These confessional prayers were created to accompany the Advent sermon series “Christmas Without the Crazy.” The bold text is spoken by the whole congregation. You are welcome to use or adapt these liturgies for worship, with credit. When printing these liturgies, please use the following credit line: “Prayer by Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett.”
Week 1: “Releasing Frustration, Finding Hope”
Call to Confession
Our hope—our only hope—is in God’s merciful love. We put our trust in the God who came to this messy earth to live and die for us, sins and all. So we confess, knowing that God rejoices when we come to God with honesty and trust.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we confess that we are frazzled, distracted, tangled up, and pulled in a million different directions. Clear away the clutter of our lives. Help us separate your call from others’ demands on us. Help us feel hope again—hope that in Christ all things hang together. Remove this season from our shoulders, and help us to celebrate you again. We pray in the name of Christ, child in a manger. Amen. (moment of silent reflection)
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Comfort, comfort my people! says our God.
The Lord God is coming, with strength and tenderness, to guide us back along the way.
The way things are is not the way they have to be.
In Christ, we are made new, forgiven and redeemed. Alleluia! Amen.
Week 2: “Releasing Anxiety, Finding Peace“
Call to Confession
Sin and guilt weigh us down. In confessing our sins to God, we release them and are made free again. Let us make our confession, trusting in God’s mercy and love.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, we confess
that sometimes our fear is a shadow we cannot escape from
and sometimes it casts a shadow on others
who must deal with the consequences of our fear.
Help us be not afraid
but to follow your Light into every darkness
to seek those who most need your hope.
Settle your peace in our hearts
and shape us to be peacemakers.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
(moment of silent reflection)
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Jesus was born to release us from our fears and our sins, to deliver us and set us free, and to embody God’s perfect forgiveness.
We find our rest in Christ, who is our strength, our consolation, and our joy. Alleluia! Amen.
Week 3: “Releasing Control, Finding Joy“
Call to Confession
In confession, we confess where we are broken and ask God to make us whole again. Trusting in God’s lovingkindness, let us confess our sins to God:
Prayer of Confession
God of new beginnings,
you give us so much to rejoice over.
All around us are signs of your grace, love, and power.
Yet in our need to control
and our obsession with our own plans,
we gloss over what you have done.
We miss opportunities to rejoice with you
because we are waiting for life to be perfect first.
Teach us the joy of your heart,
joy that does not wait,
but bubbles up around and within us. Amen.
(moment of silent reflection)
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Christ came to defeat the power of sin and show us a new way of living in relationship with God.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Alleluia! Amen.
Week 4: “Releasing Perfection, Finding Love“
Call to Confession
We are bold enough to say our sins out loud because we trust God to heal and transform our lives. Remembering that nothing we can do or say can diminish God’s love for us, let us confess our sins to God:
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, forgive us
when we get caught up in appearances and outer trappings
when we focus on petty grievances and grudges
when we can only see what’s gone wrong
and are blind to what you’ve set right.
In these holy days, lighten our hearts and open our eyes
to see that you still love the world so much
that you are ever present here;
that Christmas is not a memory, but our reality.
We pray in the name of a baby in a feeding trough. Amen.
(moment of silent reflection)
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Christ was born to save us from ourselves, to lead us away from our self-made chains and into the light of God’s freedom.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Alleluia! Amen.
Deep Well Worship 