true confession

Opening Prayer: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.  Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord—“ and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5)

Scripture: Psalm 32:3-5

Journal: What do you need to confess to the Lord today?  What is getting in the way of your relationship with him?  What is hindering you from living fully and freely in Christ?  What attitudes or beliefs are fueling that sinful, dysfunctional behavior?

Reflection:

true confession

do not let us

o Lord

stop too near the surface

in our confession

for if we do

we never really

get to the source

of our problem

we merely chop the weeds

off at the surface

only to see them

grow right back again

instead of pulling them

up by the roots

for apart from you

we don’t really even

know what to confess

we deal only with symptoms

rather than the disease

so show us

o Lord

what we really need to see

and give us the courage

to confess it

so that we might be free

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)