Praise, Confession, Petition and Intercession John 4:23-24 Psalm 22:22,25,26; 73:25-28 Praise, Confession, Petition and Intercession

What Is Confession? “from a basic meaning of say the same thing: (1) as binding a speaker to his word (solemnly) promise, assure (Matthew 14:7); (2) as confessing that something is true, admit, agree (Hebrews 11:3), opposite….(deny); of an acknowledgement of sins, confess (1 John 1:9); (3) in judicial matters, make a binding statement, confess, bear witness (Acts 24:14); as making a public acknowledgment of allegiance, confess, declare, acknowledge (John 9:22); in a religious and moral sense, as making a public statement of what one believes, profess, confess, acknowledge (Romans 10:9,10); (5) as acknowledging what is due to God, praise (Hebrews 13:15)”

How Can Man And God Have Fellowship? 1 John 1:5 – God is light and in Him is no darkness at all Do you want to have fellowship with God? Then you must walk in the Light! John 1:4,5; John 8:12

Confession Is A Natural Product Of Walking In The Light God provides forgiveness through His conditional promises – 1 John 1:7-10 What conditions are indicated for a Christian to find forgiveness? Acts 8:22; Revelation 2:5,16,21 Does God automatically forgive our sins?

Confession Is A Natural Product Of Walking In The Light What is the basis of our assurance of a right standing with God? We can have confidence in the Character of God and conditional promises He has given us – 2 Peter 1:3,4 Romans 8:15-17

How Should We Confess Our Sins? We should tell God what He already knows – Hebrews 4:13 This is humbling and thus very good for us Without this knowledge we can become something described as very bad – Matthew 23:26; John 9:40,41

How Should We Confess Our Sins? Be specific because God wants us to come clean I am to confess sin to men What is the purpose of a generic confession? What have you actually done? James 5:16

How Should We Confess Our Sins? Confession should be both painful and cleansing Never fear response of our God to a genuine confession David poured out a broken heart to God – Psalm 51:2-4; 51:12

Bible Examples of Confession In Prayer Personal confession made only to God David – Psalm 32:1-7 The Tax Collector – Luke 18:13 Collective confession, one individual on behalf of the group Prayer of Ezra – Ezra 9:6,7,9,10,13-15 Prayer of Nehemiah - Nehemiah 9:1,32-37 Prayer of Daniel – Daniel 9:3-11

It Is Crucial That Christians Understand Confession Many congregations lack openness and honesty because they have failed to deal with sin as God would have us Proverbs 28:13 NKJV 13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Luke 11:1 “lord, teach us to pray…” How Do You Pray? Luke 11:1 “lord, teach us to pray…”