The Light of His PresenceShembull

Day Two: A Prayer of Contrition

Great and Awesome God,

Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. And in the greatness of Your excellence, You overthrow those who rise against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.  While You are slow to anger and great in power, You will not at all acquit the wicked. You have Your way in the whirlwind and in the storm. The clouds are the dust of Your feet.

We pray with contrite spirits. We are ashamed and embarrassed to lift our faces to You, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. So now, our God, what shall we say?

“We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled.”

We have suppressed the truth that we were created by You and for You and have exchanged it for the lie that we are masters of our own fates.

We confess to religious indifference that gives lip service to You but lacks sincere faith so that we live and make decisions as practical atheists—as though You do not exist. 

We confess to generational hatred and racial prejudice that are like a disease, perpetuating divisiveness, destruction, and turmoil. 

You are merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against You. So this day we come to You with humble, contrite spirits to confess our sin and ask for Your mercy. We seek Your forgiveness. Open our eyes to see You for who You truly are. Don’t let us remain blinded by religiosity and self-interest. We ask You to show up in great power, giving us supernatural strength to pursue justice, to remember mercy, to walk humbly with You. We ask that You would shatter the Enemy so victory will be won not by our might nor by our power but by Your Spirit.

In the glorious name of Jesus, who died to make us free,

Amen.