These unison confessional prayers were created to accompany the Lenten sermon series “Salve-ation: A Lent for Healing and Wholeness.” 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: Refuge
God of mercy, we need you.
We are weary and wounded,
drawn to self-seeking and sin,
afraid to look at the pain of the world
afraid to look at the pain in our hearts.
Shelter us, Lord.
Give us a place to rest
and time to grow strong,
and peace to make us whole,
and love to give us enough courage
to go out into the world again,
and invite all the weary, wounded people
into the refuge we have found in you.
But until then, hold us tight. Amen.
Week 2: Intimacy
God of mercy, we need you,
when we grow impatient and resentful
with the back and forth of faith.
We feast on fear and worry.
We yearn for quick fixes.
We wish we could stay in certain times forever.
Give us courage to wait for you, Lord.
Give us strength for the journey,
as we rise again to seek your face,
over and over,
until at last we see you fully.
In the strong name of Christ we make our prayer. Amen.
Week 3: Joy
God of mercy, we need you,
when our faith grows dry
and everything seems shallow.
Our praises are perfunctory,
and our hearts just aren’t in it.
We turn everywhere looking for refreshment,
for ways to feel alive again,
and come up empty-handed and exhausted.
Turn us back to you.
Remind us who you are:
water for the thirsty,
peace for the weary,
a feast for the hungry
and joy for the longing.
Be our joy, Lord, now and always. Amen.
Week 4: Reconciliation
God of mercy, we need you,
because our sins are too many to number
and too heavy to carry
and too real to undo.
We want to pretend we’ve never messed up;
we want to forget and just move on.
But our strength is sapped by unresolved hurts,
and fears and regrets haunt us.
Give us confidence to face our sins:
to ask for forgiveness,
to extend it to others,
and to believe in it for ourselves.
Help us shed what holds us back,
not through selfishness,
but through reconciliation,
and therefore enter our new life with you. Amen.
Week 5: Outpouring
God of mercy, forgive us
when we hold back from you.
We rationalize fear and greed as prudence.
We prize efficiency over lavish love.
We ask “what is the least I can do?”
Break open our hardened hearts,
and teach us to pour out our love,
our passion, our faith, and our hope,
not wisely, but for the healing of the world
trusting the promise that you will make all things well.
In Christ’s strong name we pray. Amen.
Week 6: Shout Out (Palm Sunday)
Holy Christ, sometimes our silence is a betrayal.
We are afraid to say what we believe,
to speak out loud the things we keep inside us
or even admit to the world
how much we love you.
We try to hide, but it only makes things worse.
Give us the courage to speak out
so that the whole world knows who we are
and who we follow.
In the strong name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Week 7: Alive (Easter)
Risen Christ, we confess today
we struggle to believe your Easter promise.
You have shattered our chains,
yet we are afraid to move.
You have given us new life,
yet we continue stubbornly on old paths.
You have poured your love out for us,
yet we are afraid to love others.
Give us the courage
to leave behind the shadows of the tomb
and walk boldly with you
into the light of your new creation.
We pray in your most holy name. Amen.
Deep Well Worship 