Actually, the Lutherans retained Confession and Absolution in their services as well. In the old Red Hymnal (aka The Lutheran Hymnal), the prayer is thus:
“O almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor, miserable sinner confess unto Thee all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended Thee and have justly deserved Thy temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them and I pray Thee of Thy boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent and bitter sufferings of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.”
In the Blue Hymnal (Lutheran Worship), the prayer is thus:
“Most merciful Father,
we confess that we are, by nature, sinful and unclean,
we have sinned against you in thought word and deed.
For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ,
Have mercy on us and forgive us,
So that we may walk in your will and delight in your ways,
To the glory of Your holy name. Amen.”
Personally, I prefer the first one as it really points out how low and how terrible our sins truly are. Now that I’m a Catholic, I know the value of the Confiteor in the Mass as well as proper Sacramental confession!