Here’s a prayer of confession which uses a gardening
metaphor. It was written by James E. Janecek.
Prayer of Confession
The
Divine Gardener cannot sow seeds of justice and peace
where
there is nothing but hearts of dry, hard rocks.
We
confess that our hearts may need tilling
and
the digging out of the deeply rooted sins
that
crowd out seedlings planted with divine compassion.
God
of steadfast love,
you
change bitter tears of remorseful hearts
with
raindrops of mercy,
Now
let us germinate a new life, growing with integrity!
God
of steadfast love,
you
change the cold shame of contrite hearts
with
sunrays of mercy
Now
let us sprout a new life, growing with honesty!
God
of steadfast love,
you
change the stony edges of repentant hearts
into
landscapes of mercy,
Now
let us branch out into new life, growing with generosity!
Assurance
of Pardon
Divine
Gardener,
You
tend us in steadfast love,
Unending
mercies, and eternal faithfulness;
you
cultivate true friendship with you
through
boundless forgiveness.
In
Christ, this faithful love is planted in our hearts.
Gathered
as your community of believers, our family of faith,
with
the help of the Holy Spirit living in us,
we
can now produce forgiveness for each other as we are forgiven.
Thanks
be to God!
~ written by James E. Janecek , in Seeds of Faith: Service Prayers for the Nineteenth
Sunday after Pentecost. Posted
on the United Church of Christ’s Worship
Ways archive.
