How to Confess Confession
Do you want to go to confession, but do you know that you can not tell all about your sins to the priest? Will you then forgive sins - even those that are called? If, for example, you want to repent of the sin of smoking, and then again smoke, will this sin be forgiven?
If there are sins that you are ashamed of and difficult to talk about, strengthen yourself by believing that confession is to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and the priest is only a witness. Perhaps you are ashamed of a familiar priest. Then go to the temple, which is away from your place of residence, where no one knows you. Sins that you will not name will not be forgiven, and confession will be incomplete. And God must be loved with all his heart, not with a part of his soul, in loving God, and with the other part being given to passions.
If you smoke and are not sure what you can give up the first time, you should still repent of this sin, but on condition that you struggle with this habit: after confession and communion, do not smoke immediately, but will tolerate as much as you can. The main thing - after confession, change the direction of your life from serving yourself to serving the Lord, who said: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be added to you."
The priest doesn't have the power to forgive sins. Pray to God. Use the ACTS model of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Pray not only for your needs but also for the needs of others. This is some of what the Bible says about prayer:
(Matthew 6:5-7 NIV) "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. {6} But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. {7} And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
(James 4:2-3 NIV) You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The Lord's Prayer is a model prayer. It's not something to just recite.
Read John 20 and the words of Christ to His Apostles. He gave them authority to forgive sins in His name.
Where in Scripture does Christ tell us that the Lord's prayer is just a model? Doesn't He in fact say, "When you pray, SAY 'Our Father'..."?
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