A Prayer of Confession

Corporate Prayer of Confession 8-28-2022 

Lord, forgive our sins. Forgive the sins that we remember, and the sins we have forgotten. Forgive our many failures in the face of temptation, and those times when we have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the times we have been proud of our own achievements and those when we have failed to boast in Your works.

Forgive the harsh judgments we have made of others, and the leniency we have shown to ourselves. Forgive the lies we have told to others, and the truths we have avoided. Forgive us the pain we have caused others and the indulgence we have shown ourselves.

Lord, we ask you for wisdom, and yet we don’t look to your Scriptures for daily guidance. We come to church, listen to a sermon, accept only what we feel comfortable with hearing, and walk away unchanged. We blame it on attention spans or preferences to preaching styles, or music styles.

But the issue is what’s going on in our hearts. We don’t want to come face-to-face with what the Bible actually says about us. We often “tolerate” Your Word in our lives, but we rarely treasure it. That’s because we know it speaks to our sin. It speaks to our unrighteous anger. It speaks to our lusts and pride.

And instead of allowing the light of Your truth to penetrate and expose the darkness within us, we slam the door of our heart shut. We try to put extra locks on the door, thinking we can hide from You and hide from others.

In our natural, fleshly desires, we hate the light, and we want to keep hiding from it. Forgive us for our foolishness, O Lord.

Lord, your Word says that we are to lift our drooping hands and look to the Savior, and keep walking forward as we await that final deliverance.

Cause us to remember that as we struggle in sin, we have a Savior who knows our weaknesses. You have sent Your Sprit to us who convicts us and also comforts us. You have given us Your Word as a light to our paths. You have promised forgiveness to us, and so we press on.

Thank You for Your Word, Your Spirit, Your forgiveness, and for those in this local body who love us enough to speak the truth in love to us, even when we go astray. Help us to become more like Your Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

We pray all these things in His name and for Your honor and glory, amen.