Prayers of Confession on the Bible

Adapted from Hebrews 4:12-13

Leader: The word of God is alive and active. 

Sharper than any double-edged sword, 

it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, 

joints and marrow; 

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare 

before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 

All: Let us come before our holy God with all honesty, 

knowing He sees each of our sins, 

and seek forgiveness in the name of Christ, our Lord.

Charles Teixeira

Lord Jesus Christ, you reveal God to us, yet we are sometimes repulsed, bored, or exhausted by what we see. We become jaded to your work in the world, and our eyes glaze over rather than getting excited by your revelations.  You manifest yourselves to us through the scriptures, in quiet prayers, and in wise counsel. Yet we are slow to listen, and we ignore these epiphanies.  We need your Spirit’s strength to open our eyes and soften our hearts. Forgive us these and all our sins, as we continue to confess in silence…

Silient Prayer.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Chip Hardwick

Loving and gracious God, we admit to You that we have distorted Your Word. Too often we pick and choose which part of Your Word to proclaim. Shying away from Your call to give all who we are, we only follow the part of Your Word that doesn’t ask much of us. Please forgive us for our unfaithfulness to Your Word as we confess our sins…

Submitted by Austin D. Hill

Lord, thank You for the gift of Your Word. You are a God who wants to be known and heard. You have spoken and continue to speak to humanity though Jesus, Your Incarnate Word, and Scripture, Your written Word. Thank You. Lord, forgive us for failing to listen to Your Word. Sometimes when You speak to us, we question whether we heard You correctly. At other times, we know You have spoken but we choose not to listen. Many times, we are too distracted with the rest of our lives to hear You speaking at all. Forgive us. Lord, help us trust and obey Your Word. Give us clarity and wisdom to recognize Your voice. Give us confidence and courage to follow You. Help us. We believe, Lord, but help our unbelief. In the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Immanuel, you are God with us. You abide with us through it all. While you journey alongside us in life, you are speaking to us. We admit to you that we do not listen to your voice. We read Scripture and ignore it, we feel a nudge from you, a call to action, and we explain it away. We fill our lives with so much noise that we can’t hear you even when we try. Please soften our hearts so that we might be more perceptive to your leading as we come to you in silent confession. 

Time of silent reflection and confession.. 

Amen.

Submitted by Austin D. Hill

Father of mercies,

Your word is like a double-edged sword. When we read about the humility, the sacrifice of your son, in comparison with our own lives, we are convicted of our sin. We have not humbled ourselves in the ways that you have called us to. We have bragged of our accomplishments, boasted of our talents, acting as if we are the ones responsible for all the good things that come to us. But when we read your word, we are laid bare, and we see our own failure to live a humble life, a life according to your easy yoke. But we come to you grateful, that you are not a God who holds grudges, but your mercies are new each morning. Help us to continuously turn over to you our pride, our insecurities, that we may embody the beauty and the power and majesty of Jesus Christ in our own lives, through the power of your  Holy Spirit, Amen.

Stuart Strachan Jr.