Prayers of Confession on the Self-Image

Each of us, Lord, has failed to fully observe your beauty.

We fall in love with our own image and are left disappointed and alone.

Please be faithful to us, Jesus, even when we turn from You.

We trust that You will be stalwart, our dedicated Savior, to the end.

Lord, as we seek to embrace our neighbors, no matter the loves of their hearts,

help us to see them as You do, with compassion and zeal for their good.

Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for when we have excluded our neighbors

from our hearts or our tables, knowing how deeply You cherish them.

Forgive us now, in the name of Jesus and for his glory,

and may your face be shown vibrantly where we have failed to show ours.

Submitted by Charles Teixeira

Lord Jesus Christ, you gave up everything to come down from heaven in order to love and serve us.  Unlike you, we find self-sacrifice hard. Most of us look for ways to puff ourselves up, so that we look better in other people’s eyes.  We fool ourselves into thinking that we can make ourselves look good in your eyes, too. Send us your Spirit, that we would be more humble. We long to be like you, our loving shepherd, and we thank you for hearing our prayers as we continue to confess in silence…

20 seconds of silence.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

O God, you are indeed worthy of our praise and worship. Yet we turn away and worship other gods. We find ourselves at the altar of our careers, our financial security, our self-image, our status. We take you for granted. You call us to live for the praise of Christ’s glory, but we often seek praise for ourselves instead.  Forgive us for these and all of our sins, as we continue to confess in silence…

Silent Prayer

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick