WEEK 4
DAY 28- WE CONFESS CORPORATELY
Scripture- 2 Chronicles 7:14; James 5:16
The Bible consistently positions repentance before revival—whether it’s spiritual awakening, national healing, or cultural renewal. Throughout the Scriptures, we see God’s kings and prophets alike who are led to confess and repent of their peoples’ sin. Each time the Lord answered with healing and renewal—just like He promised (2 Chron. 7:11-14). When Jesus teaches us to seek forgiveness for sin, His prayer assumes a corporate nature: “. . . forgive us our debts . . .” (Matt. 6:12). Of “the prayers” to which the Early Church was devoted, corporate confession would have been vital. A culture of repentance was at the heart of the New Testament Church.
My friend Jim planted a church where another church had closed several years before. In his first months, while reading through old church files, he discovered that the church had made the decision to forbid performing interracial marriages in the 1970s. While it was a decision Jim had nothing to do with, his response was to lead his church in corporate repentance for the sinful, systemic patterns practiced by the previous congregation. The Lord answered. Today, Jim pastors one of the most diverse congregations in The Alliance.
Our churches ought to be marked by the perpetual practice of confession and repentance. It’s how the people of God reorient themselves from the powers and patterns of the world to the presence and purposes of God. The Lord responds by breaking the chains of cultural and institutional patterns of sin. If we want revival, let us begin with repentance.
REFLECTION PRAYER
Seek the Spirit’s leading to bring attention and awareness to areas of sin that may have taken root in your church. Allow these questions to shape prayers of confession and repentance:
1. What practices or patterns in our church are lacking in love (thoughts, words, deeds)?
2. Where might we be allowing sin to compel us in what we’re doing or what we’re not doing (pay attention to inherited behaviors)?
3. If anyone has been wounded by our sin, how might we seek forgiveness?
By Spencer Sweeting