While understanding that confession should happen spontaneously, our discipline of devotion ought to involve systematic confession as well. First, we must confess what we are, the ontological reality that we truly are sinners. Romans 3:9-20 is the text I have found most helpful on this point, for it repeatedly affirms that we are sinners -- that, in fact, our entire being is tainted with evil. It is most important that we regularly make this confession because, as regenerated men who are making some progress in spiritual growth, it is sinfully natural to falsely suppose we are rising above our condition -- a delusion which testifies to our very depravity.
Second, we must confess our specific sins. I would suggest making a list of our sins, for the act of writing them out helps materialize this personal reality for us. C.S. Lewis said, "We must lay before him what is in us, not what ought to be within us." This done, we should confess each sin by its ugly name, and then thank God for his forgiveness through the blood of His Son.
The importance of confession for the devotional life cannot be overstated. "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18; cf. Proverbs 28:13). Unconfessed sin makes the heavens seem like brass. But confession not only opens the heavens, it also enhances our intimacy with God, as Francois Fenelon urged:
Tell [God] all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart to a dear friend....People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversations; they do not...weigh their words, because there is nothing to be kept back. Neither do they seek for something to say; they talk out of the abundance of their heart -- without consideration, just what they think....Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.
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