

“When Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You and when they turn back and give praise to Your name, praying and making supplication before You in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them back to the land You gave to them and their ancestors.” (vv 24-25)

“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to Your name and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land You gave Your people for an inheritance.” (vv 26-27)

“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among Your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since You know their hearts (for You alone know the human heart), so that they will fear You and walk in obedience to You all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.”  (vv 28-31)

“When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to You with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land You gave their ancestors, toward the city You have chosen and toward the temple I have built for Your Name; then from heaven, Your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive Your people, who have sinned against You.” (vv 36-39)

2 Chronicles 6:18-21, 24-25, 26-27, 28-31, 36-39

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s Part 1, I talked about communication being the lifeblood of relationship and with that, the critical importance of communicating with God through prayer, allowing Him to shape and mold who we are and how we relate to one another.

As I discussed prayer and how to approach it, I used the A.C.T.S. model which is broken down as follows:

A – Adoration

C – Confession

T – Thanksgiving

S – Supplication

In this devotion’s first installment, we looked at the matter of incorporating praise into our prayer, showing our full adoration and appreciation for all God has done, all He is doing, and all He is still yet to do in our lives. As we looked at Solomon’s prayer in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 6, we saw where he praised God for his distinctive nature (the God of all gods) and for the promises that God had fulfilled. We examined other Old Testament figures who had experienced the blessing of God’s promises and finally examined the promises God has made and kept with us.

Today, we turn our attention from praise to a second element critical to prayer and building a relationship with God. That element is confession and forgiveness.

Let’s start by getting to the heart of our human condition:

We are all sinners who don’t deserve anything short of God’s condemnation, wrath, and complete annihilation.

It’s as simple as that and no one can deny it without being guilty of sinning through lying. This is because the scriptures speak the ultimate truth and tell us the following:

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:22b-23

and

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:8, 10

There is no question. All sin and all are doomed before God.

It’s a good thing that the story doesn’t just end there for there would be no hope for anyone otherwise.

The truth of the matter, and it’s just as much truth as the fact that we are doomed sinners, is that we serve a God who loves and forgives, who shows mercy and grace to those who seek Him and forgiveness from their sins through the second element of prayer: confession.

Go back to the scripture in 1 John and you’ll find this verse:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

It’s a pretty simple concept. Turn to God in prayer, confess your sins to Him, and receive purification and forgiveness.  God’s word promises it.

As we continue to look at Solomon’s prayer, it’s interesting to note that the majority of the prayer is centered on the matter of confession and forgiveness. Take another look at what Israel’s king had to say as he communicated with God:

“But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, Lord my God, give attention to Your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying in Your presence. May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which You said You would put Your Name there. May You hear the prayer Your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.” (vv 18-21)

“When Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You and when they turn back and give praise to Your name, praying and making supplication before You in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them back to the land You gave to them and their ancestors.” (vv 24-25)

“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to Your name and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land You gave Your people for an inheritance.” (vv 26-27)

“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among Your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since You know their hearts (for You alone know the human heart), so that they will fear You and walk in obedience to You all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.”  (vv 28-31)

“When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to You with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land You gave their ancestors, toward the city You have chosen and toward the temple I have built for Your Name; then from heaven, Your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive Your people, who have sinned against You.” (vv 36-39)

Solomon’s requests were clearly centered on four key things:

1. Both he and the people of Israel had sinned against God. All had done wrong and acted wickedly.

2. God would judge sinners and bring hardship on anyone who chose to do wrong and live wickedly.

3. The only way for sinners to restore their relationship with God was through sincere, humble confession.

4. When sinners come before God in humble, sincere confession, He will forgive them, help them to walk in renewed obedience and righteousness, and return them to His good favor.

And so it is for us.

When it comes to our daily prayers, we need to confess where we have fallen short because we all sin and no sin is minor to God. To not repent and turn from sin would be asking for God to send His judgment on us, and if we look at enough scripture in the Bible as to when that happened, we certainly wouldn’t want a fraction of the tribulation placed on Israel. But if we confess our sins, our God is faithful and just, wanting to forgive us from sin and purify us from unrighteous living.

There’s no doubt that confession is a critical element of prayer.

Here’s one more benefit of confession as we close today:

When we realize we’re sinners at heart and see how short we fall when it comes to meeting God’s expectations, then we not only see our need to confess but we realize how much we need His forgiveness and pardon. And when we realize how much we have been forgiven and pardoned through His limitless mercy, grace, and love, then we can’t help but be elevated to an even higher level of adoration and praise as we pray unto our God and Father in Heaven.

Thus confession leads to realization which leads to appreciation which in turn leads to adoration.

My hope for all of us is that our prayers lifted up to God will always follow this pattern, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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