Here’s a prayer of praise, confession, and commitment written by Rev. David Lunan for use on Christ the King / Reign of Christ Sunday.
Pastoral Prayer
Let us pray.
You are that man, Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the Most High God, and friend of sinners;
you are that man,
Saviour of the world,
King and Head of the Church.
All glory, laud and honour be to you,
redeemer king,
crucified Lord of heaven and earth.
For you are risen and ascended, reigning in highest heaven;
and present with us now.
As we draw near to you in spirit and in truth,
that we might worship and adore you,
Lord God, Father, Son and Spirit,
we would confess that we have not always loved you,
nor loved our neighbour;
we have not always trusted your teaching Lord Jesus,
nor obeyed your word,
nor let you reign in our hearts as king.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
We have let possessions be more important to us than people;
we have been more interested in promoting ourselves
than in bearing witness to your kingdom;
we have asked for your forgiveness without being willing to forgive.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
We come before you Lord God, Father,
that we might be set free
from all that would come between us and you,
all that would spoil our lives,
and the lives of others,
and the life of the world.
We lay our sin at the foot of the cross, and ask that in exchange,
Lord Jesus Christ, you grant us your grace.
For we believe, through your word Lord God,
that your love is from everlasting to everlasting,
and includes us; that our lives can be transformed,
that Christ is willing to dwell within us, and rule our unruly wills,
and reign in our hearts.
For you alone can put us right and grant us peace.
Be for us Lord Jesus a hiding place from the wind, a shelter in the storm;
be for us, O Holy Spirit, rivers of water in a dry land,
be for us a shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Come Lord Jesus, as we come to you now,
reign in our hearts,
reign in your church,
reign in your world.
Hear this our prayer, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
~ written by the Very Reverend David Lunan, posted on the Starters for Sunday on the Church of Scotland website.
