Prayers of Confession on Resurrection
Inspired by Psalm 130
Out of the depths, we cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear our voice. Let your ears be attentive to our cries for mercy. Living in frailty and weakness with adversity in our path, we too often buckle in despair. We doubt your goodness. We seek crutches of our own design aimed at comfort and relief, but which do nothing to heal or restore. In our pain, we deny the greater story that has been told and is being told by the resurrection of our Lord. Though our bodies waste away, we will live with the power of the Spirit at work within us. Forgive us for our faltering faith in these momentary and fleeting troubles and forgetting the greater story of your resurrection life. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Based on Ezekiel 37:1-14
Lifeless are our prayers. Dry and brittle are our spirits. Like Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, we are a people without the sinews of goodness, the flesh of holiness, and the breath of righteousness. We are depleted of God’s beauty and spiritually dead; a hopeless people asleep in the graveyard of our sins. The disease of pride and rebellion has slain us. May, You, O God, awaken us from our deathly repose, put us squarely on our feet, and renew within us a right spirit and a clean heart.
Allow for Silent Prayer of Confession
Adapted from Acts 10:34-43
Pastor: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Inspired by 1 Corinthians 15
Living God, we confess the weakness of our faith. While we have heard the news that, “He is risen,” we have kept it to ourselves. In church, in the presence of the Believing, we have professed Christ’s victory over the grave three-fold, but in our daily lives, we have lived as if it had no real effect. We have stared into the face of our own mortality and that of others as if we were people with no hope. Forgive us for living a life of futility. For, as Paul proclaimed to those not unlike us, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Raise in our hearts and minds this day the knowledge of the crucified, dead, and buried One who overcame sin and its sting so that we might live today, tomorrow, and forever with him.
Scott Bullock
Prayer of Confession and Pardon for Easter
Risen Christ,
The world despised and rejected you
You responded with grace, humility, and welcome
The proud questioned your power, devised your death
You responded with peace, forgiveness, and new life
Forgive us, Merciful One
Our arrogance
Our selfishness
Our scheming
Our violence
Forgive us, Merciful One
We are like them
Make us like you
Time of silent confession
Risen Christ,
We claim your grace, your mercy, your forgiveness
We claim your resurrection power:
Dying, you destroy our death
Rising, you restore our life.
You come now with saving power
Alleluia. Amen.
Prayer of Confession and Pardon for Easter © 2022 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Lord, like the women at the tomb on the first Easter, we come out of our darkness and into your light
We come out of emptiness to enter your fullness
We come out of our hopelessness to find your joy
We come out of our confusion to seek your peace
We come far from home because we know we have been found
We come at your invitation to celebrate your risen life and to praise you as Lord
Jacob Traeger
Almighty God, you have raised Jesus from death to life, and crowned him Lord of all. We confess that we have not bowed before him, or acknowledges his rule in our lives. We have gone along with the ways of the world, and failed to give him glory. Forgive us, and raise us from sin, that we may be your faithful people, obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, who rules the world and is head of the church, his body.
Time of silent reflection and confession…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Gracious God, we worship our risen Savior, but we find ourselves weighed down by many things. We would prefer an easy faith, one that does not require us to identify the many ways that our thoughts, words, and actions have scorned Your love. But faith is never easy. It requires our very souls. Forgive us when we choose to remain captive to fear and doubt. Remind us that Jesus gave His very life so that we might draw near to You. Deepen our faith, and enable us by Christ’s resurrection power to live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf, through Christ our Lord, 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
Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of Your creation. You are the master of design. You know the change of seasons, You know the orbit of planets, and You know exactly what human beings were made for: a relationship with You. We confess that too often we think that we know best. We insist on charting our own course, and we don’t feel we can completely trust anyone but ourselves. But we are wrong. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are the hope of nations. You are our King. You are our resurrected Lord. You are the one who forgives our sins. You are the one who loves us more deeply that we can ever imagine. Teach us to live like You. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Holy God, You are the resurrected Christ, the One who defeated death. And yet, we don’t trust You to move with power in our lives. Forgive us for trying to do things on our own, for not allowing You to help us overcome our sin and our fears. For not believing that You are enough. Remind us that by Your death and resurrection
we are able to have abundant life. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Holy God, You are the resurrected Christ, the One who defeated death. And yet, we don’t trust You to move with power in our lives. Forgive us for trying to do things on our own, for not allowing You to help us overcome our sin and our fears. For not believing that You are enough. Remind us that by Your death and resurrection
we are able to have abundant life. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Almighty and Gracious God, we praise You for Your victory over sin and death. You raised Jesus from the grave and crowned Him Lord of all. We confess we have not consistently bowed before Him. We have not daily acknowledged His rule in our lives. Instead we have gone along with the world’s way and failed to give Him glory. Forgive us, and raise us from our sin through Your Word and Spirit. Transform us into faithful followers of Jesus Christ, the One who rules the world and is Head of the Church. In His Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, You shattered the power of sin and death. We celebrate Him! But we confess we remain captive to doubt and fear, bound by ways that lead to death. We come, asking You to forgive our sin and eradicate evil in the world; by Your Word and Spirit, purify the good, and raise us from death to a life more abundant and free. Transform us into faithful followers of Jesus Christ, the One who rules the world and is Head of the Church. This we pray in the Name of our Risen Lord, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
(Prayer of Adoration)
Thine is the glory – risen conquering Son
Endless is the victory, Thou over death have won.
Jesus – You are amazing! You are wonderful!
What we couldn’t do – You’ve done:
Breaking bonds of fear, sin, guilt and death
which kept us imprisoned for so long.
We’re free – and You’re our Liberator.
We’re beloved – and You’re our Lover.
We’re joyful – and You’re our Laughter and Joy.
That’s why we love You. That’s why we praise You.
That’s why we need You every day. After all …
(Prayer of Confession)
We aren’t very good at living like Your forgiven and free people.
Having received grace –
we’re still reluctant to give grace to others.
Having been forgiven – we still find it hard to forgive.
Having been loved just as we are –
we still struggle to love others as they are,
not as we want them to be.
Forgive us, Lord,
we don’t live much like Your resurrection people.
In small ways and big ways,
we hold onto our old lives and nurse our old ways;
particular ways and personal ways,
like those we now confess to you in the quiet
of Your presence in this place of worship: (Silence)
Sin clings to us as if we were its most precious possession. But just as death’s grip on Jesus was broken on that first morning, so God will release us from the grasp of sin.
On this first day of the week, as on all the other days, let us confess to the One who offers us resurrection life,
We wander in the shadows of temptation,
ignoring the Light you offer to us.
We are asked to proclaim the good news of life anew,
but continue to speak the old words of despair.
You would anoint us with the Holy Spirit,
but we put up the umbrellas of fear to keep it from touching us.
Change us, rebuild us and renew us O God,
with the same power which restored Jesus through his death and resurrection.
Build in us new life and help us to follow the example of Jesus and depend on you in all things.
Almighty God, You raised Jesus from death to life, and crowned him Lord of All. We confess that we do not daily acknowledge Him as Lord of our lives, our families, our vocations, or our decisions. We have gone along with the ways of the world. We have failed to wait for Your advice, and to give You all the glory. Forgive us, and raise us from sin, that we may live as those who are faithful to You, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Looking for More Liturgical Elements?
Check out our Calls to Worship on Resurrection.