The Holy Spirit spoke these words to me as we end our series on prayer, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We should understand that if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His word is not in us (1st John 9-10).
If we sin, and all have sinned after becoming Christians, we must confess it. Confession is essential for righteousness, bringing us into a healthy position. We know the Lord forgives us, but that is different from actually confessing to Him. We need to confess when we have or haven’t done something and not assume we are forgiven.
The Lord wants us free of sins of omission, things we have not done. Do we pray for our leaders, those in authority over us? Do we use our God-granted authority in the Name of Jesus over evil spirits personally, in our communities, in our nation? Do we ignore on-going problems? Recognize things that only we can do, things that God has committed to us to do, and yet we still look to Him to do it?
We should confess being content about many things and not having faith when we pray. Ask the Lord where you have failed. Confess where you have been lax so you can go forward in righteousness with greater success in your prayer life. When we pray much in the Holy Spirit, He speaks to us about what we should pray. This is the Word of the Lord.