Heavenly Father,
You are the God of all blessing and giver of every good thing. We are amazed at the grandeur of Your greatness and the intimacy of Your love.
As Your people, we have a wonderful heritage of faith. In Your Bible we read of Prophets, Priests, Kings, Disciples, Apostles, and Beloved Saints whose faithfulness and courage stir our hearts. Our spiritual history speaks of men and women who carried the Gospel throughout the world and are doing so to this day. In our land we are blessed with the freedom to exercise our faith and to share Jesus with everyone. We give thanks for those who secured this precious liberty.
We are blessed to live in this land of freedom, education, health, clean water, bountiful crops, and comforts that would astound even the greatest rulers of centuries gone by. We know that billions in the world today do know know or enjoy what we have. We confess that our status is a matter of grace, not merit. Help us to never lose sight of this.
When we survey our culture, our hearts grow weary. Lord, as a nation we have fallen into the pit of self-seeking pleasures neglecting the unalterable truth of Your Word. In increasing measure, our vision is limited to ourselves and our desires. We have forsaken the way of the Cross as we seek the way of the world. Our gods are many. We pursue wealth and the empty promise that we can secure our future. We seek the pleasures of the moment with little to no regard for the consequences of our actions.
Our homes are unstable. Your plan for one man and one woman in marriage raising one family as the foundation of society is crumbling before our very eyes. Human life holds little value when it conflicts with personal convenience.
You created us in Your image as men and women. Our sin has marred that image as we erect a modern day Tower of Babel declaring the foolish notion that we can create gender; we can create morals; we determine ethics; and that righteousness comes from our hearts not from You.
Father, we have fallen.
Our churches are in decline and have little impact on our communities. As the saying goes, the church is no longer in the world for the world is now in the church. The lines of distinction are blurring. Our effectiveness is waning. We are reaping what we have sown and the harvest will not be pleasing. We have no hope unless it comes from You.
Your Scripture makes it clear that it is not a matter of legislation nor judicial review nor executive order by which our land can be healed. Our hope is found in Jesus Christ and Him alone.
We beseech You to open our eyes that we might see ourselves and our culture as You see us. Open our ears that we will hear the cries of hopelessness across our society…..from those who have little as well as those who have much. Please soften our hearts to feel the despair of the age. This despair leads to so much anger in our society. We ask for faith so that we will not give in to this despair. Take away our anger and defensiveness. May the hope we have in Christ be the shining light of our lives.
Father, give Your church the humility to know and confess our sin before You. May we have the courage of conviction to repent of our worldly affections. May we seek Your Word, Your Way and Your purposes in all we do.
Give us patience and determination as we take Your Gospel to our land. If You see fit, send a great revival among Your people so that we might show Jesus to the world with our words, our attitudes, our deeds, and our love. Lord, all is in Your hands and we trust Your unfolding plans. Revive Your church so that the songs we sing of Heaven and eternity do not reflect a mere desire to escape the turmoil of our times. May the songs of our eternal destination become our motivation to share Jesus and live passionately and wisely in order to see souls saved for Your glory.
Amen
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