Confession Thursday 3.17.22
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation 15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” - Revelation 3:14-22 (ESV)
Merciful Lord, give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
We confess that our works show us to be lukewarm.
We trust in ourselves, and cover ourselves with self-righteousness,
justifying ourselves by our right words.
We claim to be your servants but follow our own will.
In your mercy do not spit us out.
Let us hear and heed your loving rebuke and discipline,
make us zealous for repentance.
In ourselves we are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
By your grace give us the riches of Christ, clothe us in with him,
raise us from our self-imposed misery and anoint our us that we may see.
Lord Jesus, continue knocking on the doors of our hard hearts.
Let us hear your voice and open ourselves to you,
that we may know the joy of your presence,
and feast with you forever.
Confession Thursday is a weekly feature of Semper Ref. In keeping with the name of our website, we believe there is no true reformation in individual lives or the life and ministry of the Church apart from true repentance as God calls us to conformity with his word. The promise of the Gospel is not that we can repent deeply enough for God to love us, but that since God loves us he invites us into deep repentance. It is not the strength of our prayer that gives us hope, but the fact that Christ is the propitiation of our sin. Because of this, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Unless otherwise noted, all the prayers of confession found here are written by the SemperRef editorial team. Confession Thursday prayers may be reproduced with permission if you cite SemperRef.org as the source.
