Impact Prayer International and Jerry McCullah’s
“7 Keys to Kingdom Praying!”
In my last installment we covered the first aspect of prayer in our prayer outline listed as 1. “Praise”. Now we move on to:
2. Confession:
Confession- kon-fesh’-un (yadhah; homologeo, and their derivatives):
The uncompromising meaning is “acknowledgment,” “avowal,” with the implication of a change of conviction or of course of conduct on the part of the subject.
After a time of Praise to God for Who He is, under the heading of Confession, I often take two approaches, or directions, with regards to confession, confession of faith and confession of sin.
Confessions of faith are public acknowledgments of devotion to God, and to the truth through which God is revealed. They are declarations of absolute confidence in Christ, and of surrender to His service. For the purpose of this teaching, I offer the following few examples:
I recognize that there is only one true and living God, Who exists as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that He is worthy of all honor, praise and worship as Creator, Sustainer, Beginning and End of all things.
I recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Word Who became flesh and dwelt among us. I believe that He came to destroy the works of Satan, that He disarmed the rulers and authorities, having triumphed over them.
I believe that God has proven His love for me, because when I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. I believe that He delivered me from the domain of darkness and transferred me to His Kingdom, and in Him I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I believe that I am now a child of God. I believe that I was saved by the grace of God through faith, that it was a gift and not the result of any works on my part.
The list I use goes on, but I simply wanted to give a thumbnail of what I mean by confession of faith. In my prayer time I speak these confessions aloud so the demonic realm will know upon what I stand.
After we have been in the Presence of God through Praise, and a further time of Confession of Faith, we are in a good position to see our need of cleansing and forgiveness, to see ourselves as we truly are compared to His holiness.
Confessions of sins:
This is a time to examine ourselves under the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. Confession means to agree with God about our sin. Wherever there is true repentance for sin, the contrite freely confesses his guilt to Him, against whom he has sinned. The Psalmist simply said: “I acknowledge my sin . . . I will confess” (Psalm 32:5). Psalm 51 is a good example and outline for one’s confession. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Confession is our part in the cleansing process; Christ’s part was the Cross!