How to Practice Confession

Confession is, thankfully, super easy.

1. Acknowledgement

Your first step should be to recognized you've messed somehow. Not that, "somehow" you've messed up, but rather, that you've done it in some "how" of a manner. The how part is important.

2. Assume the Posture

Second, find a place or time to pray with minimal interruption. this is not required, but I recommend it. Nevertheless, if confession for your sin will permit you to move on from your one-off sin quickly, do it as soon as you can. whatever the case, make sure you can posture your thoughts in a way that you are approaching an experience with god in an attitude of a person presenting themselves before a king. God is our friend, but he is still Lord of all the Universe. I promise you the respect helps you more than it helps Him.

3. Say your Sin in Prayer

Third, pray in acknowledgement of what you've messed up on. If you don't think you've messed up (or sinned) but are feeling the sense that you should try to confess this problem to God, it may be the holy spirit convicting you of something you don't fully realize is sin yet. If this is the case, you're in luck. Exodus 20:3-17 will give an excellent overview to the principles that God's kingdom is built on. Matthew 5:17-37 and Matthew 22:36-40 give a wonderful unpacking as to how those principles apply to a broad range of thought and behavior. when you pray, state clearly what you've done as best as you can. My advice here: don't try to clean it up for God. Present the wrongdoing in as clear and honest and ugly terms as it actually is. We can't offend God with the truth - but we can with our insincerity (see Isaiah 58).

4. Listen

Fourth, spend a moment in silence listening for the heart of God. if you struggle with this step, meditate on the closing scenes of Christ's life. This can be done either by memory, or by reading the closing scene's of Christ's life in any of the gospels. For each of the gospels, you can find these scenes in the following chapters: Matthew 26–27, Mark 14–15, Luke 22–23, John 12–19. At this time, allow God to bring to your memory those whom you have not forgiven. You will have to choose to forgive them before you move on to the last part. Jesus gives this harsh warning

"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." - Matthew 6:15 KJV

5. Ask for the Forgiveness

Finally, ask for forgiveness. It doesn't have to be fancy. Asking for forgiveness should be humble, not poetic. And then you're done, ready to live in the new reality that God has already paid the price for your confessed mistakes. If you find that the problems or habits persist, you will probably be missing the step of repentance, which goes hand in hand with confession.

Further reading

If you would like to explore the topic of confession further I recommend reading Ezra 10, and Romans 10. Specific texts might be: Judges 10:10, Jeremiah 14:7, Daniel 9:15, and Numbers 21:7. As always, read the context around these to get a better insight on confession.