I realize that the prayers that we offer to God are far more impactful than the words that we speak to men. So instead of blogging my ideas and thoughts I feel led to regularly blog excerpts of my prayers. My hope is that God will use these prayers to stir our hearts to come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need. And this is a time of great need in our world.
Prayer:
O God Almighty, in Jesus name, I come before you in awe recognizing Your great love for the world and the world's desperate need for you. In the midst of this divine pause that You have brought throughout the world, would you remind us that You are in Your holy temple and cause us to be silent before you? God, please break my heart with what breaks yours and cause me to weep over my sin and the sins of your people. Please produce a godly sorrow in us over our sin and lead us to genuine repentance. Humble us before Your Majestic Presence, as we truly recognize that You are God and we are not.
O God please forgive us for worshiping government and our leaders instead of and before You, the One and only true and living God. Forgive us for bowing down and serving money instead of submitting to You, Lord Jesus, as our only Master. Forgive us for the shedding of innocent blood of millions of preborn babies through the violent act of abortion. Forgive us for being silent, not speaking up, and not seeking justice for the most vulnerable among us - the widows and orphans. Forgive us for accepting and embracing that which is contrary to Your design for creation and Your Word - sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism, divorce, same-sex marriage, polygamy, and pornography which are openly celebrated, displayed, and promoted in our world. Forgive us for condemning those You came to save rather than sharing Christ with them. Forgive us for wanting the praise of men rather than the commendation of God. Forgive us for our prayerlessness and failure to fast. Forgive us for esteeming the opinions and words of man more than the Word of God - the Bible. Forgive us for offending You by watering down Your Word so that we don't offend the people who attend our worship gatherings. Forgive us for all that we do to attract the presence of people more than we desire or want Your manifest presence. Forgive us for allowing the color of our skin, our nationalities, our preference of political parties, our socio-economic status, our educational attainment, and our families of origin to keep us from living out the unity that we now have in Christ - the unity that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for us to enjoy. Forgive us for showing partiality in the body of Christ. Forgive us for dishonoring and being critical of our leaders - in the home, church, and government - instead of honoring them, praying for them, and submitting to their authority. Forgive us for giving in to the lusts of our flesh rather than yielding to the Holy Spirit which has caused us to have a form of godliness while denying the power thereof.
O God, stir up Your people in these days and times in which we live to humble ourselves and pray, to seek Your face, to turn from our wicked ways, so that You may hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land. May we return to You and may You revive us. Awaken us from our slumber knowing that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. In Jesus name!!! Amen!