Heavenly Father,
It is our privilege to confess our sins before You because You have promised in Your Word that if we confess our sins, You are faithful to cleanse us from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus Christ, and that we will receive the promise of eternal life.
Father, we have sinned, and we ask that you would please forgive us for how we have broken Your perfect and Holy Law. Forgive us for running away from You and turning our backs on You.
Like sheep we have gone astray and have turned to our own ways. We have turned to our own earthly desires—to our own flesh, and in doing so we have turned to strange flesh. We have turned to other gods and we have sinned against You. We have done unlawful things in Your sight. Father, please forgive us and renew us in Your grace.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Heavenly Father, Merciful Father, We come before you now as a people who are heavy with sin. Our sins weigh us down and we are unable to help ourselves. We confess that we have not turned to You in our distress. We have not called upon Your name in times of trouble, but rather in our wickedness we have sought to drive you away because of our shame. We have deceived ourselves seeking to be rescued by pleasures and entertainments rather than coming before You, the holy God, to cry to You for help and to have our prayers answered. We have sinned thinking that we can fix ourselves. We are guilty of clinging to the very sins for which Your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross. Forgive us for our pride and for not bringing our burdens to You, thinking that they are not too heavy for us to bear. Father we cannot bear the awful load of our sin. So please, heavenly Father, by the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ, remove from us this burden and save us. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation and renew a right spirit within us. Father, You are our only Helper; our only Redeemer; the only One who can save. Lord, hear our prayers and deliver us this day so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, but that we would be set free to dwell in Your peaceful Kingdom. We ask in the powerful Name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Philip J. Moyer
Prayer of Confession for Pentecost
{After singing Come, Thou Almighty King}
Gracious Heavenly Father,
We know that You have promised Your Holy Spirit to all who trust in You. We have just asked the Holy Spirit to rule in each of our hearts and to never depart from us. Yet, we confess that we have sinned in many ways against You and Your Spirit, and have behaved as if He does not live in our hearts.
When you have healed us from sickness, we have attributed our healing to earthly things and we have not acknowledged You for the miracles You have done.
When you have given us gifts, we have refused to be content or thankful for your mercies to us and have instead envied your gifts to others.
We are an ungrateful people.
When you have touched our lips with your Holy Spirit, we have shut our mouths so that we would not have to bear the reproach of the words that we would say.
When you have spoken to us, we have shut our ears, afraid of what You might call us to do. You have given us Your Word, yet we have refused to walk in it. We have persisted in willful sin and have not repented.
We are a disobedient people.
In these ways, and many others, we have sinned against Your Holy Spirit and we ask that You would please forgive us, O heavenly Father, for how we have quenched Your Holy Spirit.
We pray that you would restore to us the joy of Your salvation and renew a right spirit within us. We repent of our sin. And we, as Your covenant people, trust in the promises You have made to us—having faith in Christ’s provision and believing the power of the Holy Spirit to heal us and give us the ability to obey.
Renew our hearts, we pray.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.