Prayers of Confession on Covenant

O God, you make covenants with your people, and you keep them from generation to generation. We receive this grace from you, but we are slow to extend it to others. We break our word; we bargain to get ourselves the best terms; and we find ourselves using deceit and treachery to get our way. All too often, we can’t be trusted. Thank you for never giving up on us, despite all the ways that we fall short. Make us keepers of our word. Equip us to say what we do, and to do what we say. Pardon us for our sins—these and all others—as we continue to confess in silence…

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

One: O Lord, You are the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love God and keep the commandments.

All: Let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open as we confess the ways we have sinned against You.

One: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All: We have offended You deeply, failing to keep the commandments given to Moses.

One: Remember Your Word to Moses, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples;

All: But if you return to Me and keep My commandments, I will gather them and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish My Name.”

One: We are Your servants and Your people, whom You redeemed by Your great power and Your strong hand.

All: O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servants who delight to honor Your Name, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

O God, you make covenants with us and never break them. We find it much harder to keep our word. We offer promises we don’t intend to keep, and we make deals that we intend to break. All too often we are not trustworthy—not to you, not to our neighbors, and not even to those we love the most. We are sorry for the pain and disappointment that these sins cause. We need your Spirit to strengthen our will. Forgive us again, Lord Jesus, for all the ways we fall short of your desires for us, and hear us as we continue to pray in silence…

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

 Adapted from Leviticus 26:14-46

Pastor: Oh God, we have not listened to you, and we have not walked in all of your commandments. We have spurned your statutes, and our souls have abhorred your laws.

All: I have not followed you in your commandments, and I have broken your covenant. The sin in my heart and in my life has caused panic and heart ache—both in me an in those around me.

Pastor: Even after you have shown us grace and mercy, we have walked contrary to your commandments. We have not listened to you, and we have continued to walk contrary to your direction.

All: I confess that I have sinned; all the generations in my family have sinned. I humble my heart before you, O God. You have kept Your covenant even when I have broken it. Remember me with grace, O Father.  

Submitted by Dustin Ray

Eternal God,
whose covenant with us is never broken, we confess that we fail to fulfill your will. Though you have bound yourself to us, we will not bind ourselves to you.
In Jesus Christ you serve us freely,
but we refuse your love
and withhold ourselves from others.

Call to Confession: The prophet asks the Lord’s people, “Who can endure the Lord’s coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” Let us come before Almighty God in humility, confessing our sins.

Prayer of Confession: Holy God, we claim to be without fault, meanwhile we neglect the orphan, the widow, the destitute, and the stranger. Like the people of Judah, we care only of justice when it impacts us. We assume that your covenant faithfulness allows us to live however we want. Refine us, O Lord. Mold us and shape us. Purify us through the saving power of your Son, Jesus, as we silently confess our self-centered ways to you now.

Austin D. Hill