I grew up Catholic but have turned away from it and am finally learning how to\/what it means to ‘walk with the\u00a0Lord”. Is it correct to confess our sinfulness every day or necessary to do so before prayer?<\/p>\n
Do we confess to Jesus or Father God?<\/p>\n
How do we confess? This confuses me because the only way I ever knew was to go to a priest and recite certain\u00a0prayers before and after the confession.<\/p>\n
I feel depressed sometimes because it occurs to me that all I’m capable of is sin. Sometimes I really get that I need complete dependence on God to live true. I need Father God to simply exist, His Son Jesus to return to\u00a0heaven, and His Holy Spirit to even have the desire to know Him and live right. It’s exhausting. This world is so\u00a0heavy and there are so many pitfalls – like walking across a minefield.<\/p>\n\t
Everyone, except for Jesus Christ, has been guilty of sin at times in their lives (Romans 3:23). To claim that you have not been guilty of sin is a lie (which, ironically, is a sin) (I John 1:8-10). Yes, we all have the capability to sin, but what the Bible doesn’t say is that we are innately sinful or that we sin every day (though many do sin frequently).<\/p>\n
When you have sinned, you admit your fault to God. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:9). In the New Testament, there is no priestly class, nor is there a requirement to confess your sins to church leaders in order to be forgiven or ritualistic prayers. See:<\/p>\n Question: I grew up Catholic but have turned away from it and am finally learning how to\/what it means to ‘walk with the\u00a0Lord”. Is it correct to confess our sinfulness every day or necessary to do so before prayer? Do we confess to Jesus or Father God? How do we confess? This confuses me because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[51,1005],"class_list":["post-61850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-confession","tag-sinful-nature"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44070,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-didnt-say-jesus-is-lord-do-i-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":0},"title":"If I didn’t say “Jesus is Lord,” do I need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello there, Thank you for the articles and answers on your website.\u00a0 I believe they stand on good biblical ground and are a blessing to Christians and the world. I have a question about Romans 10:9.\u00a0 Many years ago, I was immersed in water for the remission of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31352,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-confession-of-sin-only-to-ones-self-or-must-it-be-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":1},"title":"Is confession of sin only to one’s self or must it be to God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just read your article: \"How detailed does a confession of sin have to be? Do you need to list out all that you've done wrong?\"\u00a0 We have been discussing this subject for over two months with no end in sight. One side holds to the understanding that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-confess-to-the-person-i-lusted-after\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":2},"title":"Do I need to confess to the person I lusted after?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do I have to confess my lustful thoughts to the person I lusted after? I'm dealing with the sin of lust (and the commonly related sinful behavior linked to it). I know I need to repent of this, ask God for forgiveness, and cut it out of my life.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18102,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-need-to-redo-our-confession-before-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":3},"title":"Do we need to redo our confession before the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Preacher, I must thank you for the wonderful work you are doing to help the churches of Christ. I have an issue that I would like you to help me with. I fornicated with a lady in church, and she is pregnant. We spoke to church elders about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-saying-yes-enough-to-confess-christ-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":4},"title":"Is saying “yes” enough to confess Christ before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I enjoy reading your articles on your web site. I find your answers to questions biblically sound and with justification. I'm having trouble with confession, perhaps you can expound on it for me. Is simply answering \"yes\" when one is asked to confess Christ (before baptism) enough? Should the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-have-to-confess-our-fornication-that-was-repented-of-before-our-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":61850,"position":5},"title":"Do we have to confess our fornication that was repented of before our marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend and I committed sexual immorality. We have repented and not done it again. We are planning on getting married, but do I have to confess my sins to my pastor and my parents before we get married? Answer: The purpose of confession is to face the fact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n