21st November 2024
Confessional prayer
Part of a series on prayer
‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
Isaiah 6:5 (NIVUK)
Isaiah wrote these words after an encounter with God, seeing ‘…him high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.’ (Isaiah 6:1). The setting was so magnificent and glorious that the six-winged seraphim attending God covered their eyes and feet while they were flying (v.2). As they flew, they called to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ (v.3). The voices of the seraphim made the foundations quake, and smoke filled the temple (v.4).
It’s difficult to imagine such majesty and grandeur surrounding Almighty God but probably less difficult to understand Isaiah’s ‘Woe to me!’ reaction, thinking he is ruined. We may not receive a vision of God in the way Isaiah did but when confronted by his ‘otherness’: his pure holiness and glory, the repentant attitude Isaiah displayed is surely the only right response.
Isaiah’s first words after this encounter were confessional: he recognised he was sinful, that he spoke sinful words, and that he lived among sinners. All of us could say exactly the same thing: human beings are sinners; we utter awful words; we live in a world of sin, with people who are bent on wrongdoing.
Confession is a powerful form of prayer. None of us like it when people have done or said something that is clearly wrong and won’t admit it or say sorry for it. It can be ruinous to personal relationships, and it leads to distrust of, for example, our politicians. But, on the other hand, when that person humbly and specifically apologises, trust and respect are restored, and relationships have the potential to flourish again.
It is the same with God. When we fail to confess our sins, which ultimately are all against him (Psalm 51:4), we distance ourselves from our relational God. But when we confess and take ownership of missing the mark with our self-centered, God-ignoring behaviour, our relationship can resume and flourish.
When Isaiah confessed, his guilt was removed and his guilt atoned for (Isaiah 6:7), now he was ready to partner with God and go wherever God would send him (v.8). The same will be true for each of us.
Prayer
Loving Father, please convict us afresh when we go wrong so that we will come in confession to you, and no longer carry the burden around with us. Please help us to recognise that you are holy, and we are not, and to be grateful for the Holy Spirit within us, who enables us to embrace your holiness and empowers us to go where you want us to go with your message of grace. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
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Study by: Barry Robinson About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church