Acts 3:19
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
“God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart.” ~ Saint Bernard
Holy God, we come today with the conviction that if we expect You to answer our earnest prayers for our nation, we must deal first with our own unconfessed sins, willful sins, that have not been brought to You. Of course, nothing is hidden from You and we don’t need to fill in all the details of things You already know. But our sin causes us to hide our faces from You. Often, we are deceived into thinking that we are without sin or one little sin won’t matter to God; He has more important sins that offend Him. Scripture instructs us to the contrary, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:8) Remind us, O God, that anything that separates us from fellowship with You is wrong. We sense it; our hearts have been pricked. In confessing we are acknowledging our sense of need, a need for forgiveness and cleansing, a need for renewed relationship with our Lord. We know that Your forgiveness is free, but it still isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s downright hard and painful. Help us to open ourselves up to Your amazing grace. We honor You by our confessing; You bless us with Your mercy. We bring our prayer of confession to You now. In the name of Jesus, and for His sake, Amen.
“If God should please, the Holy Spirit could at this moment make every one of you fall on your knees, confess your sins, and turn to God. He is an Almighty Spirit, able to do wonders.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
