Psalm 51 is a prayer of confession from David of his sin of murder and adultery. In the context of the story of David's sin, the Psalm is heavy with meaning.

James 5:16 says "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (It goes on to say that Elijah was a normal person just like you and me, and his prayers were effective to stop the rain - our prayers are effective to turn people from sin.)

From my observations, it seems we've lost the value of confession to others in protestantism - at least in the western world. Perhaps this the result of Reformational rebellion against all things Roman Catholic/Priestly combined with western individualism.

But there's a human need for confession, now being exercised by the world through anonymous confession at a blog called PostSecret. Here's a few samples from the current blog post of recent postcards sent in:

But confession anonymously in a setting void of community doesn't accomplish what confession should.

How do we create an atmosphere of true genuine-ness and vulnerability where it's safe to let down our guards and openly confess our sins to each other and pray for each other without the ruthless judgment and attention-getting it tends to turn into so quickly?

Is this possible with the high schoolers we volunteer with?

Among my peers?

In other groups within the local church?