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 that as a nation we have abused and insulted Your divine institution of private property. We rob from future generations; we rob from widows and orphans who have no defenses; we rob as though we had sovereignty over property, which we do not. You alone are sovereign, and You alone own everything. You alone have the right to assign derivative sovereignty and derivative ownership. We have despised this in our laws and in our customs, and we plead for Your forgiveness for our sorry nation.
We know, Father, that if we in the Church regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual.
Father, we confess that in the Church we have often led the way in these confusions about private property. We have mishandled Your Word; we have sided with Ahab over Naboth; we have sided with Ananias over Peter; we have sided with the complaining workers over the generous owner of the vineyard. Forgive us for this grievous sin, we pray.
And so Father, we confess our own sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the great name of Jesus, and amen.
God delights to forgive you, and He does so now. I declare that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!