Daily Worship

Prayer for forgiveness

Robert Allan September 05, 2015 0 0

Luke 14:15-24

(GNT)
The Parable of the Great Feast

15 When one of the guests sitting at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus said to him, “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people. 17 When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’ 18 But they all began, one after another, to make excuses. The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.’ 20 Another one said, ‘I have just gotten married, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’ 23 So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!’”

Dear Lord and Father of humankind, we worship you. We pray that you will come to us and meet us, to open the doors to our hearts, doors that we sometimes shut or even lock. We come asking you to dust us off and make us new and to lead us with all our questions and wonderings into the exciting mysteries of discipleship. We long to be your living and witnessing people, telling others about your love, showing others your love in action.

We seek to be your servants, to sow love, to offer forgiveness, to be as one, yet you know we have served our own interests, been slow to love and forgive, and have added to division rather than seek harmony and peace.

We have our doubts too, Lord, you allow us to have them, but help us also to hold on to our faith in you and lead us to a deeper understanding though we know we will only see a partial picture. We have sometimes added to the doom and gloom instead of offering some light in the midst of the darkness.

Often we come to you in our daily round and in our worship, seeking what you can do for us, thinking only of ourselves and our needs. And we do need you, Lord, every hour we need you, but we also need your forgiveness for our selfishness and thoughtlessness…

Father God, we thank you that you forgive and accept us. Help us this day and in the days that lie ahead not to seek so much to be consoled but to console, not so much to be understood as to understand, to love and forgive, and in some ways to be reborn, that we may indeed be your disciples in the world today.

We pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray with these words we now say together: 

Our Father in heaven

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen