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 do not love Your authority, and either want to live under an oppressive authority that provides them with security but no freedom, or a lax authority that gives them freedom but no security. Father, we know that Your Holy Spirit is working in the world to establish true liberty, the kind of liberty that can only come when men are forgiven for their sins.
We know, Father, that if we regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual
. As Christians, we confess that we too often have chafed under lawful authority. We confess that we have complained about our bosses when they have simply been directing us as they are supposed to do. We confess that we have rejected what Your Word says about authority in marriage — many wives have not honored their husbands as they ought to have done. Many husbands have not submitted to the authority of Christ, which requires a sacrificial love. Father, we as children have often complained and disobeyed when given direction by our parents. Father, we confess that because we have not loved authority, You are been sending us tyrants. Help us, now, to confess this sin rightly.
And so Father, we confess our sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the name of our Lord Jesus, and amen.
God delights in you, and through His Word and Spirit He rejoices to accept you and receive you. He has given you great and glorious promises through His gospel, and on that basis, as a minister of that gospel, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!