Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Forgiveness
Inspired by 1 John 5:4-12 and John 20: 19-23
O God, our Father, in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus you have given us the remedy for sin. In him you have opened to us the way to forgiveness for all our past sins, and you have given us the strength and the power to live in purity and in truth.
Help us to put away all evil things.
Silence the evil word;
Forbid the evil deed;
Break the evil habit;
Banish the evil thought;
Take away the evil desire and the evil ambition;
and make our lives to shine like lights
in this dark world.
Help us to live in purity.
Make all our words so pure
that you may hear them;
Make all our deeds so pure
that you may see them;
Make all our thoughts and desires so pure
that they may bear your scrutiny.
And so grant that we being pure in heart
may see you.
Help us to live in truth.
Grant
That we may never speak or act a lie;
That we may never be misled by false or mistaken beliefs;
That we may never evade the truth,
even when we do not want to see it.
Grant to us at all times
To seek and to find;
To know and to love;
To obey and to live
the truth.
This we ask for the sake of him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life,
even for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
William Barclay, Prayers for the Christian Year, Harper Chapel Books, 1965.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord – You are good …and Your goodness knows no bounds.
When we were lost, You sought us out,
found us and brought us home.
When we were alone, You came near to us,
and You gave us a new circle of friends and family.
Each breath we take, each sunrise we see,
Each heartbeat we feel and each song we sing or hear –
All are gifts from You.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet, we’ve grown complacent in Your blessings:
Taking them for granted, rather than as signs of Your grace;
Keeping them for ourselves, rather than using them to bless others.
Forgive our selfish hearts and closed fists.
Forgive our self-importance
that leads us to take ourselves too seriously,
to take You too lightly and to forget others altogether.
Forgive us what we’re too embarrassed to name out loud,
As you hear the silent confessions of our hearts and the whispers of our souls … [Silence] AMEN.
No Record of Wrongs, an opening prayer
Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:5 NRSV
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
We keep to-do lists so we don’t forget
We check them twice
We carry them in our pockets
Holding on to the pain
The disappointment
The failure
Re-viewing the wrong
Point by point by point
Plotting revenge on ourselves and others
We carry them
They keep us cross
Wounded and bleeding
Divided and dying
You take our lists
Crossing out
Crossing off
Nailing them to your tree
Burying them in a blaze of love
So we may rise free
You keep no record of wrong
Instead, you write our names on your palm
A life list on your lifeline
A love list by your scar
Hallelujah
Time of silent prayer
No Record of Wrongs © 2014 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
(Prayer of Adoration)
Holy God of light and glory:
You alone are good.
You alone are pure and righteous.
And, therefore,
You alone are worthy of our praise,
our devotion and honor.
In the brilliance of Your light,
we are revealed as we are and
left speechless … without excuse;
were it not for Your grace and mercy
we are hopeless as well.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Seeing who we really are,
we can hide no longer behind our bravado,
our rationalizations and our protests.
We confess that we are sinners
in need of your forgiveness.
As individuals and as a body.
we therefore join our hearts and voices to pray
together confessing our sins …
(time of silence) AMEN.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord—you’re sufficient in everything.
You can create without us; save without our assistance;
bring good out of evil, hope from despair and restore what
we mess up. You’re sovereign and we’re not.
Yet, and this boggles my mind –
You invite us to join with You as partners in Your work! You first make us joint heirs with Jesus
and then co-laborers in Your kingdom.
Imagine that – we’re privileged to make a difference
in Your world, in your church
and in the lives of people you love so much
you gave your Son for them.
It can’t get much better than that! …
(Prayer of Confession)
But, Father – we confess we’re not satisfied.
You invite us to serve you and to serve with you –
and we want to be served by you and others.
You honor us as your children – calling us by name in love;
and we use your name flippantly and loosely.
You empower us to be your followers –
but we use power for ourselves, pushing You aside.
You give us your wisdom in Scripture and by Your Spirit –
and we think we know better
how to run our lives and your world.
Forgive us! Forgive our foolish arrogance and pride.
Forgive us for taking your gifts intended for others
and using them for ourselves.
Forgive us for forgetting who we are
and whose we are as Christian people.
Forgive the selfishness of our hearts
and the selfishness of our actions.
Forgive it all, and more – and make us more like Jesus
in our thinking, our feeling, our speaking and in our acting.
Please, Lord Jesus; in whose name we pray—AMEN.
(Assurance of Pardon)
As the apostle announced – The mystery of godliness is great: The Son of God appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up into glory—all for our salvation. For this is a trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, like you & me. Dear Friends – because that’s true: by His grace active through your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, I declare w/ confidence you’re forgiven and free of all your sins. Alleluia! Amen.