I John 1: 9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”    I sometimes hear men pray, “Forgive me of my sins.”  This makes me want to ask the question, “Which one?”  What would you do as a father if your child came to you and asked, “Dad, forgive me of what I did wrong?”  Your first question would be to ask what they did wrong.  As a father, you would be more than willing to forgive them, but you need to know for what.  It is no different when we need to ask forgiveness from our Heavenly Father.  We need to be specific and targeted which tells our Heavenly Father that we recognize the targeted sin.

We all know about taking a “rifle shot” versus taking the shotgun approach.  A rifle shot sets its sights on a specific target aimed at hitting a designated spot.  The shot from a shotgun has a scattered pattern and may or may not hit the designated spot.  When we have an un-confessed sin as a leader or Christian, we need to be specific and take a rifle shot to confess it to our Father.  A scatter shot is not the answer and a rifle shot makes us recognize the specific sin.  Psalm 38: 18 “For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.”  A rifle shot that hits a specific target has a much better chance of taking out the target than a scatter of buckshot which may only wound the target but not take it out.  A sin in our lives that needs to be taken out requires a rifle shot.  When we become specific with a sin and have it forgiven, it is removed from sight.  Psalm 103: 12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgression from us.”  Take a rifle shot on your sin and it will be forgiven and forgotten.  And, you will be a confident hunter that your shot has cleansed you of the issue you needed to hit.