Lord God, eternal and almighty Father,
we acknowledge and confess before your holy majesty
that we are poor sinners,
conceived and born in iniquity and corruption,
prone to evil and incapable of any good,
and that in our sinfulness we endlessly violate your holy commandments.
We therefore draw ruin and condemnation upon ourselves
by your just judgment.
Yet, O Lord, with sorrow and repentance
we acknowledge our offenses
and seek refuge wholly in your mercy.
Have compassion on us, most gracious God and Father,
full of mercy.
Forgive us all our transgressions,
and in your goodness direct and govern us by your Spirit,
that we may serve and honor you in truth
all the days of our life.
Hear us, O Lord,
through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Calvin's Prayer for the Lord's Day
Also known as Calvin's Prayer of Confession · Reformed Confession before Worship
About this prayer
John Calvin composed a Form of Prayers for the Reformed church in Strasbourg (1542) and Geneva (1542) that provided a complete liturgy for Sunday worship, including a prayer of confession at the opening of the service. Calvin believed that corporate worship should begin with a corporate acknowledgment of sin before the holy God, which would then be answered by the declaration of forgiveness and the reading of God's word. The prayer reflects Calvin's theology of the utter sinfulness of humanity and the sovereign grace of God in pardoning sin through Christ. It has been used in Reformed and Presbyterian congregations in various forms since the sixteenth century.
When it's said
Calvin's prayer of confession was said at the opening of Sunday worship in the Reformed liturgy of Geneva. In contemporary Reformed and Presbyterian churches a prayer of confession is typically offered early in the Lord's Day service, often followed by an assurance of pardon from scripture. Calvin's form, or adaptations of it, is used in many Reformed congregations, particularly those following a more traditional or historic order of worship.
Notes on the text
The phrase 'conceived and born in iniquity and corruption' echoes Psalm 51:5 and reflects Calvin's strong doctrine of original sin. 'Prone to evil and incapable of any good' expresses the Reformed understanding of total depravity: not that humans commit every possible sin, but that no part of human nature is untouched by sin and inclined toward God apart from grace. The closing address through Christ reflects Calvin's insistence that all prayer must come before God through the mediation of Christ alone.
John Calvin, La Forme des Prières et Chantz Ecclésiastiques (Form of Prayers and Ecclesiastical Songs), Geneva, 1542. English rendering. Public domain.
Last reviewed: May 2026 against primary source.