How Do You Pray For Forgiveness?

Dear Alyssa,

We all want our sins forgiven. The Bible explains to us that through the blood of Jesus we can have our sins forgiven (Ephesians 1:7). The Bible also says that we come in contact with Jesus' death (and blood) through baptism (Romans 6:3-6). But what happens when we sin after we have been baptized? The inspired writer James said: "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (5:16). Now, does that mean that we have to confess every single sin we have ever done? Certainly not. In fact, there are most likely sins that we do that we do not even know we do. There is no way that a person can know every sin he or she has committed. Jesus used a model prayer to teach His apostles how to pray. In that prayer, He taught His followers to pray: "And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us." Notice that Jesus did not tell them to list every sin. He used the general statement that covered them all.  It may be the case that a person commits a sin that he or she needs to pray for specifically. If a person murders another person, or deliberately lies, or steals something, he should confess that particular sin. We read a story about a man who needed to confess a specific sin in Acts 8:18-25. But Jesus' prayer shows us that God understands and listens to a general statement about forgiveness as well.

---

Copyright © 2014 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

*Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders.

This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, in whole or in part, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. Further, documents may not be copied without source statements (title, author, journal title), and the address of the publisher and owner of rights, as listed below.

For catalog, samples, or further information, contact:

Apologetics Press
230 Landmark Drive
Montgomery, Alabama 36117
U.S.A.
Phone (334) 272-8558

http://www.apologeticspress.org