Prayer of Confession - Sexual sin and brokeness

There is almost no avoiding the brokenness of the world around us. When we talk about our creator God, and the gift of human sexuality, we immediately see the ways that sin has corrupted this gift. It’s a source of shame and heartache for some, and a source of religious judgment for others. The fact is that we’re all sexually broken, and we all have reason to repent.
Let’s acknowledge that together as we pray:

Lord in creation, you have given us many gifts.
In marriage, you’ve given us the gift of love,
the gift of children, and the gift of the marriage bed.
We thank you for your good gifts,
and acknowledge you alone as the author and creator of these good things.
But like all of your gifts, sin corrupts.
We have wasted your gifts in casual sexual relationships.
We have taken the beauty of intimacy and cheapened it into pornography.
We’ve found countless ways to corrupt the one-flesh relationship of a marriage covenant.

We’ve allowed lust to fill our hearts and minds,
and dismissed the virtues of fidelity and faithfulness.
Forgive our sins, Lord.
Lead us in obedience, by the power of your spirit.
Help us all to honor the marriage bed, and keep it pure.
Help us to raise our children to value it as you do.
Help us to purify our hearts and minds,
Treating it as beautiful and valuable
what the world around us treats as casual
and sells as a commodity.
Only by your grace can our hearts be changed.
Even as we pray for mercy,
we remember the cross,
and the invitation to find grace at your throne.
We boldly come to you, desperate and broken,
sad for our mistakes, and rejoice in the good news that in Christ, we are made new,
we are forgiven, and made pure.
Thanks be to God!

As used on September 20, 2009 by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY

Tagged as: purity, sexual sin, Sojourn Church, Song of Solomon