Holy Father,
We praise Thee. Through Jesus, You have redeemed the church from the corruption in this world and to purify for Himself a people that belongs to Him, eager to do what is good. Lord, may we never go back and be enslaved once again by sins. We want to remember what a hefty price Christ paid to set us free; His death on the Cross.
Father, forgive our sins and cleanse us. For in many ways we have not been faithful and obedient. We have not kept ourselves pure and holy in Your sight. We have also allowed doctrinal differences to divide us when we should have stood together as One. Our pride has kept us from accepting and loving one another. Have mercy on us.
Jesus prayed the church may be One in complete unity. Let Your will be done so that the world may believe You sent Your Son. We want to obey Your command to love one another, even to the point of laying down our lives for our brothers. Lord, help us to love, to forgive and to carry each other’s burden.
Lord, we confess we have not worked out our salvation with fear and trembling. We have gone so far as to grieve Your Spirit and stifle His work in the church. We have also allowed quarrels, favouritism, envy, selfish ambition, even sexual sins in the church. And with our tongues we set the forest on fire! Father, forgive us! Keep us from such evil and from speaking lies, gossips, slanders, curses and idle words. You warn us that those who love and practise falsehood will not enter Your Kingdom. Lord, put a guard over our mouths for we are a people of unclean lips!
Father God, forgive us for murmuring against our spiritual leaders. We have forgotten that Israel tested You in the wilderness by grumbling against Moses and You were angry with that generation. We do not want to travel on that path. We want to obey our leaders and submit to their authority so that their work will be a joy, not a burden.
Father, Your Word also declares that we must submit to every governing authorities whom You sent to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. But we have not always obeyed You. We complained and grumbled and even spoke evil of the authorities. We have forgotten that anyone who rebels against what God has instituted brings judgement upon himself. Lord, forgive us and cleanse us from this wrong. Help us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ too, for we have not always kept this commandment faithfully.
Lord, forgive us for being ungrateful. We have failed to see how blessed we are compared to many others. Yet we remain unthankful and covet for more to please ourselves. We might have even resorted to dishonesty and lies to get our way. Father, forgive us and turn us from such evil. We want to be content in whatever circumstances. Forgive us also for grumbling over little inconveniences that come our way. Help us to do all things without complaining and to stop grumbling; the Judge is already at the door!
Lord, we admit losing our temper and patience when things do not go our way. We let anger and impatience get the better of us when we should live in peace with all men. Father, forgive us. Forgive us for not seeking peace and pursuing it. The last thing we want is to give the devil a foothold through our anger. We want to be peacemakers. Help us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger I pray.
Father, we must also confess we have been critical and judgemental. We think highly of ourselves and judge others when we should bear with the failings of the weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters. Father, forgive our pride and arrogance. Help us not to please ourselves but to please our neighbour for his good, to build him up. And if our brethren is caught in a sin, help us who are spiritual to restore him gently in love.
Father, You have called us to good work but we have been indifferent and lukewarm. We have forgotten that faith without deeds is dead. We have also neglected preaching the Gospel and helping the poor and needy. We have been busy building our own house and neglecting Your House (Haggai 1:9). Lord, forgive us and release us from this bondage. Restore Your church, Lord. Wake us from our slumber and pour out Your Spirit on us. Give us the power to do good and to redeem our time, bearing fruits in every good work.
Lord, forgive us for not having faith. In many ways, we live by sight instead of walking by faith. We have allowed trials and worries to unsettle us and cause us to lose faith in Your ability to help us. Father, deliver the church from unbelief, doubt and fear. Cause us to set our hope on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We want to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. We want to believe God is true and faithful. We want to believe, Lord. Help our unbelief!
Father, forgive us for being prayerless. We have not understood the purpose of prayer and how vital it is to our faith. We have been busy and have neglected the better part; to sit at Your feet. Lord, teach us how to pray and renew a prayerful spirit in the church. Beside Your Word, make prayer central in every church and in every believer. Spirit, stir us up to pray without ceasing with all requests and petitions for all the saints!
Father, forgive us for withholding our wealth from You and from those in need. Many times, we are concerned only about our interests. We have also run like the pagans after these things. We remember not it is more blessed to give than receive. Lord, open our eyes to see giving as Your way of receiving a blessing. We have not understood that giving is by faith. Cast down our greed and selfishness. Help us to excel in the grace of giving!
Father, forgive us for being idle and irresponsible to our family. Help us to be diligent in providing for the needs of our family and to care for them by giving of our time and love. We must also confess we have not always been honest and diligent in our jobs. We have not always served wholeheartedly. We have not always speak truthfully. Lord, forgive us and help us. We want to turn from the works of the flesh in order to win the respect of outsiders, lest we become worst than an unbeliever.
Lord, forgive the church for compromising. Oftentimes, we deny You by our actions though we said we love You. But loving You is to obey Your commands. Instead we have lusted after earthly riches more than we love You, and food more than Your Word. So instead of being the salt and light, we stumble others by our actions and liberty. Instead of directing the lost to Christ, we turn them away by our hypocrisy. Forgive us, Father. Deliver us from loving the world and everything in it. Let our lives reflect Christ, and our actions bring You glory and praise, instead of shame and blasphemy.
Father, forgive us for having itchy ears. We have not always wanted to hear what You have to say but what our itchy ears want to hear. Because of this, some have already turned away from the truth. Lord, protect the church from heresy and keep us from false teachers and prophets, who are empowered by deceiving spirits to teach false doctrines that feed the flesh. Help us to understand true doctrines are according to godliness. Holy Spirit, lead us to the truth for the Word of God is our safeguard against lies and deception. Create in us a hunger for what is True. To spend time in Your Word and to do what it says. Only Your Word can make us wise unto salvation!
Lord, forgive us for not being a good steward of Your gifts and talents. Forgive us for hiding them or using them to serve our interests. Keep us from such evil and from being assigned a place among the unbelieving! Allow the gifts that You have given to the church be used for the common good and to serve one another.
Father, forgive us for not watching and discerning the time. We want to heed Your warning to stay away from such dangerous behaviour. Open our mind to understand that Jesus shall come at a time when we do not expect. We do not want to be like the evil servant who was cut into pieces and condemned with the hypocrites! Neither do we want to be like the five foolish virgins. Lord, keep us from the hour of temptation that will come upon the earth. I pray we will be counted worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
Lord, forgive us for being merciless, bitter and unforgiving. You forgive us because You are merciful. Help us to remember we have been forgiven much and to extend mercy to our debtors. You indeed redeemed us from death to life so that we can love our brothers. But if we do not love our brothers, we remain in death. We know anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and has no eternal life. Spirit of love, give us the power to forgive and to love one another. For love covers over a multitude of sins.
Father, thank you for sending Jesus to destroy the work of the devil. Now having been washed, sanctified and justified, we want to keep our body and spirit from contamination, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We humbly accept Your warning to get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbling accept the Word planted in us, which can save us (james 1:21).
We want to judge ourselves so that we will not be judged. If we won’t, then let Your righteous judgement begins in the church so that we will not be condemned with the world. Do not blot out our names from the book of life I pray. Help us to obey Your righteous commandments and live.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen