Prayers of Confession on Discipleship

Gracious and eternal God, You are holy, You are mighty, You are worthy of all praise. We try to follow You, we try to listen to You, we try to love You, but we fall short time and again. Our self-centered sinfulness strains the relationship You want with us, and causes our hearts to become calloused. But thank You for loving us, for extending grace and forgiveness, for melting our hardened hearts, and for providing a path for redemption through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

We have been bought with a great price, yet we sin against You by choosing our ways over Your ways. You invite us into dynamic discipleship, but we are timid, weak-minded, and hard-hearted in our response to follow You. Forgive us, O God, and may our hearts be revived, may our minds be renewed, and may our wills be conformed to Yours. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Submitted by Dustin Ray

Lord Jesus, your life shows us how you want us to live. So often we know exactly what it would take for us to become more like you, and yet we sit back, rather than taking a step toward your holiness. Lots of times you make the pathway of faithfulness obvious to us, but we stumble away from the road to sanctification. We need your strength, living Lord Jesus, so that we can live into our call as well-loved disciples who become more and more like you. We repent of our complacency, and ask you to  forgive us for these and all of our trespasses.  We continue now to confess in silence…

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

Lord God, give us hearts of great expectation as we wait for the glorious return of our Savior, Jesus, the Son of God. We confess far too many daily moments of apathy, indifference, and distraction. Forgive us, Lord, for these patterns of passionless discipleship. Instead, plant in us a sense of adventure, a growing excitement over Christ’s coming. May we be full of joy even now as we anticipate the day of His arrival. And may we be found faithful in that moment. All this we pray in the merciful name of Jesus.  Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Loving and gracious God, we admit to You that we have distorted Your Word. Too often we pick and choose which part of Your Word to proclaim. Shying away from Your call to give all who we are, we only follow the part of Your Word that doesn’t ask much of us. Please forgive us for our unfaithfulness to Your Word as we confess our sins…

Submitted by Austin D. Hill

O God, you are the sure foundation and the certain cornerstone. Building on you brings life, yet we often turn away and try to find hope by building on other foundations. Self-esteem, money, career, family status—these are only some of the alternatives we find ourselves investing in.  We confess that it is so tempting to construct our lives on the sand, rather than on the rock of your salvation. Forgive us, O God, for these and all of our sins, as we confess in silence…  

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

Gracious God, you forgive us whenever we ask, and so we ask you now to forgive all of our sins.

We need your grace again, for we often return to the same sins, over and over again.

Your Spirit longs to make us more and more like Jesus,

Yet we resist, holding on to our old patterns of living as long as we can.

We presume upon your grace, counting on your forgiveness.

Give us, O God, the kind of faith which changes us more and more each day into Christ’s likeness,

And forgive us again when we seem to be moving in the wrong direction.

Pardon us for these and all of our sins, as we continue to pray in silence…

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

Gracious God, we admit that though You have sent each of us out with the task of raising disciples, we often neglect that task. We remain content, stagnant, in our Christian calling, while we regularly meet people who need You. Renew our zeal for showing others Your love as we silently confess our sins to You now…

Submitted by Austin D. Hill

Inspired by Matthew 4:12-23

All: Holy Father, You are gracious to call us to Yourself. You are the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Treasure of treasures, worthy of our lives. And just like Jesus called out His disciples to come and follow Himself, He bids us come, follow, live, die, and live again. Yet, we fail to hear and heed His call. We stop up our ears so that we can pretend not to hear Him. Forgive us for believing that we are too busy to follow where You lead us. Forgive us for trying to steer our lives where we think we should go, rather than submitting our lives to you. Restore to us the joy of our salvation—Christ Himself—and help us follow Him and You and Your Holy Spirit, World without end. Amen.

Submitted by Dustin Ray

God of Tender Mercies, You have called us to walk with You, work with You, and follow You. However, there are times we’d prefer to go it alone, or to pattern our lives around penultimate heroes. Forgive us for drowning out Your voice, or for lazing about in the good news of our faith without considering the deep commitment into which You call us. By Your Holy Spirit make us whole, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church