10 Powerful Prayers for Confession

We confess our sins so that we may receive forgiveness from God. Here are 10 powerful prayers for confession. Along with the prayers are printable images for you to use or share.

Prayer for Confession
Behold, my God, I come to Your sacrament of Confession to ask for forgiveness and to be restored to Your grace. You so loved us that You sent us Your only Son, and He is a shepherd willing to go searching after even one of His sheep. Guide me as I prepare to approach this sacrament. I would like to be free of guilt, to be pardoned, to have peace, and to be restored to You. Grant me all that is necessary for it to be so. Amen.

Healing Prayer in Preparation for Confession
Lord, You inspired Your servant James to warn us in his Epistle that we need confession and prayer to be healed from sin, and that the prayer of those in the state of grace has much power. I recognize this truth and yearn to have my soul washed whiter than snow. Break down in my heart all obstacles that might be in the way of my well prepared, sincere, and full confession. Amen.

Forgiveness Prayer in Preparation for Confession
Lord Jesus Christ, who gave the Holy Spirit to Your apostles so that whose sins they forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins they retain are retained, I give You thanks for providing me a way to be reconciled with You. You astonished those around You by saying “Your sins are forgiven.” It is even more wonderful that in Your humility and providence, You allow Your apostles to exercise the same powers on Your behalf. Therefore, let me now resolve to approach one of Your ordained ministers, to confess my sins sincerely, and receive absolution to be reunited with You once more. Amen.

Prayer for Clarity
O God, who on the first day made light, and whose Spirit fills the world, allow me, poor beggar, to receive some of Your light so that I can see my sinfulness with clarity. Shine Your divine light on my neglects, offenses, abuses, and all manner of darkness that has displaced Your grace in my heart. Let me rejoice in what You find delightful, and hate what You hate, so as to become more like You, and follow Your ways after this sacramental confession. Amen.

Prayer for Humility
Lord, it is hard to take stock of all the different things I have done against Your will and command. I am so used to hiding my faults and weaknesses from others that I sometimes find it difficult to even remember all my sins. But, on several occasions, I have refused Your grace and made myself unworthy to be called Your child. Let me now, like the Prodigal Son, return from a foreign land, starved and poor, weary from the journey, and, if I am truly humbled, truthful and contrite, restore me to my inheritance of heavenly bliss. Amen.

Prayer for Honesty
Lord, You demand total conversion from us. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” Therefore, I cannot begin my new life in Your grace by lying or concealing what ought to be brought to light. Give me the bravery to be honest in the confessional; to hide nothing, but to confess fully, clearly, and briefly so that Your minister, endowed with the power to loosen the bonds of sin over me. My God, eternal Truth, let me not abandon truth in this crucial moment. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Lord Jesus, I thank You for giving me back the promise of eternal life given to me at my baptism. Thank You for hearing my prayer and coming to my aid. The sorrows of death and the perils of hell surrounded me, but You heard my voice, and, Lord Jesus Christ, You had mercy on me, a sinner. I can now happily call myself a child of God, and approach Your sacraments, especially the Most Holy Eucharist. I detest my sins; never let me sin again. Amen.

Prayer of Resolution
My God, God of mercy and compassion, I thank You for restoring me to Your friendship, but let me never forget the purpose of Your forgiveness. In this life, I must sanctify myself and work out my salvation. I have to love You and love my neighbor. Therefore, allow me to build on this great gift that You have given me at my baptism and have continued to strengthen ever since. Now that my prayer has been strengthened, that I am once more a true member of Your flock, and benefit from the prayers of all Your saints and angels, let me despise sin and love You above all things. Amen.

Prayer for Confessor
Lord Jesus, I thank You for forgiving me my sins through Your servant, the priest who just gave me absolution. In him, You turned towards me and gave me back my life. Sanctify him, increase him in his grace, his faith, and grant him the ability to call many more of Your straying sheep back into the fold. He is Your friend, and Your friends are exceedingly honorable to me. Keep them always close to us faithful and make them just guards and keepers of Your Church so that they may ever preserve and increase it. Amen.

Prayer of Self-Abandonment
Lord Jesus Christ, who freely called us to the greatness of Your Divine Life in the Father, I thank You for everything You have done for me, especially You redemptive work that restored me to my baptismal state and opened to me once more the treasury of the merits of Your passion. As Saint Paul says, I have been crucified with You, and no longer live, but You live in me. But as You were raised up from the dead, I too have to walk in the newness of life and participate in this great gift that You have freely given me. Therefore, let me now die to sin, die to the world, and to myself. Let me live in You alone so that You might also live in me. I ask You to take over me and do with me what You will. You have given me my body, my soul, my will, my intellect, my all – I return it back to You, for they truly belong to You and no one else. You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth. Into Your hands, I commend my spirit. Amen.

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