Stan’s Corner, Tuesday, February 21, 2012

John Wesley wrote a prayer of confession for his Covenant Service that is as thorough as any I know of.  I will print half of it today, and half for Ash Wednesday:

O God our Father, who hast set forth the way of life for us in thy beloved Son;

We confess with shame our slowness to learn of him, our reluctance to follow him. Thou has spoken and called, and we have not given heed.

Thy beauty hath shone forth, and we have been blind.

Thou hast stretched out thy hands to us through our fellows, and we have passed by.  We have taken great benefits with little thanks; we have been unworthy of thy changeless love.

Have mercy upon us and forgive, O Lord.

Forgive us, we beseech thee, the poverty of our worship, the formality and selfishness of our prayers, our inconstancy and unbelief, our neglect of fellowship and of the means of grace, our hesitating witness for Christ, our false pretenses, and our willful ignorance of thy ways.

Have mercy upon us and forgive us, O Lord.