Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all.
Our Father God, we confess to You now, on behalf of all the wealthy nations of the world, and on behalf of all the wealthy castes in impoverished nations. We confess that we have not been generous and openhanded with the wealth that You have bestowed on us, and that, when pressed, we substitute coercion of others through the mechanisms of the state and call it generosity. And so, Father, we confess that the great idol of our age is the State, and we pray that You would grant the nations of the world a full and deep repentance.
We know, Father, that if we regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual
. And so, Father, we confess that we in the Church have too often relied on coercive state programs instead of exhibiting the generosity borne of Your Spirit. Father, help us to learn how to simply give.
And so Father, we confess our sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the name of our Lord Jesus, and amen.
Put a man’s heart right, and his checkbook will be put right. If his checkbook is not right, then his heart is not right either. You have confessed the sin of stinginess, and God promises forgiveness to all who confess their sins honestly and heartily. On the basis of this gospel promise alone, and as a minister of this gospel, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!