Prayers of Confession on Selfishness
Adapted from 2 Chronicles 20
Pastor: O Lord, we are in over our heads. So many are the sins that we’ve committed this past week, and they condemn us in your presence. Only because you love us with a never-ending, unbreaking, always and forever love can we even pray for forgiveness.
All: “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.” We’ve been selfish, we’ve been prideful, and we’ve not loved you and your law.
Pastor: Because of Adam’s sin, we are born with sinful hearts, sinful minds, and broken bodies. When we get up in the morning, when we go throughout our day, and when we lie down at night—our sin draws us away from the God who loves us.
All: This morning, we ask for your forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Not only that, we ask for your help! Renew our desire to love and serve you, to trust in your grace, and to walk in obedience to your law.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord – You are good …and Your goodness knows no bounds.
When we were lost, You sought us out,
found us and brought us home.
When we were alone, You came near to us,
and You gave us a new circle of friends and family.
Each breath we take, each sunrise we see,
Each heartbeat we feel and each song we sing or hear –
All are gifts from You.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet, we’ve grown complacent in Your blessings:
Taking them for granted, rather than as signs of Your grace;
Keeping them for ourselves, rather than using them to bless others.
Forgive our selfish hearts and closed fists.
Forgive our self-importance
that leads us to take ourselves too seriously,
to take You too lightly and to forget others altogether.
Forgive us what we’re too embarrassed to name out loud,
As you hear the silent confessions of our hearts and the whispers of our souls … [Silence] AMEN.
Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace to confess our sin. We have been selfish instead of generous; we have been proud instead of humble; we have held grudges instead of forgiving; we have proven over and over again that we cannot be good enough on our own. We need more of You, and less of ourselves. Gracious God, we ask for Your forgiveness and receive it with joyful hearts. Renew our minds so that we may discern what is good. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we may be Your witnesses in the world. Comfort our hearts, that we may know that we have complete redemption by Your grace alone. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
It’s too easy for us, God to place other things before you. We fail to completely follow your will, we live for ourselves, and we settle into sinful ways of life. Please help us to see that there’s more to life than living for ourselves. Please give us the courage to make you number one as we come to you in silent confession of our sins…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
God of mercy, we ignore the needs of people around us all too often. We get caught up in our own issues and forget that there are millions of people who struggle for basic necessities on a daily basis. Please open our eyes to the need in our community and world, as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Gracious and loving God, we turn to You seeking Your mercy. You call us to focus on You, but we focus on ourselves instead. You call us to be humble, but we gloat in our pride. You call us to abandon ourselves, but we cling to our achievements. You invite us to decrease as You increase and to disappear as You become more visible. Forgive us for our boasting and bragging. Help us to pull focus from ourselves and to remember that our true worth comes from You and You alone. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Merciful God,
We come before you with thankful hearts. Thankful for the many gifts you have given us. You have clothed us and given us shelter. You have given us food to fill our stomachs, friendship to fill our hearts. And yet, if we are honest with you, we know that we fail to follow you in life-giving ways. Instead of trusting in your power, we trust in our own strength. Instead of trusting in your provision, we rely on our own ability to provide. And when it comes to your community, your church, we only commit so much. We are, like the Corinthians, unable to give up our rights for the sake of others. We care too highly for our own ways, our own thoughts, our own perspectives, and not nearly enough on your Word and your influence on our lives. Grant us O lord, a contrite spirit, that we may turn to you, that our community might resemble your kingdom more fully,
Amen.
Stuart Strachan Jr.
Gracious God, you call us to a life of intimate relationship with you and with one another. You call us to a life of community, where we actively seek the needs of others before our own. We acknowledge the ways we’ve fallen short of this standard. We repent of our selfishness. We repent of our apathy toward the needs of other. We repent of our laziness. We repent of the times when we neglect worshipping you. We repent of the times when we’ve failed to engage in your covenant community. Renew our desire for your church as we silently confess our sins before you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Jesus, though you were in very nature God, you did not consider equality with God as something to be used to your own advantage. Rather, you humbled yourself, you made yourself nothing. Lord, you are the ultimate example for us, but we ignore it. We seek our own bet interests and puff ourselves up with pride. Please humble us as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Holy God, we confess we are selfish people. We are so inwardly focused that we often do not consider the needs of those around us. You call us to be generous because You have been so generous with us. We are blessed to be a blessing, but we tend to hoard our blessings in fear. We say we trust You for all things, but our lives demonstrate a lack of this type of trust. Help us live generously. Help us consider others. Help us stop living in fear. Through the power of the Jesus and with the help of the Holy Spirit we ask these things, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Gracious God, you shower us with so many blessings, yet we struggle to share them with others. You love a cheerful giver, but we sometimes give grudgingly. We forget that all we have is yours, and that you can use our gifts to bless the whole world. Give us generous hearts which long to share our bounty, giving extravagantly, loving at great risk, and working for justice in seemingly impossible situations. Forgive us for clutching too tightly what has always been yours in the first place. Pardon us for this and all of our sins, as we continue to confess in silence…
Silent Prayer
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Submitted by Chip Hardwick
God of our hearts, make us aware of our selfish motives. We want too much. We consume too much. We judge too much. We forgive too little. We help too little. We dream too little about living an abundant life with You. We use our power for our own gain. We don’t allow hurt and pain in the world to bother us. We think Your words are meant for someone else. Forgive us God. Make our lives about You, instead of us. Help us to pursue a life led by Your Spirit, and changed by Your mercy and grace. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Merciful God, if we are honest, we recognize that every fiber of our being is impacted by our imperfections and sins. Even our acts of obedience and faithfulness are overshadowed by our tendencies toward selfishness. Please show us our complete dependence upon you as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Heavenly Father, Our sin deserves Your judgement. Our trespasses are worthy of Your wrath, yet we seek Your forgiveness. We are sorry for our tendencies toward selfishness. It is clear that with You we bring nothing to the table, yet You give freely to us. Without You, there is nothing, but with You, there is everything. Fix our eyes on Your perfection and goodness so that we may experience Your love and power. In Jesus’ Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
LORD, too often we live for ourselves instead of how You have called us. Please forgive us for the times when we don’t strive to bring about Your kingdom here and now. Forgive us for the lack of imaginative vision bring about Your amazing plans You have for Your creation. Give us new eyes to see the world around us as we silently confess our sins to You now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Heavenly Father, You have gone to great lengths to redeem us by Your Son Jesus Christ. Furthermore, You invite us into a life of hope, joy, and freedom. And yet, we forget, Lord. We forget that You have sanctified us for greater things. We confess that we abandon You when our comfort is threatened. We admit that we get consumed with serving ourselves and our own interests. Have mercy on us. Father, cause us to turn our gaze squarely back on You. Speak to our fearful hearts. Forgive us and open our eyes and ears to a greater awareness of You, and to the adventure of living for Your glory each and every day. May we represent You well this week, acting as instruments of Your hands and feet. We pray this humbly in Christ’s Name. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace to confess our sin. We have been selfish instead of generous; we have been proud instead of humble; we have held grudges instead of forgiving; we have proven over and over again that we cannot be good enough on our own. We need more of You, and less of ourselves. Gracious God, we ask for Your forgiveness and receive it with joyful hearts. Renew our minds so that we may discern what is good. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we may be Your witnesses in the world. Comfort our hearts, that we may know that we have complete redemption by Your grace alone. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Dear God, You are the King, You are the Lord, You are the One who delivers us from the darkness. You are our Maker and our Redeemer and our Comforter. We give You praise. You are all-wise and You know us inside and out. We come to You now to open the doors of our hearts and let You into our hidden places of darkness and sin. We confess that we have said and done things that are against Your will and that have hurt others. Among other things, we have stepped on other people, acted selfishly, and said hurtful things, falling short of who You would have us be. We also confess that we have often been too busy to stop and listen to Your voice. We don’t act on the promise to rest in You. Lord, we are sorry. Please forgive us. Holy Spirit, fill us with Your hope and peace. In Jesus’ Name we pray, amen
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Loving and Merciful God,
We come before you today aware of our own selfish pride. We have chosen our way above your way. We have chosen our opinions over the unity of your church. Forgive us where we have gone astray, help us to forgive those who have hurt us, but we also pray that we would be forgiven for the ways in which we have hurt others. We recognize that we see only in part. Give us new eyes to see your kingdom at work in the world.
Silent Prayer
Amen.
O God, too often we turn to You when we have no other place to go, but your arms are always open wide. Forgive us for using you as our last resort when you ought to be our first. We confess that you have too often filled our minds with extraneous thoughts and plans, so let the mind of Christ fill us with new thoughts of you and of the plans you have for our lives. Forgive us for being so self-centered that our service to you is tainted by self-serving, and renew us in grace and mercy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Stuart Strachan Jr.
Great and gracious God, we have run after things and others instead of coming home to You.
We have lived as though we were the centers of our universe.
We have avoided the harder issues in life so others will approve of us.
We have let the world squeeze us into its mold, and refused to be transformed by your Spirit.
We laugh at what we should weep over, and grieve over things that are passing away that are unimportant in Your Kingdom.
We have thought evil of our brothers and sisters simply because they do not agree with us on things of this fleeting world.
Oh Lord, have mercy upon us. Restore us to the sanity of your ways and remind us of your infinite love and healing, and lead us in the way everlasting.
Mark Brewer
You, O Lord are holy and worthy of worship and praise. But we your people are sinful
And unworthy. You have called us to be a holy nation of your own people but we
Mostly think only of ourselves and not of others. Forgive us Father. You have called
Us to be a Holy Priesthood dedicated to serving you but most of our time, thoughts and
Efforts are spent on serving ourselves. Forgive us Father. Amen
Bud Thoreen
Inspired by Psalm 52
We boast of taking advantage of others, love evil more than good, speak deceit rather than tell the truth. We relish words that hurt and harm. We take refuge in wealth, security in savings and in success. For this arrogance and for this offense, we confess. Lord, humble our hearts, cleanse our tongues, and give us compassion for others. May we find our trust in Your steadfast love, may we thank you for what you have accomplished, and proclaim the glory of your name. Lord, hear our prayer.
Scott Bullock
Lord of Hosts,
We come before you today in a tone of solemnity. We recognize that while it was Judas who betrayed you for 30 pieces of silver, that we often betray you as well. We know what is right, what is good for us. We know that we belong to you. Called to serve, we often serve ourselves. Called to humility, we puff ourselves up. Called to love, we choose to love only those who love us back. But in your Word you give us a different path to walk. A humble path where all are worthy of our love and respect. Forgive us Lord, where we have chosen to withhold rather than to offer. In your son Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Stuart Strachan Jr.
Lord, You are good and faithful and never neglect us. But we often neglect You and each other. We fail to prioritize worshipping You, even as we make time for other things. We forsake the true focus of worship and make it all about us and our preferences. We prefer our styles, our songs, and our preachers. We are sorry for our sins. Please forgive us. Re-tune our hearts to glorify and enjoy You as we worship together. Thank you for forgiving us in Jesus through the cross. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Dear Lord,
We confess that too often our hearts are far from you. We are a people who honor you with our lips but trust in our own wisdom to save us. We humbly repent of our hypocrisy, our blindness to injustice, our selfishness and pride. As we fix our gaze on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, stir in us a holy desire to love and worship you with our whole heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Rachel Clark