Prayers of Confession on the Heart
Adapted from on Psalm 14
Pastor: Oh God, in my foolishness, I have denied that you are my God, my Lord, and my Father. Because of my abominable deeds and corrupt nature, I can do no good without you.
All: You dwell in Heaven and see all things and all people. You look down on my life and find my faith lacking, my understanding wanting, and my heart corrupt.
Pastor: I, my family, and my fellow believers have done evil in your sight, and we’ve turned aside from trusting and obeying you. However, despite my sinful rebellion, you call me back to you!
All: Because your Son, Jesus, died on the cross for my sins, you have given even me your salvation! Restore my delight in you, and craft me into the image of your Son by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Adapted from Psalm 25:6-7, 11, 16-18
All: Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Adapted from Hosea 4
Pastor: “Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”
All: O Lord, our hearts have treasured everything but you. We have delighted in disgusting things, lustful things, angry things, prideful things. Forgive us, O God.
Pastor: Because of our sins, we cry out to you. We remember your goodness, your mercy, and your grace, and we cry out to you.
All: We are undone for lack of knowledge. We have sinned and not been satisfied, done evil and are left wanting. Reconcile us to yourself, we pray, loving Father.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Lord, our hearts are not large enough,
our memory is not good enough,
our wills are not strong enough:
ake our hearts and enlarge them,
Take our memories and give them quicker recall,
Take our wills and make them strong
and give us greater awareness of you–
being ever present,
ever alongside us.
George Appleton, Adapted for Corporate Worship by Stuart Strachan Jr.
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and we have refused to hear the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Create in us a clean heart, O God. Please cleanse us from our sins and iniquity. Restore to us the joy of salvation that comes from you. Have mercy on us according to your steadfast love. Renew us with your Holy Spirit, that we might be empowered to live for you. We silently confess our sins to you now…
Time of silent reflection.
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name and what our hearts can no longer bear. Set us free from a past that we cannot change, and open to us a future in which we can be changed. Grant us grace to grow more and more in Your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, the Light of the world. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Heavenly Father,
We confess that we are not always able to see your handiwork in the people and things around us. We do not always see your image in our neighbors, and we do not always see your creative fingerprints in the good things in our world. Our eyes and our hearts are darkened by sin, and we too often take our sinful perspectives for granted. Transform our eyes and hearts with your Holy Spirit, so we may see the light of your creation and the love of redemption that we have in Jesus. Help us to see and live according to Jesus’s vision and life. Hear our prayers as we continue our confession in silence…
Submitted by Allen Thompson
Holy God, we come before You in humility, for we do not live as we ought. We do not love You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We do not love our neighbor as ourselves. We are sinners in need of rescue and transformation. So we pray, in all humility, that You will change our hearts and minds, that You will show us again how to love others the way You love us, that You will grant us the grace to experience your Spirit’s guidance and love, that You will put power and courage in our hearts to do Your will. This we pray in Jesus’ Name and for His sake. Amen.
Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
Lord of all creation, you make us into a new creation, your followers sing new songs of praise to you, and yet we so easily fall into routines as we worship you. Too often we offer you lip service without offering our hearts. Please capture our hearts, and rekindle our passion for you as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Heavenly Father, forgive us when we become so consumed with the details of life that we do not see the opportunities that you have placed before us. Open our eyes to your call to extend love, by communicating with grace and by speaking truth in the world around us. Give us obedient and wise hearts that allow us to see your Kingdom and speak with your words. We pray these things in the name of the one who is your Word, Christ Jesus. Hear our prayers as we continue our confession in silence…
Submitted by Allen Thompson
Gracious God, you have given us great mercy through Jesus, yet we have withheld mercy from others. Our hearts have been hardened by the world and our sin. Would you soften our hearts? And give us a deeper understanding and gratitude of your mercy that we might extend mercy.
Submitted by Laura Murray
Loving, good, and kind God, you sent your Son to endure the cross so that we might know you. You desire a relationship with us, and you are interested in the condition of our hearts. Too often our hearts are devoid of passion for you. Too often we drift through our days, ignoring you. Please kindle our hearts for knowing you as we silently confess our sins to you now…
Submitted by Austin D. Hill
Gracious God,
our hearts are often divided between what is good and what is evil.
Not one of us is pure in heart yet we long to have a whole heart.
Submitted by Laura Murray
Merciful God, you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you. We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy. We have not loved you with a pure heart, nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have not done justice, loved kindness, or walked humbly with you, our God. Have mercy on us, O God, in your loving-kindness. In your great compassion, cleanse us from our sin. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Do not cast us from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation and sustain us with your bountiful Spirit. Amen.
We confess, loving and gracious God, that we often find ourselves in a rut as we seek to live out our faith. We do not pray for your Spirit’s ingenuity or creativity. We close off our hearts from anything which might stretch or challenge us. It might be here at the church, or in our family or professional lives. Wherever it is, we ask your forgiveness for the smallness of our imagination. We turn from these sins, and ask you to forgive us. We continue now to confess in silence…
Silent Prayer
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Submitted by Chip Hardwick
(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)
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
As your Servant Augustine said once long ago,
“O Lord, the house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it, that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases your sight; I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it, to whom shall we cry but to you?
Cleanse us from our secret faults, O Lord,
and spare us your servants from strange sins.
Augustine of Hippo, The House of the Soul, Language adapted for Corporate Worship by Stuart Strachan Jr.
O Lord, you have mercy upon all—take away from us all our sins, and mercifully kindle in us the fire of your Holy Spirit. Take away from us a heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore you, a heart to delight in you, to follow and to enjoy you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Ambrose of Milan, Language adapted for Corporate Worship by Stuart Strachan Jr.
God of wisdom, we come before you in humility. Too often we choose our own way, discern our own path, without looking to you. We ignore the prompting of your Holy Spirit, and choose what is easiest, most comfortable, or requires the least from us. Please forgive us for our narrowmindedness. Soften our hearts of stone, that we might have, instead, hearts of flesh to perceive your call in our lives. Then please give us the courage to act on your calling.
Austin D. Hill
Jesus, we receive your blessings and pray for the Holy Spirit to make them real in our lives. Renew a right spirit within us, a poor spirit, a spirit that knows our deep need of your grace and deliverance.
Living Water, soften our hard hearts with the gift of tears. Help us mourn our brokenness and the brokenness of our world.
Generous Savior, you fill each person with gifts, talents, and strength. Open us to meekness, so we may gladly surrender them to your authority and discipline. In our hands, they are often weapons.
Bread of Life, sour every false and destructive appetite, so we may hunger and thirst for righteousness alone- a right relationship with you, a right relationship with others, a right relationship with ourselves, a right relationship with your creation.
Suffering One, break our hearts as yours is broken. In the breaking, create in us clean hearts, pure hearts, undivided hearts. Hearts ready to make peace. Hearts ready to suffer for justice, truth, and the common good.
The congregation is invited to offer their own confessions
Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Dear God, my Heavenly Father,
My heart is unclean, but you can purify it.
My heart is full of darkness, but you can illuminate it.
My heart is sad, but you can comfort it.
My heart is wicked, but your love can change it.
My heart is cold, but your love can warm it.
My heart is weak, but you can strengthen it.
My heart clings to the earth, but you can fill it with heavenly desires.
My heart is full of sin, but you can adorn it with all virtues.
My heart is wayward and inconstant, but you can make it content.
Come then Holy Spirit and fill me with your love. Amen
Gertrude the Great (1232-1291)
Inspired by Matthew 15:10-20
Holy God, we confess that we have focused too much on our religion, and not enough on our hearts. We confess that we might sit in church on Sunday, but the Gospel does not emerge from our lives the rest of the week. We give our inner thoughts to you, O God, and we are aware that you already know them. Help us to receive your forgiveness and to make space for Your love to shine throughout our lives.
Cody Sandahl
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
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