Confession

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:10-12

We continued our series on prayer today with a look at Confession. Confession is another part of prayer that we're apt to skip over because it's uncomfortable. It requires us to be vulnerable and to lay our selves bare before the Lord. But that's what makes in an invaluable part of building a relationship, which is ultimately what prayer is all about.

We also don't want to admit things to God. It's foolish if you think about it, because God already knows everything. He always has. But somehow we feel better if we don't have to admit it or talk about it. But that's because we miss the point of Confession. It isn't about us telling God all the ways we've stumbled. He already knows. It's about the freedom we get from openly confessing, and what it means for our eternal souls.

And we need that forgiveness from God to feel free; a forgiveness that only comes when you ask for it. Forgiving is the only way to heal our past wounds and to feel the freedom and joy of being in a right relationship with the Lord, and it only comes if we're about to open ourselves us and freely confess fully.

That's something we see modeled by David here in the Psalms. David stumbled, in big ways, but he came before the Lord and laid himself bare. We are told in Scripture that David was a man after God's own heart, and a big part of that was his ability to confess.

We don't confess for God, we do it for ourselves. We do it to build relationship. But, most importantly, we do it because God forgives.