Loving heavenly Father, give us this day truly repentant hearts, hearts that are attuned to You and the demands of Your holiness. Remove from us any desire to remain outside of Your will.
We have called good what You call evil, and have called evil that which You call good. We have substituted our perverted self-righteousness in place of the righteousness of Christ. Give us true repentance from this grievous sin. We have loved pleasure instead of You. Allow us to turn from this evil. We have wanted Your blessings with no regard for Your holiness. Remove from us this wickedness.
We admit before You that we have desired our wills instead of Your perfect will. Turn us back to Yourself, and let us see that only You have the words of life. We have lauded our worldly wisdom and disregarded Your true wisdom. Show us the folly of our ways and return us to sanity.
We have been politically active, but have cared none for the only thing that can actually change men’s hearts, the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Restore us to our proper role as witnesses to the work of Christ in evangelism, in order to be the true salt and true light that You desire of Your disciples.
We have engaged in secret sins, not remembering that nothing escapes Your notice. Move us to repent of this destructive folly. We have treated what You have granted us as being our property instead of being a precious stewardship for Your glory. Take our eyes off of what we consider to be our wealth, and put them back on You, seeking Your will in how we handle all of our our affairs.
We have cared much for the acclaim of, and been in fear of, mere men. We have done this in our social media interactions as well as in our conversations with our families and neighbors. We have denied You by not standing up for the principles of Your Word. Remove our fear of men and what they think, and give us a true fear of You, knowing that while men can kill the body, only You can cast the soul into hell.
We have grieved Your Holy Spirit, choosing instead of walking in Him to engage in the lusts of the flesh. Turn us back to Him, and allow Him to make us living sacrifices acceptable to You. Remove from us the hatred, impatience, and wickedness that come from the flesh, and replace them with the fruit of Your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; all of which are in short supply in our lives.
And gracious, loving Father, do not let us repent solely because of the harm that our sin causes us. Instead, let our repentance be driven by the knowledge that every sin, every transgression, every disobedience, regardless of how small we think that it is, is actually a cosmic treason against You, our Creator and is hated in Your sight. Let us never forget that while any and every sin is sufficient to bring us eternal damnation, that this is nothing in comparison to the dishonor that it brings to You, the perfect One.
We thank You that You alone are the source of the repentance that we need. We know that prior to You bringing us new life that we were dead in trespasses and sins. We needed for You to provide a substitute to bear the punishment that our sins deserve. We thank You that Christ Jesus humbled Himself by taking on flesh, living a holy and perfect life of full obedience, and submitted Himself to the horror of the cross. We thank You that He walked out of the grave in His resurrection in order to destroy our greatest enemy, death. We thank You that He is coming back again in glory. We pray that You will allow us to be sober, and vigilant, and ready for His return.
We give You thanks that You have regenerated us, are sanctifying us, and will finally glorify us when Christ returns. We give You thanks that all three members of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are active in restoring us to Yourself. We pray to You, our Father, in the power of Your Holy Spirit, and in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.