Do you need to confess your sins?
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16
Forgiving Father,
I recently read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s exhortation
to confess our sins to a brother or sister in Christ.*
While we don’t want to make the mistake
of thinking that we must confess our sins to another person
in order to be forgiven,
and while we don’t believe that any human
has the authority of Christ to forgive us our sins,
we do need to recognize that confession of our sins,
sometimes to another human being,
is crucial to living in the “freedom for which Christ set us free” (Gal. 5:1).
Show us, Father, if we are lying to ourselves
when we only confess sins privately to you;
show us if we need to take a sin out of the darkness
into the light of gracious fellowship,
a few close friends,
or a trusted ministry leader,
who can remind us of the hope your Word offers
about sin, temptation, and forgiveness.
Help us not to “conceal our transgressions”
but to “confess” them and “forsake them” (Proverbs 28:13).
As we confess our sins,
may we remember and believe
that you are “faithful and just to forgive our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
In Jesus’ forgiving name. Amen.
Read Galatians 5:1; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; James 5:16.
This prayer inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. **This prayer is part of a celebration of the three-year anniversary of the free online community, the NYD Network, which offers gospel-centered encouragement and equipping for issues of aging, caregiving, legacy, and end-of-life. Why not join today or invite someone you love to join? (It’s FREE!) Link: https://numberingyourdaysnetwork.mn.co/share/B5q0dGGIOR0f996K?utm_source=manual
