God Revives His People through Confession

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak town, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God and prayed: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.” (Ezra 9:5-6)
  Passage: I John 1:8-9

        You can pull up plenty of home videos showing a child with a mouth covered in chocolate being asked if he or she just ate something chocolate. The child answers with a straight face, “No”. We laugh at that, because we did it as children and our children and grandchildren have done it as well. It is natural for us to deny doing something we knew we should not have done, and it goes back to the beginning when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden. God confronted Adam, who first hid, then blamed Eve, which, in reality, was Adam blaming God for giving her to him.         Confession is agreement with someone about something. In our salvation, confession is agreeing that Jesus is Lord and with that confession, we receive Him as our Savior. In our sin, confession, confession is agreeing with God that we have not followed His Word and have gone our own way in attitude and action. Confession is essential to revival, because without it, we will hold on to our sin and self-righteousness. God promises forgiveness when we confess and He revives us when we do.  

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)