J. Matt Barber
A prayer for a nation in rebellion
By J. Matt Barber
Father God, Son and Holy Spirit, Maker of heaven and earth, You are the First Cause of these United States of America. You are the Author of all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Nearly two and a half centuries ago our American founders declared earthly independence. By Your prompting they determined it necessary to "dissolve the political bands which [had] connected them with another, and [assumed] among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" – Your laws – "entitle[d] them."
They further held "these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator" – endowed by You – "with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
In the same breath, they both declared independence from every world power and acknowledged, with crystal clarity, that this great nation was, is and forever shall be dependent upon Your providential blessings and mercies.
The time is once again at hand, King Jesus.
Please hear our prayer.
Lord, today we reaffirm both our temporal independence – our national sovereignty – and our eternal dependence upon You and Your supreme sovereignty.
You are the great "I Am." You spoke into being the heavens and the earth and all that exists therein.
Today we reject the globalist temptation to become unequally yoked, while, at once, declaring, yet again, that our United States can continue to flourish solely at Your pleasure.
We echo Benjamin Franklin's request for prayer after the first Constitutional Convention reached a perilous impasse: "[T]he longer I live," he observed, "the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this."
We firmly believe this.
Father, rebuild this house upon your rock.
For America labors in vain.
As surely as Your benevolent fingers hold together the fabric of the universe, it is by Your grace and Your grace alone that a nation in rebellion can endure.
We are a nation in rebellion.
How, then, shall we endure?
For You are just.
And Your justice demands judgment.
We have entered judgment.
This is just.
We have sown seeds of wickedness, Lord Jesus.
And for this we repent.
We confess our national sins and entreat Your forgiveness. We confess our arrogance. We confess our selfishness. We confess that we have broken – and continue to break – the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God. We have rejected Your laws, embraced our own fallen impulses and called them laws.
We confess that we, the Church, have abdicated our duty to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We have surrendered this sacred calling to Caesar – to a woefully ill-equipped and wholly inept federal fiefdom.
Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy).
We confess that we have shed blood en masse. The blood of the innocents runs in our streets. We have violated Your commandments. We have slaughtered tens-of-millions of Your children – woven together by Your perfect hands – and called this evil "choice."
Kyrie Eleison.
We confess that we have perverted Your design for human sexuality. We have taken sins that You deem "abominable" and called them "equality." We have mocked marriage, spurred divorce, scorned purity, glorified promiscuity, sexualized our children, belittled our stay-at-home mothers, stunted natural reproduction and called it all "liberation."
Kyrie Eleison.
Your word tells us that "the wages of sin is death." Indeed, as died many once mighty, hard-fallen nations before us, justice demands that we reap a yield most destructive.
And we may yet.
Even still, we implore You to suspend sentence. For these and manifold sins, hitherto unnamed, of both act and omission – individual and corporate – we beg your forgiveness, Lord Jesus.
Because, though we are not, You yet remain faithful. You have promised: "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)
America was called by Your Holy Name.
Though the hour is late, we now fall to our face, humble ourselves, pray and seek Your face.
Lord, though our public policy may lag behind, we, nonetheless, turn from our wicked ways.
Hear us from heaven, Oh Lord.
Forgive us our sins.
Please heal our land.
We declare, once again, America's dependence upon You, King Jesus.
Kyrie Eleison.
© J. Matt Barber
August 5, 2013
Father God, Son and Holy Spirit, Maker of heaven and earth, You are the First Cause of these United States of America. You are the Author of all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Nearly two and a half centuries ago our American founders declared earthly independence. By Your prompting they determined it necessary to "dissolve the political bands which [had] connected them with another, and [assumed] among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" – Your laws – "entitle[d] them."
They further held "these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator" – endowed by You – "with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
In the same breath, they both declared independence from every world power and acknowledged, with crystal clarity, that this great nation was, is and forever shall be dependent upon Your providential blessings and mercies.
The time is once again at hand, King Jesus.
Please hear our prayer.
Lord, today we reaffirm both our temporal independence – our national sovereignty – and our eternal dependence upon You and Your supreme sovereignty.
You are the great "I Am." You spoke into being the heavens and the earth and all that exists therein.
Today we reject the globalist temptation to become unequally yoked, while, at once, declaring, yet again, that our United States can continue to flourish solely at Your pleasure.
We echo Benjamin Franklin's request for prayer after the first Constitutional Convention reached a perilous impasse: "[T]he longer I live," he observed, "the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this."
We firmly believe this.
Father, rebuild this house upon your rock.
For America labors in vain.
As surely as Your benevolent fingers hold together the fabric of the universe, it is by Your grace and Your grace alone that a nation in rebellion can endure.
We are a nation in rebellion.
How, then, shall we endure?
For You are just.
And Your justice demands judgment.
We have entered judgment.
This is just.
We have sown seeds of wickedness, Lord Jesus.
And for this we repent.
We confess our national sins and entreat Your forgiveness. We confess our arrogance. We confess our selfishness. We confess that we have broken – and continue to break – the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God. We have rejected Your laws, embraced our own fallen impulses and called them laws.
We confess that we, the Church, have abdicated our duty to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We have surrendered this sacred calling to Caesar – to a woefully ill-equipped and wholly inept federal fiefdom.
Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy).
We confess that we have shed blood en masse. The blood of the innocents runs in our streets. We have violated Your commandments. We have slaughtered tens-of-millions of Your children – woven together by Your perfect hands – and called this evil "choice."
Kyrie Eleison.
We confess that we have perverted Your design for human sexuality. We have taken sins that You deem "abominable" and called them "equality." We have mocked marriage, spurred divorce, scorned purity, glorified promiscuity, sexualized our children, belittled our stay-at-home mothers, stunted natural reproduction and called it all "liberation."
Kyrie Eleison.
Your word tells us that "the wages of sin is death." Indeed, as died many once mighty, hard-fallen nations before us, justice demands that we reap a yield most destructive.
And we may yet.
Even still, we implore You to suspend sentence. For these and manifold sins, hitherto unnamed, of both act and omission – individual and corporate – we beg your forgiveness, Lord Jesus.
Because, though we are not, You yet remain faithful. You have promised: "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)
America was called by Your Holy Name.
Though the hour is late, we now fall to our face, humble ourselves, pray and seek Your face.
Lord, though our public policy may lag behind, we, nonetheless, turn from our wicked ways.
Hear us from heaven, Oh Lord.
Forgive us our sins.
Please heal our land.
We declare, once again, America's dependence upon You, King Jesus.
Kyrie Eleison.
© J. Matt Barber
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