May Prayer of Confession

Dear Lord,

We confess this morning, Father, that our list of transgressions is long. Each day stacks our mistakes up higher than the last. We fail and we hurt people, we sin and we turn to all the wrong things for fulfillment and hope. We make the wrong decisions, spread rumors, betray trust, speak harshly, say all the wrong things. In short, Father, we are humans in desperate need of a Savior. This morning, we ask you to help us see ourselves and those around us through your eyes instead of our own.

Let our shortcomings and mistakes be opportunities to experience and amplify your redemption and grace. Let our sinfulness bring our hearts even now to repentance. Help us turn from the lies the enemy whispers in our ear towards your still small voice. Help us this week find places to listen instead of speak, to give instead of taking, to receive instead of demand. Remind us in our empty places that you are the only one who fills.

We confess Father that the pace of today’s world makes us grow weary. That we are ever-afraid that we aren’t doing enough, that we are not enough. We confess that sometimes we feel like giving up, and occasionally we question your wisdom and goodness. Forgive us, Father. Give us spiritual eyes to see the things in ourselves and in our neighbors that you see. Empower us to live through your lens of beloved, always. Protect our ears from lies, remind us every morning of your new mercy and of the new things you want to do in our heart and community.

Lord forgive us for the ways we continue to allow fear to divide us. Help us today, this week, to find unity here in this church and in the world outside these walls. Let us live as beacons of your community, exhibiting a wholeness and one-ness that points a hungry world towards you. Let us forgive those who have wronged us. Help us spur one another on towards good deeds, towards more love and unity than division or hate. Use each person in this room to encourage and unify a world in desperate need. Give us the courage to surrender the things we clench in our fists and turn our lives squarely towards the hope you hold out before us.

Amen.  

Hear this good news from Psalm 103

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

-Psalm 103:8-12