Prayer for a nation
I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd… –Amos 7:14 (NIV)
Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. –Proverbs 14:34 (NLT)
God, I confess that we are a people who have forsaken You. You lifted us up as a country and blessed us beyond what any people had ever experienced on such a wide scale. We honored You in a way, and acknowledged You for a time, but that was long ago and we have since grown fat. Far too often we feel ourselves entitled, invincible, as if it is our birthright to be the wealthiest nation on the planet. We act as if we have somehow earned that status, and forget that we are merely recipients of Your bounty, enjoying the fruit of sacrifices made by men and women who believed and understood that You alone are the source of all good things.
We have taken the blessings, resources, and pleasures You lavished on us, in many cases squandered and abused them, and then looked back as if to say, “What else you got?” We have perverted the goodness You provided and turned it into abomination. We have discounted the achievements of those who came before us while failing to learn from their mistakes, proving ourselves both ungrateful and stiff-necked.
We have taken advantage of one another and made distinctions You never did, all for our own selfish gain and to make ourselves feel justified and superior. We became arrogant, and at the same time lowered ourselves into depths of depravity and frivolity. We would rather be titillated than challenged, entertained than taught, superficial than meaningful, stupid than wise. We throw away the most important things in life to chase after the most worthless. We call good evil and evil good.
When we are not rejecting You outright, we choose to ignore You and relegate You to an afterthought. We raise a token prayer when we are in trouble, then shake our fist at You when the trouble passes. Even Your own people, Christians who have known You and tasted your goodness, frequently fail to differentiate ourselves from the herd that is galloping headlong toward oblivion. I know You will not continue to bless what we have become.
And yet I have hope. I know You are gracious and forgiving. I know You have invested much in this country to bring us this far. I know You can, if it is Your will, still cause Your glory to shine from this great land if we are willing. I know Your Spirit lives in the hearts of many thousands in this nation who long for Your coming. LORD, I repent. I beg Your forgiveness of our nation. I ask that You be kind in Your judgment. I ask that You bring revival in our land. I ask healing for Your people that we may rise up to be part of that revival. I pray that we, as a nation, use the blessings You have poured out on us to be a light in our world to bring glory and honor to Your Name. Let Your people fulfill the plans You have for us in this nation in this generation. Your Name be praised.
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. –John 4:35 (NIV)
IF My people, which are called by My Name,
shall humble themselves,
and pray,
and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways;
THEN will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)