This so caught my attention! I feel like he left very little out, if anything. I have read this several times and shared it with the ladies at our ‘Prayer and Devotion’ on Tuesday. I admit many of those listed are not things I have actually thought of as a sin. Woe is me, ye of little faith, who needs more direction.
~ Confession ~
The Greek word translated “confess” literally means to agree with God about your sin. You agree that your sin violates His holiness and hinders your relationship with Him, and you respond accordingly–by repenting of it and turning from it.
This is also a good point in your prayer time to reaffirm your desire to live fully within the scope of His will (Isa. 59:1-2; 1 John 1:9-10).
An unknown Puritan reflected the essence of confession in this insightful prayer:
Merciful Lord,
Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of morose, peevish and angry tempers,
of lip, life and walk,
of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride,
of unfaithfulness to the souls of men,
of want of bold decision in the cause of Christ,
of deficiency in outspoken zeal for His glory,
of bringing dishonor upon Thy great name,
of deception, injustice, untruthfulness
in my dealings with others,
of impurity in thought, word, and deed,
of covetousness, which is idolatry,
of substance unduly hoarded, improvidently squandered,
not consecrated to the glory of Thee, the Great Giver;
sins in private and in the family, in study and recreation, in the busy haunts of men,
in the study of Thy Word and in the neglect of it,
in prayer irreverently offered and coldly withheld,
in time misspent, in yielding to Satan’s wiles,
in opening my heart to his temptations,
in being unwatchful when I know him nigh,
in quenching the Holy Spirit;
sins against light and knowledge,
against conscience and the restraints of Thy Spirit,
against the law of eternal love.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown, felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed, remembered and forgotten.
Good Lord, hear; and hearing, forgive.
flutteringblessings 