This prayer of confession originally appeared in "Be Not Afraid—Advent 3: Fear of Revision."
Restore Us, O God, and Make Your Face Shine upon Us
Song
“Meekness and Majesty”(st. 1, 3) Kendrick
Prayer of Confession with Spoken Response
There is mystery in the season of Advent and mystery in the story of Jesus’ birth. God works in mysterious ways, using ordinary people like you and me to accomplish God’s plan of salvation and kingdom work. But we gather for prayer to confess that we aren’t always eager to allow God to work in us. We prefer our own ways over God’s mysterious ways. We prefer darkness over light. So we pray using words from Mary’s song (Luke 1:46–55), and we ask God to make God’s face shine on us and to open our hearts to God’s will for our lives. When I say “Restore us, O God,” please respond with “and make your face shine upon us that we might be saved.”
Let us pray.
Our souls glorify you, O Lord, and our spirits rejoice in you, our Savior!
For you have been mindful of the humble state of your servants.
You have heard our cry and saved your people.
We shall be called blessed because we are called by you to be a blessing to others.
Your mercy extends from generation to generation.
Your mercy called Adam and Eve into being.
Your mercy kept vengeance from taking Cain’s life.
Your mercy saved Noah and his family from the flood.
Your mercy caused Sarah’s womb to be fruitful.
Your mercy gave Joseph’s dreams the power to save a nation.
Your mercy heard the Israelites’ cry and called Moses to action.
Your mercy charged Mary with the most special of tasks.
Your mercy strengthened Joseph to care for her.
Your mercy sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us from the dark of night.
We give you thanks for your mercy; may it continue to shine upon us!
Restore us, O God,
and make your face shine upon us that we might be saved.
We remember this day those
who crave your shining face,
who long for the light,
who need your power to drive out the darkness:
For those who live with depression or other mental illnesses. [pause]
For those who cannot bring themselves to forgive others. [pause]
For those who cannot forgive themselves. [pause]
For those who seek refuge, but have been denied shelter. [pause]
For those who seek shelter, but have been denied a home. [pause]
For those who have lost loved ones in the past year. [pause]
For those who have lost physical or mental abilities. [pause]
For those who care for aging spouses or loved ones. [pause]
For those who have been living with cancer and other debilitating illnesses. [pause]
Restore us, O God,
and make your face shine upon us that we might be saved.
We ask that you would strengthen us as a congregation:
as we serve one another and those with whom you called us into fellowship,
as we seek to bring hospitality and hope to our community,
as we discern where you might be leading us,
as we hold in tension that which we have been with that which you call us to be,
as we seek to be the best stewards of the money and gifts with which we’ve been blessed,
as we search for the truth of your word and do our best to live it out in our lives,
as we wait, watch, and wonder in preparation for the coming of your Son.
Restore us, O God,
and make your face shine upon us that we might be saved.
Gracious God, on this Advent journey,
may we wait with Mary’s joyful anticipation
as we prepare to welcome your Son, our Savior,
into this broken world in need of his redeeming.
Gather us, guide us, and keep us as your people.
Send us into the world so that our hands might be
Christ’s own, and his mind one with ours in all that
you would have us do.
Restore us, O God,
and make your face shine upon us that we might be saved.
Amen.
Revised Common Lectionary
Years A, B: Advent—Third Sunday of Advent
Years B, C: Advent—Fourth Sunday of Advent
