Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard Foster
Week 11: Moving Outward — Confessional Prayer & Praying with the Body
Read Chapters 18–19 of Prayer by Richard Foster ("Confessional Prayer" and "Praying with the Body"). Key Scripture: Psalm 32; James 5:16.
Previewing Week 11 of Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Confession is one of the most ancient and most neglected practices in Protestant Christianity. These chapters invite us to recover it — and to discover what it means to bring our whole physical selves into prayer.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Foster describes confessional prayer as one of the most liberating and healing forms of prayer. He draws on Psalm 32 — David's experience of concealing sin and the physical toll it took — as a picture of what unconfessed sin does to us. Does that resonate with your experience? What has it felt like to carry unconfessed sin?
2.Foster distinguishes between general confession ('forgive me for my sins') and specific, particular confession of named sins. Why does specificity matter? What makes it harder? What makes it more healing?
3.Foster draws on the Protestant tradition's insistence that confession is made directly to God, but also takes seriously the Catholic and Orthodox practice of confession to another person. He points to James 5:16 ('confess your sins to one another') as a word for the whole church. Do you have a relationship in which you practice this kind of honest accountability? What has it meant to you?