Here’s a prayer of confession/words of assurance based on the scripture readings for the fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B (March 25, 3012). They were written by Bruce Prewer.
Prayer of Confession
(based on Psalm 51:1-12, John 12:20-33)
Let us return unto God, who will have mercy and abundantly pardon.
Let us pray.
Most mysterious and loving God, we come before you,
not as those who are perfect practitioners of Christ’s method,
but as those who have sincerely admired him,
yearned to be like him,
yet have only applied his truth in fragmentary ways.
We admit to each other and to you, God:
We have grabbed at life and hoarded it for ourselves,
rather than sharing and losing it in the cause of the Gospel.
We have sought the shabby glory of this world’s praise
and have badly compromised our faith in this mad pursuit.
We have tried to nullify our anxieties
by surrounding ourselves with possessions,
but have reaped only deep discontents.
We have trodden over the lives of others
in our hurry to get what and where we want,
but have ended up missing out on much love.
Every now and then we have dared to be bold
in faith, hope and love,
and have briefly tasted the nobler joy of Christ,
only to slip back again into a no-risk policy of self preservation
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness,
according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sins.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit with in me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Through the grace of Christ Jesus, we pray.
Amen!
Words of Forgiveness
(based on Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Fellow students in the school of life, know for certain that God in Christ has acted once and for all for our complete rescue and healing. Your teacher has become your Saviour. Trust in his saving grace and no longer weary yourself with guilt and frustration.
“The time is coming, says our God,
when all people shall know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,
for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
Thanks be to God!
