Prayers of Confession on Consumerism
We are complicit and we do not even realize it, O Holy God. Every day we participate in systems of idolatry, and we promote the captivity of a nation to gods. We have bought the subtle lies of our culture that cheapest is best and more of anything is always better. Give us humility to seek your face as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Disturb us, O Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, O Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars.
Source Unknown
Holy God, we have deceived ourselves into believing our sins aren’t that bad, that Your grace isn’t enough, and that we can earn Your forgiveness. We have embraced the stable misery of sin- fractured relationships rather than seeking true reconciliation through Your grace and mercy. We have lived as people pacified by our possessions and dulled by our duties, rather than being jolted by Your Spirit to live as Christ out in the world. We speak of sacrifice flippantly, we refuse to step outside of our comfort zones, and we don’t want to do what it really takes to take up Your cross and follow You. Change us from the inside out, so that we can be one of Your sent ones in the world. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
We pray to You our Lord, our Savior, our Merciful God, that all our sins may be forgiven. Our sins are like a straight jacket, binding us, and keeping us from relationship with You. Although we know we cannot free ourselves from our sins through our own strength, we still try. We’ve been lost. Haunted by our own materialistic wants and allured by the world’s definition of success, we’ve shunned You from our lives in hopes of finding happiness. Yet You wait for us with wide open arms. Free us from our worldly wants and sins. Wash us in Your power. We call upon Your grace, love, and mercy as we confess our sins and ask for your forgiveness. Help us to live in a way that brings You glory and honor, and use us to further Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Almighty God of creation, please forgive us for the times when we’ve squandered the gifts you’ve given us. You give so freely, so abundantly, that we sometimes take your gifts for granted. For the times we’ve wasted precious resources that others tirelessly toil to attain, we repent. Lord, please give us a renewed sense of awe and appreciation for your power and generosity that we experience from your creation as silently confess our sins to you now…
Austin D. Hill
Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.
Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.
Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.
Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
Book of Common Prayer: A Litany of Penitence for Ash Wednesday, Seabury Press, 1977.