The prayer of confession is our recognition of those places where we have failed to act. Through this prayer we pray for forgiveness not just for the things we have done but also for the things we have not done. We are reminded as we pray of the needy we have not helped. We are reminded as we pray of the neighbors we have not loved.
In other words, through the prayer of confession, we are reminded of the places we have failed to meet the needs of those we pray for during our prayers for others.
And if you are still reading you are probably wondering, "okay, where is he going with this?"
There is a new-ish song on the radio that I hear as a bit of intercession and a bit of confession. Every time I hear "Walk Me Home" by P!nk, I think of having a conversation with Jesus.
"There's something in the way you roll your eyes/
Takes me back to a better time/
When I saw everything is good/
But now you're the only thing that's good"
As the song opens, I imagine approaching Jesus to begin my confession. Half the time, I really expect that Jesus is rolling his eyes at me as I come forward again to admit all the ways I have failed...again. As I admit all the ways that I tried to do everything myself without relying on him...again. There was a time I thought that everything was good. But times change. When I want to understand what it means to be good, I have a different measuring stick than when I was younger.
"Tryna stand up on my own two feet/
This conversation ain't comin' easily"
We are so used to trying to do everything on our own. We are brainwashed with the idea that we are all self-made persons that don't require any help from anyone. We are told over and over that we are supposed to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Our failure or success is based solely on our own commitment and drive.
But Jesus taught us it is all about relationship. Jesus came to prove that God wants to be in relationship with us. Jesus showed us what it looks like to have a relationship with God and with each other. He surrounded himself with a group of others that he could send out to help with the work. He didn't snap his fingers and do it all himself. He had help.
And it is so hard for us to admit that we can't and don't do it all on our own either. Each of us, when we look back on our successes, will find that we had the support of others along the way. We are each surrounded not only by God's love, but by communities of people that love and support us. Sometimes we are blind to that. We don't want to admit it because we think that doing it all ourselves makes us stronger.
But it doesn't.
"Walk me home in the dead of night/
I can't be alone with all that's on my mind, mhm/
So say you'll stay with me tonight/
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside"
Our confession comes in admitting we can't do it alone. Our confession comes in admitting that we don't want to be alone. Our confession comes in admitting we want God to stay there with us, for Jesus to be at our side as we face all that is going wrong in the world around us.
And yet that is our prayer for intercession as well. We know that we can bring those fears, those problems, those wrongs before God. We know that God will remain faithful. We know that no matter how flawed we might be, God doesn't turn away.
"So come on and show me how we're good/
I think that we could do some good"
And so we come full circle. Our confession becomes a prayer of intercession. And a prayer of hope. As we pray, not only is God working in the world, God is working in us. Sometimes the change that the world needs, is a change in us. So we don't sit back and offer up prayers without doing anything. We pray and we act.
Yes, God can and does do good in the world. Yes, prayer matters. But God most often uses us to accomplish those changes in the world. God puts us in the places we need to be to do some good.
God puts you in the path of the person who is hungry so that you can provide them food.
God guides your steps past the person who is cold so that you can provide them warmth.
God sends you into the places of need in the world so that you can help those needs be met.
When we pray, we open ourselves to God's voice. When we confess the things we have done wrong and the things we have failed to do, we open ourselves for God's change to work within us. When we pray for God to do some good in the world, we open ourselves to be instruments of that good.
And for those that haven't heard it...