Father, we confess our fear to You. As a nation, our courage has turned to bluster, our confidence into a calculated pose. We are afraid of real threats, like economic hard times or terrorism, and we are afraid of phantoms of our imagination, like global warming. Father, as a people it often appears that we can fear anything but You. Father, we confess that we have not been a God-fearing people, and we need to become so again.
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.
We confess as Your people that we have sought to make worship services comfortable for ourselves, instead of glorifying to You. As a result, we have led our nation away from the fear of You. Father, we confess this as a great sin, and we ask You to forgive us.
Father, we confess our individual sins to You—and Selah . . . We do this in the great name of Jesus, and amen.
You are to live your entire lives by faith, and this includes those parts of your lives where you confess your sins. You have confessed now, in a spirit of faith, and so I declare that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
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