“Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Joel 2:12-13 (NLT)
Heavenly Father, yet again, your Spirit has convicted our hearts, your grace has generated good grief, and your kindness now leads us to repentance. There is no other god like you—so holy and so merciful, so welcoming and so eager to redeem, so patient and overflowing with unfailing love. Hear our confession.
- We confess caring too much about what other’s think of us. Their approval is too important and their disapproval is too painful.
- We confess that it’s easier for us to share gossip with friends than to share the gospel with those who are strangers to your grace.
- We confess we often manipulate people for our advantage, rather than serve them for their good, and your glory.
- We confess binging on fear and coddling our worries, rather than feasting on grace and feeding our faith
- We confess hoarding our brokenness and weakness, rather than letting friends enter our pain and carry our burdens.
- We confess indulging irritation and justifying our resentment, rather than forbearing with others and loving them as Jesus loves us.
Have mercy on us, Father, have mercy on me. If you dealt with us according to our sins, we could not stand. If you repaid us for all our transgressions, we would despair forever.
But our hope is sure. For it is built on nothing less, nothing more, and nothing other than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We bless you, Father, for the gift of Jesus—for his perfect life lived for us, and his judgment-exhausting death given for us. As you have redeemed us and have declared us righteous in Christ, so change us and make us more like our beloved Savior. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
