Confession Prayer Week of January 12, 2025

Call to Confession: 

As we enter into a time of confession together, let’s prepare our hearts by hearing these words from Jonah 4 after the people of Ninevah repented:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.  And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.  Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Prayer of Confession: 

Patient and Loving Lord,

Your forgiveness and compassion far exceed what we could even imagine, and yet how often are we stuck in feelings of anger or resentment? Instead of running to you for relief from our sin, we run from you, rehearsing the sins of others in our minds and feeling superior to them. Lord, forgive us.

Holy Spirit, help us to see our anger for what it is. Remove our blindness; give us the courage to confess our rage and resentment, the grace to repent of it, and the faith to find comfort and joy in your forgiveness. Give us godly sorrow for our sin, and help us to cry out for the mercy and pardon that you so freely give us through Jesus. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: 

In the scriptures we find assurances of our forgiveness and encouragement in our walk. So hear these words from Micah 7 and rest in their truth for us:

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity

    and passing over transgression

    for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not retain his anger forever,

    because he delights in steadfast love.

He will again have compassion on us;

    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

You will cast all our sins

    into the depths of the sea.