" Then I said, "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, laws, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. "Please remember what you told your servant Moses: `If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands, even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.' "We are your servants, the people you rescued by your great power and might. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success now as I go to ask the king for a great favor. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. "In those days I was the king's cup-bearer. " (Nehemiah 1:5-11)

Observations:

I asked myself what types of prayer do I see here?

This passage has shown me 5 types of prayer.
1. Prayer of Praise (Nehemiah 1:5)
2. Prayer of Intercession (Nehemiah 1:6a)
3.Prayer of Confession: Corporate & Individual (Nehemiah 1:6b-7)
4. Prayer of Promise (Nehemiah 1:8-9)
5. Prayer of Dependence (Nehemiah 1:10-11)

I asked myself what is the significance of Nehemiah's actions?
I saw Nehemiah plead guilty before the God of Heaven by confessing in 3 ways. His confession is 3-fold:

1.We(Jewish people/God's People)have sinned against you!
2. Even my own family has sinned!
3. I have sinned!

Nehemiah's confession goes from the general to the specific. I was reminded of sets and subsets. Nehemiah saw his family and himself as subsets of the Jewish people, the set.

I asked myself what do I learn about the confession itself?
In his confession, he does not just say 'we have sinned and leave it there'. He becomes specific with his confession using the descriptive 'terribly sinned'. I saw him then expound on that by stating why they have terribly sinned in 3 ways:
1. We have not obeyed the commands.
2. We have not obeyed the laws.
3. We have not obeyed the regulations.
You gave us through your servant Moses.

It is interesting to see commands, laws, and regulations mentioned separately in his confession. I saw important implications for my own life from Nehemiah's actions.

Implications:
I asked myself what are the implications for my own life?
I learned that when I confess my sins to the Lord, I should not just stop by confessing my own sins but bring before the Lord the sins of others which include my family, friends and people I know. This has always been strange to me to confess the sins of others to the Lord. Yet, there is so much evidence for this type of confession through out Scripture. The classic confession was Jesus' prayer on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Reflecting on this passage changed my prayer life once again. I need to diligently take time not only to confess my sins before the Lord Jesus Christ but intercede on behalf of others by bringing their sins to the Lord and asking for God's help in their lives.

The key is asking for God's help in their lives. If we ask God to forgive someone for their sins, I know God can forgive them for those actions but that does not take away their sin condition or the judgment unless the Lord chooses to take the judgment away by His grace.

I used to think if we confess corporately the sins of other people and God forgives them, why are they not saved?

Corporate confession can go only so far. My confession of the sins of others could possibly rescue them from judgment here on earth but it will not exempt them from judgment when they die unless they personally come to Jesus Christ to rescue them from the bondage of sin and death.

No one can bring anyone else into the Kingdom of God just because they are followers of the King of Kings. Just because a person is born into a Christian family does not automatically make that child a Christian. A classic story and testimony is the life of Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham.

Billy Graham and his wife interceded before the Lord for their son, Franklin who was very rebellious and did not want to have anything to do with Jesus. The Lord did hear their prayer of confession regarding their son. Because of that, I believe the Lord exempted Franklin from a lot of judgments he could have faced right here on earth. His parents prayers of intercession for him made a difference. Yet, their prayers alone will not exempt Franklin from the Final Judgment unless he is born-again into the Kingdom of God.

What their prayers of confession and intercession did was amazing. God started to work in the life of their son and one day, he gave his life to the Lord. Since then he has been doing the work of the Lord serving with his mother and father.

 The Bible says if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that He is raised from the dead, we will be saved. 

Franklin did that and gave his life to live for Christ. That is the only way to be saved.

Your pastor cannot save you, your youth leader, your staff worker, your parents or anyone else cannot save you just because they ask God to forgive you of your sins. The Lord Jesus has to save you. As I read Nehemiah, I had to reflect on this serious point. They can be used by God as an instrument to bring you into His Kingdom, but they cannot save you.

Nehemiah put his dependence on God to save others and not on himself. What I have learned is that corporate confession is biblical and we are to engage in it too. Results should not be our basis for interceding on other people's behalf but in obedience to the Lord. We do not know how God works because His ways are mysterious. He uses His people to accomplish His will here on earth. Thank you Lord Jesus!

I ask you now dear friends, how is your confession in life?
Dear friends, Nehemiah's confession was 3-fold and his confession focused on lack of obedience to God's commandments, laws, and regulations of his own life, his family's life, and the Jewish people's lives. He confessed to God on their behalf. We have been given an example from Scripture to engage in individual and corporate confession before the Lord. May we confess the sins of our own lives and other people's lives before the Lord Jesus Christ because we have sinned and have not been following Him faithfully. May we rest in Him and depend on Him for His answer and help knowing confession offers nurture for every soul sanctifying individuals omnipotently now!

"Confession Offers Nurture For Every Soul Sanctifying Individuals Omnipotently Now! "(C.O.N.F.E.S.S.I.O.N)/"How is your C.O.N.F.E.S.S.I.O.N in life?"

In closing for prayer, I want to pray a prayer of corporate confession taken from the 'Book of Common Prayer' which can be accessed online at http://www.holycross-raleigh.org/bcp/index.html

Prayer:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.