I repent, Lord.

I repent.

I have been wrong

in supposing that I could manage my own life

and be my own god;

I have been wrong

in thinking I had, or could get,

the strength, education and training to make it on my own;

I trust that God in Jesus Christ is telling me the truth.

I lean into the realization

that what you want from me

and what I want from you

are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things,

thinking the same old thoughts.

I turn

again

and still

to follow you,

my Lord Jesus Christ,

and be your pilgrim in the path of peace.

– A prayer based on lines from Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 29-30).