“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my inquiry and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.”
Psalm 51:1-10
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When it comes to the sin in our own lives, many of us have found ways to ignore it. We convince ourselves that because it isn’t hurting anyone else, it’s okay to indulge in it. Or some of us may recognize the sin in our lives but, rather than telling others what we are struggling with, we keep it under wraps in the hopes that, one day, we will defeat our temptations with our own willpower. But, that will never happen. There is nothing we can do to cleanse ourselves from our own iniquity. The only person who can create a clean heart in us is God. We long to experience the renewal of God and to be free from the burden of sin, but where do we start?
Confession. There is power when we name our sin out loud to God and to others. Multiple times in Scripture, followers of Jesus were urged to confess their sins to one another, so they could find healing. Even in the Scripture for today, we see the natural flow of confession to life change. At the beginning of the passage, the author of Psalms 51 is blunt about his own sin and iniquity. After confessing the evil he has done, he petitions God to act. To come and wash him white as snow.
In order for us to experience renewal and restoration, we must first engage in confession and repentance. We must be honest about the sins we are struggling with in our lives, and we have to repent from them. On an individual level, but also on a church level. The church has sinned in the ways we have focused on the wrong things. We’ve allowed the world to influence the church more than the church has influenced the world. As we come together to confess and repent together, both individually and as the body of Christ, we provide the space for God to come and restore us. Our confession paves the way for God to make his church a beacon of light for those in the darkness!
As we ready ourselves for prayer, consider seeking out a trustworthy friend to confess your sins with. Pray that God will renew and restore you through the hard work of confession. Ask God to reveal ways your church or the church as a whole needs to repent for covering up or not acknowledging sin and showing more judgment than compassion to a lost and dying world.
Prayer for Strengthening Churches:
Our gracious Father, we look at your desire for the church to show the unity of the Trinity, and we know that we have fallen so far short of this. We have allowed our own selfish desires and plans and schemes to overshadow the gospel and the faithful proclamation of it. We see how we have justified our sin and forsaken the call to holiness. Give us a desire for truth in the inmost parts and help us today to walk in obedience to your word.
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If you’ve enjoyed this excerpt from our United in Prayer guide and would like to join us for our 21 Days of Prayer, we invite you, your church leaders, pastors, staff and congregation to unite with us. To access all of our resources and let us know that you are praying with us, click here: converge.org/21-days-united-in-prayer