Prayers of Confession on God’s Presence
Gracious and Loving God, we come into Your presence asking for Your forgiveness. Forgive us for aspirations that never get translated into action and for promises that we have not kept. Forgive us for having good intentions that were not fulfilled and for the good deeds that we never got around to doing. Grant us a new vision and help us to move from intention to action. Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes on You and to be faithful in all that we say and do. In Christ’s Name we pray. 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
Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere. Almighty God, we are sorry for the times we’ve failed to help others experience the goodness of your presence. For the times we’ve intentionally excluded others from your church, we are sorry. Please help us to seek your presence and to help others do the same as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Gracious and Loving God, in the midst of all our received Blessings, we have failed to be the people You’ve called us to be. We have squandered our time, our talents, and our treasure. We have lost our sense of wonder and awe. We have failed to recognize Your presence in our lives and to trust You always. Forgive us, Lord, for living in a way that goes against Your will. Grant us the strength and courage to resist the temptations that come into our lives. Like the Apostle Andrew, renew in us a desire to serve You faithfully and to bring others to Your Son. 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.
Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community often expecting nothing more than the usual. We begin our days, our weeks, assuming all will run as it always has. We do not look for the unexpected, for your active presence in our daily lives and for that we confess our sorrow. Forgive us for not allowing our eyes to catch the unexpected, to glimpse your glory in the ordinary. May this season, we see the presence of your Son by the power of your Spirit in new and transformative ways. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Lord, be with us this day: Within us to purify us, above us to draw us up, beneath us to sustain us, before us to lead us, behind us to restrain us, around us to protect us. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Almighty God, we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance. We each have our hopes and expectations for what lies ahead, but only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we need. In life’s uncertainties, assure us of Your unchanging love. In disappointing moments, help us turn to You for stability. In temptation, give us courage to humbly place our hands into Yours. In daily preoccupations, open our eyes to the sorrows of our hurting world that we might respond with compassion. By your grace, equip us to keep You as the center of our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Immanuel, you are God with us. You abide with us through it all. While you journey alongside us in life, you are speaking to us. We admit to you that we do not listen to your voice. We read Scripture and ignore it, we feel a nudge from you, a call to action, and we explain it away. We fill our lives with so much noise that we can’t hear you even when we try. Please soften our hearts so that we might be more perceptive to your leading as we come to you in silent confession.
Time of silent reflection and confession..
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Lord God, we confess to You that our spiritual lives are often dry. At times we feel abandoned or unworthy. We have moments when we doubt Your presence. We even question Your reliability. And yet, You steadfastly offer us refreshing Living Water. Forgive our unfaithfulness, Lord. Truly You are a merciful and gracious God who is ready to restore us. Only You through Christ can give us the abundance we crave. We thank You and praise You for satisfying us when we need You most. We freely drink this water of forgiveness and healing in the Name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Heavenly Father, we confess that we come to this day of resurrection as imperfect people. Although we may have faith, we also carry doubts and apprehensions. Just as Jesus’s disciples were unsure of his presence with them, we are unsure of your presence with us. We go out into a world of demands without the full confidence that you are our guide and our sustainer, and we are too often motivated by our own shortcomings and anxieties than by your grace and love. Forgive us, and help us to see your Holy Spirit’s work in all things. We pray these things in the name of Jesus, who returned to his disciples despite their own faults, and we ask that you hear us as we continue our confession in silence…
Submitted by Allen Thompson
Almighty God, You are with us no matter what, through thick and thin, yet we don’t live any differently based upon that truth. We tend to ignore You, push You out of minds and hearts so that we can live how we want to. We prevent Your presence from impacting us, from calling us to action. Please forgive us for ignoring You. Please help us to be more attuned to Your presence as we silently confess our sins to You now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Father God, you come to us in the everyday. You give us your Word and your Spirit that we might hear your voice, and follow your ways. We confess that we have neglected your words to us and pretended that you are not even in the room. Hear our confession, help us to listen, to see, and to live as you have called us to live.
Submitted by Laura Murray
Almighty God, throughout our days you seek us, yet we dismiss your presence. You stand ready to reveal yourself to us, yet we are distracted by our self-interests. Forgive our selfishness. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to welcome your presence, and to respond in love to the world around us.
Submitted by Laura Murray
WE confess our sins to you, today, O Lord. Wed confess that we sometimes find it difficult to believe that you are actually involved in our day-to-day experiences, that you actually impact our circumstances. Lord, please give us the eyes to see your hand, guiding us, shaping us, and empowering us. Please renew our awareness of your presence as we silently confess our sins and shortcomings to you now…
Time of silent reflection.
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Holy God, we forget you are near.
We forget that you are everywhere.
We are so wrapped up in our own worlds that we cannot see beyond ourselves.
God, you are so much greater!
Lift up our heads.
Lift up our eyes.
May we see you.
May we see others,
And may we help them to lift up their hearts in worship to you.
Submitted by Laura Murray
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