From Adoration to Honest Confession
This is Awkward
Did you know that making an honest confession about your sins is crucial to prayer? This question arises as my previous article highlights the importance of adoring God before making requests.
While offering adoration to God may require an adjustment, people usually embrace this practice, understanding that he deserves praise.
After all, he is the holy creator who supplies our needs. Yet, many petitioners (including myself) feel awkward confessing their sins to God.
As a result, we ask God for forgiveness without explicitly addressing how our transgressions offend him.
Below, I adequately define sin and why we avoid acknowledging our wrongs. I’ll also reveal some consequences of hidden sin, the benefits of admission, and effective ways to make an honest confession.
Let’s Talk About Transgressions
Defining Sin
Making an honest confession requires specifically admitting our sins to God. But before anyone can make such an admission, they should know what it means to sin.
Biblical scholars define sin according to the Hebrew word ḥāṭā and the Greek word hamartanō. The words mean to miss the mark and fail in duty.
All believers must obey the laws and commands God sets as his standard of righteousness in the Bible. When disobedience happens, we miss the mark by failing to meet God’s holy expectations.
God’s holy expectations are set in regulations such as
Ways we violate God’s laws by sinning are found in verses like
Why Do We Hide?
Violating God’s laws causes us to hide from him. Adam and Eve’s actions after the fall provide two reasons why running from God after we sin is a common response.
First, sin causes us to feel a sense of nakedness and shame we can’t bear before a Holy God. This is why Adam and Eve try to disappear when God searches for them in the cool of the day.
A similar sense of regret causes Judas to commit suicide, unable to live with the decision to betray the Messiah.
Along with regret, we often try to hide our sins because we don’t want to take accountability for our actions. Genesis 3:12-13 confirms this as Adam and Eve aren’t willing to accept sole responsibility for their wrongs.
Instead, Eve blames a serpent and Adam places the onus on his wife and Eliohim, who made her for him. I can relate to this because sometimes, when confessing sins, others become the blame for my behavior.
While God understands how we feel when others hurt us, he will hold us responsible for sinful responses.
The potential response of others is another reason why we try to hide our sins. More specifically, we strive to appear more righteous than we are to avoid public judgment.
Examples proving this are
- Saul, after refusing to destroy all the Amalekites and their goods.
- David choosing to marry Bathsheba to cover up adultery and murder.
- Ananias and Sapphire lying to Peter about their offering.
Repercussions vs Rewards
Consequences of Hidden Sin
Lying and trying to conceal our sins only last for a moment. Eventually, we will experience the consequences of our actions.
Just read David’s testimony in Psalm 32:3-4. Here, the Psalmist talks about how not confessing sins caused
- Sickness and agony in his body.
- The Lord’s discipline being heavy against him.
- His strength to evaporate.
A lack of strength and facing the Lord’s chastisement are not the only consequences for unconfessed sin. Once again, David uses his writings to mention how hidden transgressions led to his being haunted by his rebellion.
Scholars suggest that the haunting David endures proves that even in sin, he is still a man after God’s heart. David felt convicted by his rebellion, which wore on him mentally daily.
This conviction is a blessing as unconfessed sins grieve the Holy Spirit. Though grieving, the Holy Spirit still urges Christians to repent and be reconciled to God.
While reconciliation is good news, continually ignoring the Holy Spirit’s call to repentance can lead to a seared conscience that cannot be saved.
Before someone develops a seared conscience, unconfessed sins cause them to drift away from God as he refuses to answer their prayers. The Israelites learn this as their hardened hearts cause God to reject their prayers until they acknowledge and turn from transgressions.
The Benefits of an Honest Confession
While God gives a deaf ear to the unrepentant, he promises to hear the cries of the repentant.
Evidence confirming this guarantee comes from 1 John 1:9. This verse guarantees that when confession occurs, we will receive forgiveness and cleansing from our faithful and just God.
David echoes a similar sentiment in Psalm 32:5 by mentioning how confessing his sin led to forgiveness and freedom from guilt. Free from guilt, he embraces the joy of living honestly before God.
Additionally, living honestly before God by admitting transgressions allows the humble to experience healing. James 5:16 instructs believers to tell fellow Christians their transgressions to be healed.
Healing is not limited to individuals who return to God through honest confession. By seeking God, Nations can also expect healing from disasters like drought, locust, and pestilence.
2 Chronicles 7:12-14 offers assurance as God promises to hear from heaven when he brings destruction on the land. This promise requires the Israelites to humble themselves, seek his face, and turn from wickedness.
Along with God hearing from heaven (answering petitioners’ requests), those who honestly confess sin will receive help in prayer through the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:28 says the Holy Spirit assists us with moans and groans, only God knows when we’re unsure what to pray about.
The Holy Spirit’s assistance gives us confidence that God will meet our needs according to his will.
Effective Ways to Make an Honest Confession
Obtaining help from the Holy Spirit and the other benefits mentioned above requires consistent admission of our sins to God. Confession is essential to our prayer life as it reveals ways we offend our Heavenly Father.
David makes an honest confession when admitting that he has sinned against God alone and done evil in his sight. David’s admission becomes more gruesome when he exposes his sin of shedding innocent blood.
While David exposes personal faults, Daniel confronts Israel’s transgressions, which are
- Disobedience.
- Rebelling against God’s commands.
- Refusing to listen to his prophets
- Ignoring God’s voice.
Both confessions suggest the best approach to transparency is not to sugar code anything when talking to God. We are to express every way we’ve sinned to take accountability for our actions.
Bill Hybels also suggests writing down our sins and throwing them away after prayer (“Too Busy Not to Pray,” 2007, Chapter 6). Seeing our sins on paper allows them to act as a mirror, opening our eyes to our unrighteousness.
Additionally, Daniel and David teach us to reverence God in confession by acknowledging he is correct for disciplining us for our transgressions.
God is correct in his judgment since he is a holy creator who hates sin. Furthermore, God’s judgments are appropriate because he is a faithful promise keeper who disciplines according to the conditions in Scripture.
Thankfully, Jesus Christ acts as our mediator, sparing us from God’s full wrath and granting access to him in prayer.
Does this article inspire you to make regular, honest confessions to God? How does being transparent about sin impact your prayer life? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
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