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.
Father, we confess to You that the nations of men have sought to honor what You do not honor, and that they dishonor the things that You love. You pronounced a woe on those who call evil good and good evil, but the nations that do not honor You have sought to reverse Your patterns of blessing and cursing. They curse what is precious in Your sight—mercy, love, and justice—and they bless what You detest—dishonesty, avarice, and irresponsibility. Father, those who do not want Your authority over them have written themselves a photo-negative Deuteronomy. And so, Father, we confess to You that they have not echoed Your standards of righteousness. You have spoken Your Word and the nations have not yet said amen.
We know, Father, that if we regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual
. So we confess also that we have mimicked the world in what we call justice, and what we think is mercy. Forgive us for this, we pray.
And so Father, we confess our individual sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the good name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and amen.
God speaks the Word of His law, and apart from Christ we would all be condemned. But He also speaks the word of His grace, promised throughout all Scripture. On the basis of those gospel promises, and as a minister of them, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!