In the last few devotionals, we’ve looked at how to pray during a crisis. Daniel shows us six key principles during his prayer in Daniel 9. The first five of these principles are:

• Let God speak to us before we speak to him.
• Focus our attention on God and seek him.
• Express our desires with passion.
• Demonstrate our seriousness through fasting.
• Thank God for his love and promises.

Finally, we need to humbly confess our sin.

God won’t listen to prideful complaining, but he will listen to humble confession. God responds to humility. He already knows every foolish thing you’ve ever done in your life, but he still wants you to confess your sin.

How does God respond when you humbly admit you blew it? He responds with forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

Confessing simply means agreeing with God about your sin. You tell God he is right—what you did was sin. You don’t make excuses. You don’t call it a mistake. You admit that you were wrong.

Get specific with your confession like Daniel did in Daniel 9:5-6:“We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land” (NLT).

Daniel didn’t end there, either. His confession went on for another 10 verses as he painstakingly described his sin.

He agreed with God that the Israelites had brought disgrace and shame on themselves, been unfaithful to God, paid no attention to what the Lord had told them, and been oblivious to God’s warnings.

That’s pretty specific.

Daniel’s prayer helps us understand how our unconfessed sin creates distance between God and us—and it’s a powerful reminder of how God answers our prayers as we agree with him about our sin. He is always faithful to forgive us when we come to him with a humble heart.