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 in heaven, we confess to You that our nation is torn apart by political and cultural strife, and that we have wandered far away from the way of forgiveness that You have called us to. On the one hand, we have multitudes who believe that they have no need to seek forgiveness, when in fact they have a desperate need to do so. On the other, we have multitudes who are in no frame of mind to extend forgiveness, even if it were to be sought. We confess this to You as a great national evil.
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.
And so, Father, we confess to You now that we are slow to forgive our fellow Christians, when we ought to be quick and eager to forgive. We are too proud to seek forgiveness from our brothers and sisters that we have wronged. Father, we confess this sin to You, and ask Your Spirit to move in such a way that we are equipped to deal with this great sin.
We confess our individual sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the strong name of Jesus Christ, and amen.
You have humbled yourself before God. You have acknowledged that you are ready to forgive anyone who has wronged you, and to do so in all humility. On the basis of this, as a minister of God’s gospel of kindness, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!