Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Pride
(Prayer of Adoration)
Great God our Father: You are good and You are strong.
You are faithful and true,
and You won’t tempt or lie to us.
In a world that appeals to our sinful cravings
and dominated by spin:
You alone are worthy of our trust, loyalty and love.
You alone have loved us with such an everlasting love
as to give Your Son or us.
You alone never abandon us, living with and within us
by Your Holy Spirit.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet, we so easily trade Your truth for a lie,
and substitute our lusts for Your love.
We blame others for our errors and for our wanton sin.
We close our eyes to the truth about who we are
and run from the truth of who You are.
Forgive us for choosing to love and live for the world:
by following our own cravings,
giving into the lust of our eyes, and
boasting of who we are,
what we’ve done and what we’ve got.
Hear us as we say,
in whispers too soft for any one else to hear but You,
the sin we’re too ashamed to let anyone else know
but You who know all about us and love us anyway.
Hear our silent confessions of sin: (PAUSE)
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord of yesterday, today and tomorrow:
You alone rule the universe;
setting times and seasons according to Your will.
While nations and king come and go,
You, only, are King of kings and Lord of lords;
immortal and all-knowing,
never lacking power and wisdom.
You are strong; and you are good!
Therefore, we joyously and reverently call you God and King.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet, in spite of all we know of You –
we are stubborn and rebellious still.
We think ourselves wise – disregarding Your truth.
We think ourselves strong – using violence to force our will.
We think ourselves right –writing-off others and refusing to
learn from them.
We think ourselves good – ignoring our corruption and evil;
pointing fingers and wagging tongues at others.
Forgive our arrogance minds, self-centeredness hearts
and ungracious spirits.
Take away our hearts of stone;
replace them with hearts of flesh,
hearts that best after Your own heart.
In silent moments, hear us confess what we’re too ashamed to name aloud – forgive and free us, Lord: (Silence)