Prayers of Confession on Promises

Adapted from Deuteronomy 8:11-20

Pastor: Oh Lord our God, we have forgotten who you are and what you have done for us. Your great and miraculous works for us are lost in the recesses of our minds, and we could not care less about your commandments.

All: You have provided us with good nourishment; we think our own hands have provided it. You have provided us with sufficient shelter; we credit ourselves with the strength. You have filled us with joy; we are happy with ourselves.

Pastor: Father you have promised that you would walk with us through all of life, even when we sin. We trust you, even now, only because you have forgiven us through Jesus Christ’s own shed blood for us.

All: Renew our strength because our souls are parched by the dessert sun. Give us the peace that passes understanding the joy that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Submitted by Dustin Ray

Gracious and Almighty God, You are the One who keeps promises. In Your providence, we can place all our trust. Yet we confess we often do not trust You. We worry. We argue. We complain. We do things our way, not Your way. We profess faith in You, then we live like atheists. Forgive us, O Lord, in Your great mercy. Renew our hearts and our minds. Give us the faith to trust You in all things, and the courage to step forward in that faith. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Loving father, you promise the most amazing things. You give us an inheritance, you adopt us as your sons and daughters, you say you will never leave us nor forsake us, and you say that nothing can separate us from your love. So why isn’t that enough? Why do we look elsewhere for our self-worth and contentment? Why can’t we trust you at your word? Please help us to see ourselves as you do today. We approach you in gratitude, confident of your love as we silently confess our sins to you now…   

Austin D. Hill

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…

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

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

Lord, sometimes it’s so difficult to place our trust in you. You make incredible promises to us in your word. You say that through your power, we’ll be able to do even greater things than Jesus did in his ministry. And yet we doubt.  Almighty God, creator of all things, renew our faith in you and your power as we silently confess our sins to you now…

Submitted by Austin D. Hill