The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Grow Pray Study Guide in Leawood, Kansas, United States for 18 Sunday, 2018 - Prayer Tip: "A Suffering Gospel"Daily Scripture
Mark 5:1 Yeshua and his talmidim arrived at the other side of the lake, in the Gerasenes’ territory. 2 As soon as he disembarked, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the burial caves to meet him.
Mark 5:9 Yeshua asked him, “What’s your name?” “My name is Legion,” he answered, “there are so many of us”; 10 and he kept begging Yeshua not to send them out of that region.
11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding near the hill, 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so we can go into them.” 13 Yeshua gave them permission. They came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering around two thousand, rushed down the hillside into the lake and were drowned. (Complete Jewish Bible)
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Prayer Tip
"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)
Lent is a time to focus on confession and repentance. I admit—I used to wrestle with the idea of confession. I thought, “God already knows what I did, so why do I need to confess?” Happily, we serve a God of grace who helped me see confession in what I feel is a better light.
Confession brings about many blessings. When we confess out loud something we are ashamed of doing or something we want to hide, it loses its power. When we hold on to a sin and don’t confess, it can fester inside us. It doesn’t get the light it needs to heal. I love the song lyric by The Oh Hello’s, “Take this burden away from me, and bury it before it buries me.” (See also Psalm 32:1-5.) God offers us the gift of taking our burden from us. When we confess it to God, it can no longer weigh us down. This is what our loving God wants for us.
Confession is also a time for growth. God isn’t an angry being who wants to chastise us. God wants to help us grow and learn from our mistakes. We can ask him for forgiveness, and then for discernment on how to fix it or do better next time. Confession lets us bring to light areas of repeat issues we may need to address. I regularly need to confess saying something I shouldn’t have said. Whether a biting remark, a cold response or gossip, I know this is something I need to work on. I know God can help me to learn to use my tongue more wisely and give me opportunities to speak blessings over people.
Confession is an act of love and respect. During Lent, we especially want to remember the great sacrifice Christ made to bear the burden of our sins. God sent his beloved son to die for us. We recognize this sacrifice and lovingly respect it by confessing our sins. Through confession, God gives us a chance to receive his mercy so we can live our best lives. Confession is a gift I encourage you to embrace in your prayers this week.
Dear Jesus,
We know that we fail you and our brothers and sisters daily. Thank you for the gift of confession, for taking our shame away and offering us grace daily. Please help us remember to spend time with you in confession, and to appreciate your love and forgiveness. Amen. (Ashly Cooley, Counseling & Support Ministries)
Read today's Insight by Ashly CooleyAshly supports the Congregational Care ministry at Resurrection Leawood. She works primarily with our Counseling and Support ministries.Like this post? Share it!
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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