One of my good friends and I are constantly discussing prayer: what it means, what it does, and how to do it. Even Pastor Tim Challies admits to not fully understanding it. But, like so many other spiritual things, just because I don't fully understand it, doesn't mean I stop doing it. We are called to pray. It is a privilege, it works, it changes us, and it changes others--so pray I will. And the encouragement is that the more we do it, the more we learn how to do it.
Today let's look at the part of prayer that is confession. It's the third tab in my Prayer Binder and I know that I am a sinner in constant need of forgiveness.
But...
sometimes it's hard to know WHAT I need to confess and ask forgiveness over.
Do you ever struggle with this too?
I KNOW I am not perfect, I know I fail God every day.
But...
some days I have "not so bad" days. Some days I don't get angry. Some days I do think of others. Some days are okay.
But...
I know I haven't gone through even one day without sin. So what do I confess on those days?
I've started really digging in to what my besetting sins are. Those sins I constantly battle. The sins that are hard to kill in my life. The sins that are so much a part of my every day life that I think I've had a "pretty good day." These are the sneaky sins. The sins I've adjusted to without even realizing it. Sins like: overeating, laziness, lover of comfort, waster of time and money, greed, living in fear and worry... to name just a few. On my vanilla days, these are the sins I've started confessing.
- Eating that extra dinner roll when I'm not hungry, because it's right there and looks good...
- Fantasizing about what sounds good to eat right now because I'm craving something sweet... or salty...
- Procrastinating on something because it's too hard, or not getting out of bed when I need to, or putting something off because I need to watch that next episode...
- Going to that movie or eating out when we don't have the money for it, because I deserve a break.
- Spending way more time than I intended to scrolling through Instagram or Facebook or blogs...
- Snapping at the kids because something they've done, or not done, has now inconvenienced me...
- Fearing that Satan might be stronger than my prayers...
- Worrying about my children's future and reacting in anger toward them and God when things don't look like they're going how I want them to...
When I started working through things like this, it was really easy to see that my vanilla days weren't so vanilla.
This gives me a great starting place for confession and asking for grace and mercy. It also helps me when dealing with my boys and others who hurt, irritate, or offend me.
What about you? What are those sneaky sins in your life that might need digging out? What do you need to confess and ask for grace and mercy over?
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Amen I wrote a similar prayer the other day after reading Psalms 1 about walking, sitting, standing with wicked. here's the prayer -
ReplyDeletegluttony is a sin, I love cookies to a gluttonous level. When I go to the market I’ll say to myself I won’t go down the cookie aisle but before you know it I’m walking down that aisle. Now I’m standing in front of all those cookie boxes designed by some fancy Madison Avenue Advertising Firm tempting me with beautiful pictures, colors, and fonts. I’m sure you know how this story ends…….Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table with a big glass of ice cold milk dunking my favorite cookies into the glass praying I don’t eat the entire package in one sitting.
Ah yes, the cookie aisle. I hear your pain. It's SO hard when everything is so convenient!
DeleteThis was excellent! Thank you for your insightful words and motivation to seek holiness in all areas. I have been reading through 1John and reading “Idols of the Heart” by Elyse Fitzpatrick and have been convicted about the idols in my heart and how they become second nature. We are never as “good” as we think we are and need to be humbled by the Spirit through the Word. Humbling ourselves and seeking to honor the Lord. It is no easy task but an important one.
ReplyDeleteSecond nature, YES! I know there is always so much room for growth, and it's so easy to gloss over and compare myself with the world around me instead of to the Word and Jesus.
DeleteI so needed this. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSo glad it helped!
DeleteWhen I read the title in my inbox yesterday I knew I needed to read this post. As soon as I could. I am so guilty of those besetting sins and letting them become so comfortable that I don't even notice them until I read something like this. Thank you for your blog, it is such a blessing to me. Sunshine
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so encouraged that it blessed you!
DeleteThank you!!! I sit in prayer sometimes wondering how to pray about this. I think, I didn’t do much wrong today what do I say? This was really helpful to me. It gives me something to think about.
ReplyDeleteYES! Exactly what I struggled with too! Thanks!
DeleteGoodness, this was helpful. Unfortunately, I have these "vanilla" days way too often. It's definitely one of my greatest weaknesses- that I don't see my sins as God sees them. Thank you for sharing your sneaky sins. I'm a full-time grad student, and I sometimes procrastinate, telling myself I deserve a break. I find myself grumbling about the work and forget to count it as a blessing that I even have this opportunity! I went over to one of your posts about the confession part of your prayer binder, and I was relieved to read that you don't record your specific confessions due to the discouragement factor. In the past, I have written down some confessions only to find that I was writing the same ones over and over. It's bad enough that I can acknowledge to myself that a certain sin is not yet mastered, but it has broken my heart to see that on paper. I need to stop recording it and instead find verses, quotes, lyrics, etc. to fight those sins. Thanks for your encouraging post!
ReplyDeleteI so hear you about procrastination and grumbling! Yes! I don't write down my confessions, and I also don't dig more than the last 24 hours. I try to just cover the last 24 hours or I'd be confessing sins over and over again that God says He has already forgiven. Thanks for your note!
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