Approach and confession prayer 20 October 2019

Loving God

we come

we gather in this place

from different communities

with all our worries and doubt

all our joy and delight

all the things which have happened to us or those we love over the past week

all the things which we will experience in the week to come

gathering together in worship and adoration

of the one who watches over us

in the day and in the night

the one who will not let our feet slip on the mountain passes, however we experience them

the one who breathed life and shape into the landscape which surrounds us

how can we fail to look to the hills and marvel at their seeming timelessness

all the things they have witnessed

for thousands upon thousands of years

yet, that majesty is nothing, nothing compared to you our Saving Lord

for we know your promise to us

the covenant made through your Son, Christ Jesus

sealed by his sacrifice on the cross

a promise which cannot be fully explained

a promise for us and all people on earth

offered freely

openly

without cost

what can we give in return?

How do you receive our prayers, our song, our meditation on your word?

Offered with humbleness and trusting in your great goodness to us, Great Judge of all creation

[pause]

Judging Jesus

do not judge our iniquity too harshly

those times we have given up on your way for us

as it seems to echo into the abyss

those times we have judged others harshly, but forgotten to hold a mirror up to our own lives

those times where we have let other things get in the way of spending time in prayer

[pause]

Forgive us, Jesus

through the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

turn our hearts, minds, bodies and souls

to your way, your truth, your love

that as we bring our adoration this hour

and all the days of our lives

it may be a fitting sacrifice of praise for our God, our King, our Redeemer, our Friend

Amen