Forgiveness

Eternal God, our Father, we come before you, the Lord of heaven and earth, our creator and redeemer - our refuge and strength, our help in every time of trouble. We do not know how to pray as we ought, but we thank you for the promise that the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities with sighs too deep for words.
Make us aware of our need of Thee - the forgiveness of our sins and your empowerment for life. If we need not to confess what we call the great sins of the flesh, we do need to confess the deadly sins of the spirit: pride, envy and jealousy; anger, intolerance, anxiety and worry. We have spoken the quick word which hurt one for whom Christ died. We have passed by on the other side of pain and need. We have been so preoccupied with our own comforts and plans that we have been deaf to the cries of our fellow man in haunts of wretchedness and need. We rationalize until wrong is made to appear right. We read the obituary column in every daily paper as if it doesn't matter, and forget that our own name will appear there one day. O Lord, forgive us, and stab us awake with others' pain.
We thank you for our church where we can meet to worship and under the sound and power of the gospel reorder our lives. We thank you that here we find a channel for giving and serving. Raise our vision, O Lord. Make us more faithful in what we now do, and call us to new and needed witness and work. Call us into your service in the Church and in the world.
May no person in this congregation feel lost and alone during this hour of worship. May the most needy one know that this prayer is for him, for her. And may the power of the Holy Spirit be present to heal, to bless, to empower, to sanctify.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen