Prayer For Confession
Holy God, Creator of all that is, Donor of Grace, and Giver of Life:
Hear our prayer.
There are chasms in our lives, deep valleys that separate us
From one another and from You.
We confess that we have allowed those rifts to grow,
For fear of admitting our part in the separation,
For fear of being rejected when we reach out.
You call us to a reconciled life, to healed relationships,
To a wholeness with each other and with You.
Mend us, we pray, and make us new creations
Through the power and love of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Sometimes, O God, we forget people, or we toss them aside the difficult ones, the needy ones, the ones that are hard to spend time with, the ones who confront us. And sometimes when we do things like that, it's not really about the other people, but about us. We are uncomfortable, or we feel guilty, or we follow brighter, shinier people, or we worry about what will make us look good. We are in such desperate need of your forgiveness. We need to be forgiven for our sin, for our mistakes, for mistaking what the world values with what you value. Help us to be better, and to see more clearly, and to care more thoroughly. In Christ we pray. Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.
O Holy One, we call to you and name you as eternal, ever-present, and boundless in love. Yet there are times, O God, when we fail to recognize you in the dailyness of our lives. Sometimes shame clenches tightly around our hearts, and we hide our true feelings. Sometimes fear makes us small, and we miss the chance to speak from our strength. Sometimes doubt invades our hopefulness, and we degrade our own wisdom.
Holy God, in the daily round from sunrise to sunset, remind us again of your holy presence hovering near us and in us. Free us from shame and self-doubt. Help us to see you in the moment-by-moment possibilities to live honestly, to act courageously, and to speak from our wisdom.
Listen to the words of absolution, the sacramental forgiveness of the Church through the ordained priest.
As you listen to the words of forgiveness you may make the sign of the cross with the priest. If he closes by saying, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good," answer, "For His mercy endures forever."
Be truly sorry for your sins. The essential act of Penance, on the part of the penitent, is contrition, a clear and decisive rejection of the sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again, out of the love one has for God and which is reborn with repentance. The resolution to avoid committing these sins in the future (amendment) is a sure sign that your sorrow is genuine and authentic. This does not mean that a promise never to fall again into sin is necessary. A resolution to try to avoid the near occasions of sin suffices for true repentance. God's grace in cooperation with the intention to rectify your life will give you the strength to resist and overcome temptation in the future.
God, our fears and prejudices run deep. Sometimes we can only see our own point of
view. We stick with those who are like us, rarely venturing outside our comfort zones.
We do not hear those crying for justice and true peace. We blame those who are suffering
and in need, instead of standing by them. We deny the power of your gospel to unite us
with those who are different from us. Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Open us
to new possibilities of life for all of your people, and use us to enact the new life given in
Christ
Thank You, Father God, that I have not to attend a confessional box, or confess my sins to a priest or pastor, but that by Your grace I can come right into Your throne-room and confess my sins directly to You, for I am Your child and have been born into Your family and made a new creation in Christ.
Thank You my Father, that I have been saved and by grace I have been forgiven, for by Your grace I am a child of God, and by grace I have been granted access into Your very presence, to confess my sins before You on bended knee and to lift up my hand in holy worship for You alone are worthy.
Thank You, Lord, that I do not have to do penance, but that You have promised that if we confess our sins and wrong-doings to You, You are faithful and just to forgive us all our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thank You, Lord, that I may fly to Your feet when I have wronged You, in the knowledge that You are ready and willing to cleanse all those that seek You with a repentant heart, and a decision to walk worthy of our position in Christ Jesus.
Thank You for the freedom I have in You, and I pray that You would keep me from sin and deliver me from the temptation of sin, for I desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, to the praise of Your holy name.
Amen.