Prayer for Forgiveness

God... Thank you that you are in the process of restoring your kingdom, and invite us to participate. We confess that we often rebel against your best hopes and dreams for the world, both in the things we do and in the things we leave undone. Give us your grace to sustain us as we learn to live and act in sync with what you are up to in the lives of individuals, in the lives of people groups, in our institutions, and among your creation.

This prayer was written in the context of a specific interaction between two Christian "celebrities," but the entire thing is worth a read, any day, under any circumstances. There is power in confessing, out loud, that we are messed up human beings and that we mess things up on a daily basis.

Part of that power lies in realizing that we do not have to be perfect, that we do not have to have all of our stuff together in order to be used by God.

When you have a few minutes, read through this prayer outside of the context of any fights over who is a heretic and who is not. Instead, allow yourself to think through each line and remember places in your life where you need that sort of forgiveness right now, today. Allow God to come into those messy (stinky) places and show Himself glorious.

Justice starts with us and the way that we treat others, not just across the globe but also that person who is driving so close behind you that you can practically feel them breathing down your neck or the one who forgot (again) to do the thing that they said they were going to do.