Prayer of Praise and Confession

(from Invocations and Benedictions by John Drescher p153, Opening Prayers ICEL Collects p10 to 14, Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C by David Hostetter p24, A Year of Prayer by John MacArthur p93)  

  We praise you, Lord God Almighty, for you have revealed yourself to us in the incarnation of your Son, who lived among us, who shared our struggles and who won the victory over sin and death.  In Christ’s birth and life we see your grace and truth.  In Christ’s death we see your love.  In Christ’s resurrection we see your acceptance of his sacrifice, and the assurance of our acceptance into your family, now and in the time after Time.

  We rejoice in the birth of Jesus who embodies both the good shepherd and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.  We are astonished that you would choose to become personally involved in the sin and suffering of the World.  We are thankful for the obedience of Jesus to be born as your Messiah, your promised Saviour and King, an obedience that lead all the way to the cross on Golgotha and to the cold tomb.

  We praise you for the glad tidings of peace given to a troubled and turmoiled World.  You have revealed to all the World the light that no darkness can extinguish, you have revealed the radiance of your glory to all who celebrate the coming of the Word who became flesh and lived among us.  We praise you for your steadfast love for Humanity, in that, in your own time and to fulfill your Will and Purpose, you kept your promise to draw all people to yourself and to embrace them as your own, you have kept your promise to reconcile all people to yourself and to each other, you have kept your promise to renew and enrich the lives of those who humbly accept your call to repentance.

  We confess that we often we are hesitant to submit to your Will for our lives.  We confess to a stubbornness of mind and spirit that avoids obedience to your Word.  We confess to a lack of hunger for right living or for purity of thought and speech and deed.  Forgive us we pray.

  Teach us to rely on your Word to instruct us and to give us wisdom.  Teach us to rely on your promise to uphold us in our trials and difficulties.  Clothe us in gentleness and patience as we interact with those around us.  May we seek to find in you the source of our strength to live each day in your service.  May we seek to find in you the unity to live together as members of your family, as you share the unity of Father, Son and Spirit.  May we seek to abide in Christ and to draw life and vitality as do the branches on a vine.  May we acknowledge with deep gratitude the blessings that you bestow and the privilege of being in an intimate relationship with you.  For this we pray, to your honour and glory.  Amen.

“A Prayer for Christmas Morning”

                                                                  Henry Van Dyke

  The Day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and crowns another year with peace and goodwill.  Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the Magi.  Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the World.  Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.  Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Jesus Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.  Keep us from becoming calloused with the familiarity of the Christmas story, and, instead, give us the meekness of those who came from near and far to kneel in the lowly stable to adore the Christ child.  May the Christmas morning make us happy to be your children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our bed with grateful thoughts, forgiven and forgiving.  Amen.

(from The Greatest Gift, edited by Julie Hogan, p98, & Invocations and Benedictions by John Drescher p153)