Church Resources: Responsive Prayers For Confession
These prayers have been written by Knox pastoral staff and are available for any church or individual wanting to use them. No attribution is needed!
Confessing the Seven Glittering Vices (Seven Deadly Sins)
Leader: Jesus, by giving up everything you satisfied our deepest longings.
People: We confess the lusts that urge us to satisfy those desires on our own.
Leader: Jesus, you lived and died humbly in an arrogant world.
People: We confess the pride that wants us to think that we can live without God.
Leader: Jesus, your righteous concerns and commitments reshape our passions.
People: We confess the anger that sometimes dominates our hearts.
Leader: Jesus, you worked and rested according to the rhythm of God’s kingdom.
People: We confess the sloth that preoccupies us and threatens our true calling.
Leader: Jesus, you share an intimate love with your Father and the Holy Spirit.
People: We confess our envy that causes us to keep our distance from others because of the spirit of comparison and competition.
Leader: Jesus, you are the bread of life and the thirst quenching water.
People: We confess our gluttony that keeps our stomachs full and our hearts empty because we are not trusting of your provision.
Leader: Jesus, you lived with trust, contentment and generosity in the midst of unstable circumstances.
People: We confess our greed that compels us to store more than we need, even as we become numb to the needs of others.
Leader: Lord, fill us with the knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that we may live lives worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:9-14)
Lenten Confession/Good News Litany
Leader: Suffering Lord, you told us that “In this world we will have trouble.”
As we bear witness, through Lent, to your redemptive journey through suffering and death, Lord, hear our prayer:
All: Open our eyes to a troubled world.
Leader: Lord we confess that we are not like you.
Where you turn toward, we turn away
Where you tell the truth, we pretend
Where you say “broken,” we say “fine”
Where you say “let me carry,” we say “not my problem.”
We do this to ourselves, we do this to others, and in so doing
We have done this to You, oh Lamb of God, oh Suffering Servant.
In your mercy, hear our prayer:
All: Forgive us, oh Lord.
Leader: We confess that our own troubles, and the troubles that surround us, are too much for us to bear.
We confess to you now, the very things we are afraid to face: our personal wounds, our secret sins, and our impossible burdens.
[pause for silent personal reflection/confession]
Together, we pray:
All: Be near to us, oh God.
Good News
Leader: Dear friends, God hears our confession and comes near to us in Jesus. Because of Christ’s willingness to enter our suffering, we can proclaim in faith:
All: We do not walk alone. As the Father is with Christ, so Christ is with us.
Leader: He has told us these things so that we may have peace. In this world we will have trouble, but friends let us take heart,
All: Christ has overcome the world!