Prayers of Confession on Shame

 Adapted from Ezra 9:6-15

Pastor: O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.

All: From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt.

Pastor: But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves.

All: Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery but has extended to us his steadfast love.

Pastor: And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants the prophets. And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, shall we break your commandments again?

All: O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

Submitted by Dustin Ray

Gracious God, we confess that we are often dissatisfied with our lives. We recognize the gap that exists between what we are and what we want to be. Lord, like the woman at the well, we know our failures, and we feel guilty because You know them. We feel shame because others also know. Grant that we may hear and believe the Good News, that in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are loved in spite of our failures, forgiven in spite of our guilt, and accepted in spite of our shame. Inspire us by Your love and grace and grant us the spiritual strength
to follow and serve You. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Lord, You are a good and gracious God: Offering forgiveness for all our mistakes and failures and restoring us to right relationship with You. Why, then, do we wait to confess our sin to You? Why do we wallow in our muck longer than we need? Our embarrassment hinders us. Our feelings of shame and guilt cause us to hide. You are quick to embrace us as Your children; cause us to be quick to turn back to You. Your mercies are new every morning; let us enjoy Your presence and Your grace. Forgive us, Lord, and allow us to live our lives fully for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Gracious God, we are called to be a joyful people, giving thanks for You and Your good gifts. There are times, however, when sin and sorrow grow, pushing joy to the side. We lose sight of Your grace, and instead fall into despair. We are consumed by loss, distracted by stuff, and crippled with fear. We focus on our lack, rather than Your love. Lift our eyes, Lord Jesus, and renew our joy in You. Remind us that: in Your sacrifice is our forgiveness, in Your death is our resurrection, in Your coming is our joy! Through Christ we pray, Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love. Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry for all we have done to displease you. Forgive our sins, and help us to live in your light, and walk in your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

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.

 Adapted from “The Precious Blood” in The Valley of Vision

Leader: Blessed Lord Jesus, before your cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused you to be made a curse, the evil that provokes divine wrath.

All: Show me the enormity of my guilt by the crown of thorns, the pierced hands and feet, the bruised body, the dying cries. Your blood is the blood of incarnate God; its worth is infinite, and its value is beyond all thought.

Leader: Sin is my sickness, my monster, my foe, my enemy, born in my birth, alive in my life, strong in my character, intermingling with my every thought. Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light?

All: Yet your compassions reach over me, your heart rushes to my rescue, your love endured my curse, your mercy bore the stripes I deserved. Let me walk in humiliation, bathed in your blood with a tender conscious, triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

Submitted by Dustin Ray