To the Holy and Righteous God –
We have offended you and wronged you countless times, but you have forgiven us of our massive debt. Yet in our pride and selfishness, we refuse to forgive others, choosing to hold grudges and demand payment for debts we cannot collect.
Forgive our unforgiveness, and teach us to remember not only the debts we wish to collect, but the debts we owe.
We seek to honor your word, but often choose only the parts we want to hear, pretending you are silent when it is more convenient or more pleasant.
Forgive us for pretending we are better than we are, and teach us to be more honest with those around us, with you, and with ourselves.
We have ignored the cries of the desperate and hurting, forgetting you are the defender of the poor and oppressed. Like Ananias and Sapphira, we pretend to give more of ourselves than we really do.
Forgive our deception, and teach us to listen to those around us, and act with your passion.
We have placed our convenience above your commandments, forgetting the call of Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves. We seek to rationalize ways around your will, refusing to follow in your footsteps unless we gain something, just like the crowds who came to Jesus because he gave them something to eat.
Forgive our greed, and teach us to release our own desires into your hands, and take up yours.
We have become proud and haughty, claiming to be the sole guardians of truth. We defend truth so much that we drive people away from your message of reconciliation.
Forgive our pride, and teach us to remember that we are only lowly servants in your kingdom – all honor and glory is reserved for you alone.
We are too often blinded to our mistakes and shortcomings. We pretend that all is well in our lives, and overlook sickness in our souls. We attempt to give first aid to those around us, but ignore the terminal illnesses we live with each day.
Forgive our myopia. Teach us to look first at the plank in our own eye, before we attempt to remove the speck from our brother’s eye.
For the places we fail but do not know, forgive us.
et iterum venturus est cum gloria
judicare vivos et mortuos
cujus regni non erit finis.
amen.