Prayers of Confession on Fear
Adapted from Isaiah 35:1–10
God of majesty and glory,
we are thirsty for your grace.
You made a way for us in the wilderness,
and still, in our foolishness, we go astray.
We hide our eyes from your presence.
We do not listen to your word.
We are lifeless when we ought to dance
and speechless when we ought to sing.
Forgive us, O Lord.
Speak peace to our fearful hearts,
strengthen our weak hands,
and make firm our feeble knees
as we seek to follow in your holy way. Amen.
We come before you today scared. Scared for our health, scared for our jobs, scared for our loved ones. Help us Lord, not to dwell in our fears, but rather to turn to you, trusting that you are indeed the God who rescues. You sent your Son, not simply to send us to heaven, but to help us live as new creations, not living in fear, but free to love and serve as you love and serve us. Help us Lord in this crisis not to be greedy, not to hoard and simply think of ourselves. But help us to reflect the life and love of your Son Jesus Christ, that those who do not know you will see something different in us. That just as the early church demonstrated its radical love in their care for the victims of the plague, that we might serve sacrificially as well.
Amen.
Living God, Today I confess that I allow my fear to drown out Your voice. I am afraid of the unknown and things outside my control. Help me hand these items over to you every hour of the day. Help me be quiet and still, waiting for Your will to be revealed rather than running ahead of You. Keep my heart open to the Spirit’s working. Remind me that I have daily bread from Heaven and a safe shelter in You when I am tempted to look elsewhere for hope and help. Through the power of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Gracious God, In the midst of difficult and challenging times, You remain Lord of all creation. We acknowledge how often we choose to depend upon our resources rather than depend upon You. Through the Holy Spirit, You send us courage, Yet our fears continue to hold us. Through the Holy Spirit, You send us comfort, Yet our unease still controls us. Through the Holy Spirit, You send us truth, Yet our own wisdom still guides us. Forgive us and free us from our sin Grow our trust and dependence upon You. Strengthen, encourage, and teach us. We pray through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Heavenly Father, we confess that our sinfulness gives us fear and keeps us from pursuing your will. We live with ideas of safety and failure that do not make room for your call to set our lives aside for your sake. Jesus promises to be with us, so we ask to be strengthened by your Spirit to step out of our comfort and into his arms. Forgive us for our shortcomings and free us to follow you. Hear our confession as we continue our prayer in silence…
Submitted by Allen Thompson
King Jesus, We confess that we are quick to put our hope in places other than You. We are often more driven by our fears than by our faith in You and Your Kingdom. We place our trust in health, jobs, money, and perceived safety rather than in You. Forgive us for seeking power when we should be modeling the gentle humility of Jesus. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Dear God, Sometimes fear is an idol that we believe will help us control our lives. Sometimes fear is a companion that we let take the place of You. Sometimes fear is the enemy that tells us You are not greater. Forgive us when we let our fear be larger than our faith, and when we forget that you are a faithful God. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Almighty God, we, too often, live in fear. Fear drives our self-preservation, our self-centered decisions, and prevents us from comprehending the wonder of your presence among us. Like Peter, we would desire to build a box in which to adore you in a way that assuages our fear, increases our control, and defines our comprehension of who we think you are. The metamorphosis on the Mt. of Transfiguration is too terrifying for us. While we repose amazed at the immanence of the incarnation in the birth of God, we are repelled by the transcendent, mind-altering glory of the transfiguration. Forgive us for the way in which we limit our understanding and allegiance to you by our fear of your glorious preeminence. We prefer a tamed god rather than one whose Shekinah comes with pillars of fire by night and clouds by day, of a brother who walks with us with dirty feet and soiled clothes rather than one whose garments brilliantly gleam with the radiance of the Father God. Today, may we live in freedom to follow this glorious God-Man whose radiance shines amidst the gloom and darkness of sin, immanent and transcendent in life, death, and resurrection. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Heavenly Father, we confess that we often forget Who it is that we worship. You, Lord, are the great God Almighty and our Heavenly Father. Yet, at times, we deny that truth by living in fear and responding negatively to our circumstances. For these transgressions we ask Your forgiveness and we also ask for Your strength. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of our situations or our emotions. Give us eyes to see You as You really are so we might be bold witnesses in our world. We ask this humbly in Christ’s name. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Holy God, we can be so full of fear at times – afraid of the unknown; afraid of what is beyond our control; afraid of what is strange to us. And we know that fear stops us in our tracks, hinders our action, and gives excuse for not doing what you call us to do and what you empower us to do. So we pray that you will give us courage, O God. Give us strong hearts and open hands, that we might set aside our fear, and walk confidently into this world you have made. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Holy God, You are the anchor amidst our fears. You know the sins we can’t even admit to ourselves. You show your faithfulness even when we reject You. You offer grace even when we offer judgment. Forgive us, God. Help us overcome our fears. Help us face all of our sins. Help us to be faithful. Help us to be full of grace. Remind us that we are a people of redemption, not a people imprisoned by our sins. And help us to live as people of hope, shaped by Your forgiving love. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
O Holy God, forgive us for failing to live our lives in faithful obedience to You. We often turn our backs on the opportunities You place before us to share Your love and grace. Our lives are filled with fear.We are afraid of the unknown, afraid of what is beyond our understanding, and afraid of what might happen if we truly turn control of our lives over to You. You’ve sent us into the world to be Your disciples, but fear seems to stop us in our tracks and hinder our actions. Empower us, O Lord, to be faithful in all that we say and do. Grant us the courage to step out in faith and go where You send us. With faith-filled hearts and open hands, help us to set aside our fears, and walk confidently on the paths where You lead us. In Christ’s Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
O Holy One, we call to you and name you as eternal, ever-present, and boundless in love. Yet there are times, O God, when we fail to recognize you in the dailyness of our lives. Sometimes shame clenches tightly around our hearts, and we hide our true feelings. Sometimes fear makes us small, and we miss the chance to speak from our strength. Sometimes doubt invades our hopefulness, and we degrade our own wisdom.
Holy God, in the daily round from sunrise to sunset, remind us again of your holy presence hovering near us and in us. Free us from shame and self-doubt. Help us to see you in the moment-by-moment possibilities to live honestly, to act courageously, and to speak from our wisdom.
Living God, Today I confess that I allow my fear to drown out Your voice. I am afraid of the unknown and things outside my control. Help me hand these items over to you every hour of the day. Help me be quiet and still, waiting for Your will to be revealed rather than running ahead of You. Keep my heart open to the Spirit’s working. Remind me that I have daily bread from Heaven and a safe shelter in You when I am tempted to look elsewhere for hope and help. Through the power of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Call to Confession: As the people of Judah cried out to God in their time of catastrophe, we remember that we, too, can bring our burdens before God. Let us join together in confession, confident that God hears us.
Prayer of Confession: Lord Almighty, we recognize the uncertainty of life. This day might be all we have. Too often we live in fear, hoarding what we do have, unsure of what the future will bring. We look around and see uncertainty, change, discontinuity, and we cling to what was. You are still at work, in us, around us, and through us. Please renew our trust in your faithfulness as we silently confess to you the ways we have stopped trusting you.
Austin D. Hill
Looking for More Liturgical Elements?
Check out our Calls to Worship on Fear.