v 3. When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
Now the boot is on the other foot! You, yes you, have sinned in some way and that guilty feeling is simply eating you up. You will find no peace until you acknowledge your sin to God and ask for his forgiveness.
Here are two prayers you can use at such times as you confess your sin and ask God for forgiveness.
The first is a corporate prayer from the Church of England Prayer Book, and the other from the web site faithandworship.com/prayers
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men: we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.
We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us; the burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, forgive us all that is past;
And grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You have given me a world of beauty, and I have spoilt it.
A world to feed me, and yet so many go hungry.
A world of riches, and I have been unwilling to share them.
A world to care for, and I have thought only of myself.
Forgive me, gracious God,
For those times your heart has been saddened by my selfishness.
For those times I have had no thought for others, and no cares but my own.
Enable me to see this world anew as a gift from you,
To be shared and nurtured, And those who live upon it to be loved and cared for.
I ask this that your name may be glorified,
Through the beauty of this world, and the service of my life. AMEN