Prayer for our Churches and Country.
On the Institution of Government …
and its total dependence on the people of God for its right functioning
________________________
This prayer is a prayer of Confession and Repentance
Our prayer today will be based on two sections of Scripture
… Our First Scripture speaks to our problem …
It is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to His church in Revelation 3:15-16 …
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth."
Our Second Scripture speaks to the solution to our problem …
It is God the Father speaking to His people in 2 Chronicles 7:14 …
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Let me also say that I very seriously direct the words of this prayer to myself
… as much as to anybody else …
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall have no other gods before me."
Yet our government seeks to eradicate You from every aspect of public life
… our media makes a laughingstock of Your people …
… virulent God-haters rule in our Universities …
And we Your people …
for the most part sit by and watch and do nothing … we make no protest at all
Instead, we ourselves also put other things "before" You …
… we want, above all else, to be happy and filled in all our personal desires …
… and we want to have our self-image stroked and nourished …
Our Lord Jesus said … "You shall love the LORD your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)
BUT … We spend very little personal time in prayer and in Your word …
… because we are so self-indulgent
… and have much more important things to do …
"Moments for Christ … Hours for the world!"
Many of us will not go to any of our church prayer meetings …
many of us will not attend bible study meetings
… to learn more about You and Your word
Indeed … some of us will not even come back for your evening Worship Service …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain."
Yet many of our media and our comedians make a laughingstock of Your name …
… and we Your people not only sit by …
… but often watch and laugh along with them
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."
Yet our Government and Society will purposely schedule events on your Sabbath
To us, your people … it is as if the 4th Commandment no longer exists …
Sunday is the 2nd biggest retail day of the week …
how many of us will eat out today …
how many of us will go shopping today …
how many of us will watch paid sporting events on TV today …
how many of us will sit here and get angry about this even being brought up …
You know, LORD … You know
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not murder."
Yet … Our government has presided over a holocaust of over one hundred thousand abortions each year …
The prime minister of our land …proclaims his apathy and unwillingness to work for eradicating
one of the greatest, cruelest and vilest evils of our time
late-term … partial-birth abortions, as well as “normal” abortions
and he has multitudes backing him up …
O Lord, change such leaders, or deliver us from leaders who hold such evil beliefs
And all the while, Father, we Your people, for the most part
are so weak in our response to these great evils …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not commit adultery."
Yet we are a sex-crazed nation …
… Promiscuous open sex is ever before us in all the media
Arrogant Sodomite perversion and blatant homosexuality stalk our land
and are becoming firmly entrenched in our educational institutions
… even at the elementary level …
… both Soft and Hard-core pornography abound
… almost half of our marriages fail …
And what do we Your people do?
We largely go to movies and watch TV programs …
that we know beforehand contain such things …
… and then, to show just how much we really do care,
we mildly protest "Oh, Why do they have to do that" …
and then, we Your people go right back to the slop trough for more …
and, worst of all, we bring it into our homes and parade it before our children
And we let our children listen to decadent and psychotic filth on the radio and TV …
And we, Your people, often let our own daughters dress and act immodestly …
At church… at the beach … at the pool … at sporting events …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not steal"
YET … Our government wastes our hard-earned money on perverse art …
But LORD … we do as we should … as Jesus commanded, we pay our taxes …
We protest and chaff about it …
But, then … we Your people turn right around and rob You of Your tithe …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
LORD … it is no wonder that our civilization
… is rift with moral decay and economic collapse
The TRUE WONDER is that it is not worse
LORD … You have commanded us all these things …
"You shall have no other gods before me."
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain."
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."
"Your shall not murder."
"Your shall not steal."
But, we your people, have done very little about the UNGODLINESS and UNRIGHTEOUSNESS that stalks our land …
Indeed … we have participated in much of it ourselves …
We keep one foot in heaven and the other firmly planted on the earth …
And our Lord Jesus continues to say …
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because You are lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth."
Father … You have told us exactly what should we do about all this … YOU HAVE SAID …
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Father … WE BEG YOU … By Your grace, help us to humble ourselves
… and pray
… and seek Your face …
… and confess our wicked ways and our lukewarmness …
Knowing that You in Your mercy
will forgive our sin and heal our land …
It is all our fault, Father … ours and none others …
… the wicked do but what their father bids them do …
… it is us, Your children, that do not do what You, our Father, bids us do.
Again we beg you Father …
Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Have mercy on us … and do not give us what we so richly deserve
But Please … by your grace and mercy
… send revival among Your people at the St. Thomas FRC
Please … Help us to leave our lukewarmness
Please … help us to "love the LORD our God" …
… with all our heart,
and with all our soul,
and with all our mind.
It is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray our prayer.
Amen.
________________________________
On the Institution of Government …
and its total dependence on the people of God for its right functioning
________________________
This prayer is a prayer of Confession and Repentance
Our prayer today will be based on two sections of Scripture
… Our First Scripture speaks to our problem …
It is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to His church in Revelation 3:15-16 …
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth."
Our Second Scripture speaks to the solution to our problem …
It is God the Father speaking to His people in 2 Chronicles 7:14 …
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Let me also say that I very seriously direct the words of this prayer to myself
… as much as to anybody else …
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall have no other gods before me."
Yet our government seeks to eradicate You from every aspect of public life
… our media makes a laughingstock of Your people …
… virulent God-haters rule in our Universities …
And we Your people …
for the most part sit by and watch and do nothing … we make no protest at all
Instead, we ourselves also put other things "before" You …
… we want, above all else, to be happy and filled in all our personal desires …
… and we want to have our self-image stroked and nourished …
Our Lord Jesus said … "You shall love the LORD your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)
BUT … We spend very little personal time in prayer and in Your word …
… because we are so self-indulgent
… and have much more important things to do …
"Moments for Christ … Hours for the world!"
Many of us will not go to any of our church prayer meetings …
many of us will not attend bible study meetings
… to learn more about You and Your word
Indeed … some of us will not even come back for your evening Worship Service …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain."
Yet many of our media and our comedians make a laughingstock of Your name …
… and we Your people not only sit by …
… but often watch and laugh along with them
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."
Yet our Government and Society will purposely schedule events on your Sabbath
To us, your people … it is as if the 4th Commandment no longer exists …
Sunday is the 2nd biggest retail day of the week …
how many of us will eat out today …
how many of us will go shopping today …
how many of us will watch paid sporting events on TV today …
how many of us will sit here and get angry about this even being brought up …
You know, LORD … You know
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not murder."
Yet … Our government has presided over a holocaust of over one hundred thousand abortions each year …
The prime minister of our land …proclaims his apathy and unwillingness to work for eradicating
one of the greatest, cruelest and vilest evils of our time
late-term … partial-birth abortions, as well as “normal” abortions
and he has multitudes backing him up …
O Lord, change such leaders, or deliver us from leaders who hold such evil beliefs
And all the while, Father, we Your people, for the most part
are so weak in our response to these great evils …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not commit adultery."
Yet we are a sex-crazed nation …
… Promiscuous open sex is ever before us in all the media
Arrogant Sodomite perversion and blatant homosexuality stalk our land
and are becoming firmly entrenched in our educational institutions
… even at the elementary level …
… both Soft and Hard-core pornography abound
… almost half of our marriages fail …
And what do we Your people do?
We largely go to movies and watch TV programs …
that we know beforehand contain such things …
… and then, to show just how much we really do care,
we mildly protest "Oh, Why do they have to do that" …
and then, we Your people go right back to the slop trough for more …
and, worst of all, we bring it into our homes and parade it before our children
And we let our children listen to decadent and psychotic filth on the radio and TV …
And we, Your people, often let our own daughters dress and act immodestly …
At church… at the beach … at the pool … at sporting events …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Father … You have commanded us
"You shall not steal"
YET … Our government wastes our hard-earned money on perverse art …
But LORD … we do as we should … as Jesus commanded, we pay our taxes …
We protest and chaff about it …
But, then … we Your people turn right around and rob You of Your tithe …
We beg you Father … Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
LORD … it is no wonder that our civilization
… is rift with moral decay and economic collapse
The TRUE WONDER is that it is not worse
LORD … You have commanded us all these things …
"You shall have no other gods before me."
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain."
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy."
"Your shall not murder."
"Your shall not steal."
But, we your people, have done very little about the UNGODLINESS and UNRIGHTEOUSNESS that stalks our land …
Indeed … we have participated in much of it ourselves …
We keep one foot in heaven and the other firmly planted on the earth …
And our Lord Jesus continues to say …
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because You are lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth."
Father … You have told us exactly what should we do about all this … YOU HAVE SAID …
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Father … WE BEG YOU … By Your grace, help us to humble ourselves
… and pray
… and seek Your face …
… and confess our wicked ways and our lukewarmness …
Knowing that You in Your mercy
will forgive our sin and heal our land …
It is all our fault, Father … ours and none others …
… the wicked do but what their father bids them do …
… it is us, Your children, that do not do what You, our Father, bids us do.
Again we beg you Father …
Please forgive our sin and heal our land.
Have mercy on us … and do not give us what we so richly deserve
But Please … by your grace and mercy
… send revival among Your people at the St. Thomas FRC
Please … Help us to leave our lukewarmness
Please … help us to "love the LORD our God" …
… with all our heart,
and with all our soul,
and with all our mind.
It is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray our prayer.
Amen.
________________________________
This prayer was used at Woodruf Road Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC., on November 2, 2008, and amended to Canadian context by CVD.
