When God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, He knew that even after we put our trust in Him as our Savior, we would still stumble in our sins. From time to time, I have to remind myself that God knew I would still struggle after I became a Christian and that it doesn’t surprise Him. For this reason, God gives us the outlet of confession where we can bring our sins before Him and come clean. While asking God for things in prayer is a good thing for us to do, humbling ourselves and confessing where we fall short must be a key part of our prayer life, too.

How do we confess before God? Well, to start, tell him about the sins you know are sins – the big ones that tend to pop up in your life. Make sure to be honest because you aren’t telling Him anything He doesn’t already know. Then move to areas that are more subtle in your life, like a lack of kindness to your spouse, a lack of patience with your children, a lack of generosity with your finances, or a lack of gentleness with a colleague. Confess the ways you have neglected spiritual disciplines, laughed at what makes God cry, consumed media that is unbecoming of the life you were called to or the ways you have been careless with your words. Like a deep cleaning of your house on a spring day, get it all out.

Then – and this is the most important part – thank God for His forgiveness and move on. Don’t linger in your guilt, Jesus has already removed that. Don’t allow your shame to sit heavy, Jesus has already lifted it. Don’t imagine that your sin separates you from God. Nothing can do that. To believe the Gospel is to believe that your sin is fully, finally forgiven. Now go follow Jesus and rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

Final Thought: Confess and come clean to God with everything today!