Praying Like There’s No Tomorrow: Week Four Group Discussion Guide
Confession Prayer
Psalm 51
Pray Together
Take some time to ask God to quiet your hearts and make you aware of his presence in your life and in the group tonight. Remember: We are not just gathering as a small group, but we are gathering and the Lord is in the meeting with us.
Pray that everyone would feel welcomed and willing to join in the discussion.
Read Together: Psalm 51
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
Discuss Together
What initially stands out to you from the passage?
Why do you think David uses the analogy of being dirty when referring to sin?
David says that his sin is against God alone in verse 4, what about that statement is challenging? What is comforting about that statement?
David seems to transition from pleading with God in verses 7-12 to proclaiming God to others in verses 13-15, why do you think David makes this pivot? How does this impact you practically?
Verses 18-19 talk about the restoration of Israel’s relationship with God, how do these verses connect to the rest of the Psalm?
Pray Together
Have a time of personal confession, and if the Lord leads, spend time confessing to one another.
First, still your body and remove distractions
Next, ask the Holy Spirit to come and search you, illuminating any sin in your life that needs to be confessed
Then, notice what it is that the Holy Spirit brings to mind. It may be thoughts, words or actions that are contrary to the will of God.
Lastly confess with confidence, knowing that forgiveness is available to you in the finished work of Jesus.
As 1 John 1:9 says:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
