PRAYER OF ADORATION
Holy Father,
We bless your name this morning for you have blessed us in Christ. In Christ we know that every spiritual blessing is ours. You are the God who forgives sin and pardons the sinner. You are the one who has removed our sin from us as far as the East is from the West.
And you are our Father—for you have adopted forgiven sinners into your family to be your daughters and sons—to be joint heirs with your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
You have made us a chosen people—a royal priesthood, a holy nation that we might declare the praises of the one who has called us out of darkness into your marvelous light.
So, Father, inhabit the praises of your people. Help us to attend to you without distraction—and as we worship you outwardly with our mouths—give us the grace to worship you inwardly with our hearts as well.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit; one God, world without end.
Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
1 John 3:19-20
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
Father,
Today we confess the sins of our speech. Your Word tells us that our tongue—even though it is small, can cause incredible damage. Just like a spark can cause a forest fire, one word of bitterness or contempt can set our homes, our office, our world ablaze. And we know that we have all stumbled in our speech this week. None of us is perfect.
Father, we confessed that we have spoken harshly to our family when they have disrupted our comfort.
We confess that instead of building up others and giving grace to those who we’ve spoken with—far too often corrupt and destructive talk has come out of our mouths.
We confess that we haven’t been quick to listen and slow to speak. Instead, we have exalted ourselves and talked over or past others who needed to be heard.
Father, we confess our own hypocrisy. We praise you and then turn around and curse or ignore or mistreat those who are made in your image.
We also confess that we live in a nation that has normalized sinful speech. Boasting, mocking, and lies surround us all day long—so we cry out to you to convict us and heal us in Jesus name.
Along with the sin of our speech, we also confess the sin of our excuses. We’ve blamed our sinful speech on everything except our sinful desires. We’ve said the reason our speech has been so insensitive and exacting is because we’re tired, or hungry, or because we were mistreated first.
But as people of your Word we know that our mouths only speak out of the abundance of our hearts. And we know that we will give an account on the day of judgement for every word we speak. And, most importantly, as your children—we know that you have not spoken harshly to us. You have spoken words of peace and promise to us in Christ.
So, Father, help us now, to keep a short account with you. Help your church lead the way for our nation in confession and repentance. Hear us now, as we confess our individual sins to you in silence.
Pause
Father, thank you that you do not deal with us according to our transgressions—and you do not repay us according to our iniquities. Thank you for hearing our prayer and help us now to make our only boast the cross of Jesus Christ that the world and its sinful speech might be crucified in us.
In Jesus name we pray… AMEN.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17
If you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and look to him alone for the forgiveness of sins—then in Christ, your sins are forgiven.
This is the good news. Thanks be to God.
