Prayer of Confession: It Isn’t Even Funny

submitted by Scott Cervas, Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky

a prayer of confession for the Second Sunday of Easter, RCL Year A

God, we are so much like the disciples that it isn’t even funny. We’re afraid…scared to go outside and live resurrected lives; scared to disconnect ourselves from systems that devalue other people; scared to challenge the status quo, because standing up to it will place us on the outside of our own comfortable, privileged, lives. Like Thomas, we want tangible proof, tangible results, and tangible rewards. And until you deliver, we will stay where we are. And where we are is exactly where we don’t belong. So please, forgive our complacency, and draw us to richer, fuller, resurrected lives, even now, as we offer our silent confessions…

Prayer for Illumination–writing, planting, painting

Submitted by Rev. Scott Cervas, Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church.

Holy God,
as we listen to these words,
write your love in our hearts;
plant your hope in our minds;
and paint your grace onto the canvas of our lives;
so that we might be…heart, mind, and soul…
your grace, hope, and love in the world,
Amen.

Prayer for Illumination–plot twists

Submitted by Rev. Scott Cervas, Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church.

God of life,
draw us in by the detailed descriptions;
mesmerize us by the development of the characters;
keep us on the edge of our seats while the plot twists and turns;
and help us discover within the stories of Scripture
our own narrative unfolding before our very eyes,
Amen.