Why Confession Is So Important

1. Nehemiah 1:4-9

   ⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:
   “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
   ⁸ “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
   Nehemiah 9:1-4
   9 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. ² Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. ³ They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. ⁴ Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God.
   1 John 1:9
   ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I recently did a Bible Study on the book of Nehemiah.  I was thoroughly impressed with Nehemiah’s prayer life, and how he confessed not only his sins but the sins of his ancestors.

Nehemiah understood that he was serving a holy and perfect God. He also understood that in order for him to hear from God the way that he needed to, the first order of business was to confess his sins to God.  This would put him back in right standing and fellowship with God.

Today I would like to ask you some rather personal questions.  First, how is your prayer life?  My second question is do you take a few moments to actually examine yourself and confess your sins to God during your prayer time?  I cannot stress enough to you how important confession is to your spiritual well-being.

Confession is to simply acknowledge that you have done wrong.  It is to come into agreement with God that you have sinned. I want to also encourage you to confess your sins quickly, when you know you have done wrong.  This way you won’t be as prone to fall into bondage and sin entrapment.

Confession will not eliminate the consequences of our sins, but it will put us back into fellowship with God.  A great example of this is shown in David’s life.
(2nd Samuel 12:9-23)
Repentance is also important in this process.  Repentance is simply to turn away from the sin that is causing distance between you and God. It is to stop engaging in the thing that you are doing that is offensive to God.  Bottom line, if you want to hear from heaven and have your prayers answered confess your sins and repent of them.  God responds to a broken and contrite heart. (Psalms 34:18).

 The Benefits Of Confessing Our Sins

1. Confession cleanses our soul.
2. Confession thwarts the enemy from having a foothold in our lives and causing us to live in bondage.
3. Confession heals our broken relationship with God and others.
4. Confession causes us to look inward and honestly examine ourselves.
5. Confession helps to humble ourselves before God.
6. Confession reminds us that only God is perfect.
7. Confession frees us of guilt from the burden and weight of our sin.
8. Confession gives us a fresh start and a clean slate.
9. Confession opens the door for us to hear from God.
10. Confession deepens our relationship with God.

    2 Samuel 12:9-23

    ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

    ¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

    ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

    Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for^[a] the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
    ¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth^[b] on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

    ¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

    ¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
    “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

    ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
    ²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
    ²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”