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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
Confess His Name
“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their fathers.2 Chronicles 6:24-26 (NIV)
Solomon built the temple and prayed a dedication prayer over it. He stood on a platform in the center of the outer court and prayed. He commended God for keeping His promise to David to allow a permanent home be built for the arc of the covenant. Solomon also requested God to keep the promise of always having a descendant of David sit on the throne of Israel.(see 2 Chronicles 6:12-16)
Solomon continued to pray, renewing a covenant between God and the nation Israel. In this prayer, he asks God to hear the nation’s prayers after they have confessed His name, turned back to Him, and repented of their sins.
Why is this important to Solomon? He knew the nation and its people will sin and fall away from God. Are we like the people Israel? Yes, we are. We as a nation need to confess our sin to God, repent of our ways, and seek His forgiveness.
In our 21Century world, we are not unlike the people of Israel. We fall short of God’s expectations of us and we sometimes don’t care. We have “more important” things to do than sit or kneel and tell someone we can’t see that we had done wrong. We might choose not to because we don’t really believe we have to. We find other false gods to spend time with.
The sad thing about how we, as a society spend our lives is that, one day soon, our nation will have to answer for what we have done. We need to be ready; we need to confess.
Confess through Prayer
“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 house, have committed against you.” Nehemiah 1:6 (NIV)
Nehemiah lived in exile in the city of Susa. Although he was a prisoner, he had an important job in the palace, that of cupbearer to the king.
His brother Hanani journeyed to Susa. Nehemiah asked about those that survived the exile. What he heard broke his heart. He mourned and fasted and prayed for a lengthy time.
Nehemiah prayed that his God be close so He could hear his requests concerning the people of Israel. He confessed the sins of the Israelites, including himself and his father.
In our 21Century, we have times when a circumstance burdens us so much that we can only fast and pray about it. Sometimes, we have to include ourselves as participators in the sins that we see around us. When we want to see a situation improve, we may have to search our hearts to see if we might be part of the problem. If we discover that, indeed, we are part of the problem, we are to confess our guilt before God.
We confess our need for God when we approach His throne. As we pray to Him, we learn that we can confess to Him through Jesus Christ.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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