Prayers of Confession on Stubbornness
Almighty, gracious God, we confess to you that we do not see what you see. You are ever-present, speaking, coaxing, prodding, leading, guiding, and motivating. Yet that is not enough. Like the stubborn people of Israel, we complain and do things our own way. Please give us grace, forgive us for our pride, and help us to see with your vision.
Time of silent reflection and confession..
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Dear Lord, we stand before You this day, remembering that You have called us to come before You in prayer and confession. We confess that we often choose not to remember that we belong to You and instead give our allegiance to the world. We forget that You are constantly reaching out to us in love and grace, offering the better way. We confess that we are sinful, stubborn, and unresponsive. We think, say, and do things that hurt You, others, and ourselves. We get stuck in our ways and can’t or won’t listen to Your voice. Please forgive us. Pour out Your Holy Spirit on us. Breathe into us Your forgiveness, hope, and joy. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation and grant us a willing spirit to sustain us. In the name of Jesus we pray.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
O Holy God, we know we have fallen short.
We turn our backs when we could embrace.
We remain silent when we could speak.
We speak when we could listen.
We close the door when we could fling it wide open.
We judge when we could seek understanding.
We cling when we could give.
Forgive us, O God, for being so very human at times, and help us to continue to grow into the people you created us to be, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the silence, we raise our voice before you. We wonder aloud why you are so far from us when we call. In the agony of our cry, we are reminded that it is we who have wandered from your fold, from the nearness of your love. We, alone, have rebelled against you. We, alone, have turned our backs to your face. We, alone, have closed our ears to your words of correction and comfort. We confess that we are both a people of unclean lips and unclean hearts. Restore unto us this day, the joy of our salvation. Speak to us words of hope, words of healing, and enter into our lives anew. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Lord, you have in fact searched us and known us. You know when we rest and when we rise, when we go out and come home. You know our inmost thoughts. And yet even so Lord, even so we turn our backs to you. We hide our face from your goodness, believing we will be better off on our own than surrendering our wills to yours. At times Lord, we are stiff-necked people, stubborn to our own health, often choosing death over life. And yet, you still choose to love us. You choose to show us grace no matter how many times we turn our backs to you. Please forgive us according to your own true nature, as the gracious loving God-for-us.
Amen.
Stuart Strachan Jr.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord of yesterday, today and tomorrow:
You alone rule the universe;
setting times and seasons according to Your will.
While nations and king come and go,
You, only, are King of kings and Lord of lords;
immortal and all-knowing,
never lacking power and wisdom.
You are strong; and you are good!
Therefore, we joyously and reverently call you God and King.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet, in spite of all we know of You –
we are stubborn and rebellious still.
We think ourselves wise – disregarding Your truth.
We think ourselves strong – using violence to force our will.
We think ourselves right –writing-off others and refusing to
learn from them.
We think ourselves good – ignoring our corruption and evil;
pointing fingers and wagging tongues at others.
Forgive our arrogance minds, self-centeredness hearts
and ungracious spirits.
Take away our hearts of stone;
replace them with hearts of flesh,
hearts that best after Your own heart.
In silent moments, hear us confess what we’re too ashamed to name aloud – forgive and free us, Lord: (Silence)