Repentance prayer - 29.10.1988 St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, a service to mark the 50th anniversary of Moral Re-Armament
The Revd Anthony Craig, Church of Scotland, Maryhill, Glasgow
Repentance prayer - 29.10.1988 St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, a service to mark the 50th anniversary of Moral Re-Armament
The Revd Anthony Craig, Church of Scotland, Maryhill, Glasgow
In common with all men and women, we come before God with a request and a need for forgiveness, but also we come before him with special repentance for the falling away from the very truth that we believe to have been revealed to us.
Minister: Forgive us, Lord
Response: Forgive us, merciful Lord
We have seen lives renewed and we give thanks for that but we have also seen the twists of human nature assert themselves and push us to actions and attitudes which have divided us from old friends. On our side, we may have been right in principle but we have often lacked the love that melts sin on the other side.
Response
Each of us can think of people we have failed. Specific instances when something said or done or not done meant that the person did not find the blessing God had in store on offer. Some of us may think of whole nations that have slipped into evil ways because of chances missed.
Response
We do not wish to indulge in what might have been or if only. We recognise our part in the common human failing of going our own way, rather than God’s way. Only this because we have been privileged at times to know the secret hearts of men and women at the centre of nation’s lives so we have also been made aware of how near some have been to stepping onto God’s path yet have drawn back at the moment of decision. The privilege has carried responsibility and sometimes we have failed that responsibility.
Response
It is these moments we bring before you now, O God, in humility and repentance. You are sovereign overall. You cover our mistakes with your blessing. You wash away our failures with your purity. You require no help from mortal man or woman but in your generosity, you have offered us a partnership. Accept us now and as Jesus was washed in the river and transfigured on the mountain so may we be renewed by your spirit.
Amen
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