Prayers of Confession on Drifting
Inspired by Amos 5:18-24
God has come to us and revealed Himself fully to us
Yet too often we hide ourselves from His love and salvation
Instead of focussing on you, Lord God, we focus on ourselves
Instead of trusting you to provide and accepting your gifts
We focus on gaining security for ourselves
Instead of worshipping you through our lives
We relegate worship of you to 90 minutes of song on a Sunday morning
We are willing to accept the sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ for our sin
But we are not willing to make any sacrifices of our own
You call us to yourself, requiring nothing
You have removed all the barriers between yourself and us
But we consistently turn away
Scared of what might happen if we trust you with our whole lives
You have said: “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”
Make us thirsty for you
That we would seek you with our whole being
And discover again the joy that comes from centering our lives on you
Jacob Traeger
Holy God, to Your grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Let Thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Loving, good, and kind God, you sent your Son to endure the cross so that we might know you. You desire a relationship with us, and you are interested in the condition of our hearts. Too often our hearts are devoid of passion for you. Too often we drift through our days, ignoring you. Please kindle our hearts for knowing you as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Loving God, this morning we bring You our confession. Hear us, Lord. We confess we have gone astray. Shepherd us, Lord. We confess we often love You half-heartedly. Make us whole, Lord. We confess we trivialize Your sacrifice. Give us perspective, Lord. We confess we find most of our strength in ourselves. Be our strength, Lord. We confess little zeal for Your glory. Give us passion, Lord. We confess we’ve done so many things wrong. Forgive us, Lord. We confess we often don’t love You well. Love us, Lord. We ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, who exchanges our confession for abundant life in Him. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we are thankful that your mercy is
higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings,
deeper than all our sin. Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others,
our envy of those who have more than we have,
our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure,
our indifference to the treasures of heaven,
Help us to change our way of life
so that we may desire what is good,
love what you love,
and do what you command,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, 0 Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent; according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, 0 most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life, to the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
Thomas Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer, Great Confession for Morning and Evening Prayer.