Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Truth
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
Opening Prayer Inspired by John 4
We remember the woman at the well –
her questions, her truth, her witness.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us,
so we too may ask deeply,
reveal ourselves deeply, and
share your Good News deeply.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us,
so we may worship you in spirit and truth.
Amen.
Opening Prayer Inspired by John 4 © 2022 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Jesus – Savior, Friend, and Lord:
When we’re lost, confused and anxious – You are our Way.
When we misunderstand – and are misunderstood,
when we are lied to and lied about,
and when we lie or believe the lies – You are the Truth.
And when we feel drained of vitality,
or afraid of death and dying –
You are our Resurrection and the Life.
You guide us,
speak to us the Truth in love
and You give us hope … always.
For that we praise You, now and forever.
And because of that, we come to You
with all we are and aren’t,
knowing You’ll help us, and those we care about.
(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)