An American Prayer: Lament & Confession
Oh, Lord,
King of heaven and earth,
how you must be grieved.
My heart is broken over the sins of my country
and especially the Church.
I can’t imagine the heartbreak you have,
and I can’t fathom the hope and patience you also have for us when we sin.
I confess the sins of my country.
I confess our disunity, our rage, our insatiable desire for revenge.
I confess our idolatry of wealth, class, power, fame, and self-righteousness.
I confess our desire to condemn, hate, judge, blame, and kill one another.
We’re obsessed with our own comfort and security, to the detriment of anyone else.
I confess our unflagging determination to idolize people:
celebrities, politicians, millionaires, leaders of any field,
as if they have the answers for life,
when You are the only one with answers.
I confess our desire to win, to make teams, to align ourselves with political platforms and policies,
to elevate elections, political races, and national power over loving our brothers and sisters in Christ,
to be a light in a dark world,
to injure one another, to shame one another,
to excuse violence and prejudice–
how is any of this reflective of you?
Forgive, Lord, for these damaging sins.
Oh, how do we expunge them,
except to fall on faces in repentance
and turn away from all of it?
Lord, I pray that we seek your face and your will only.
You make kings and you destroy kings.
You grow your church under freedom and under persecution.
You make beauty from ashes.
This is who you are and what you do.
I humble myself before you
and invite the Holy Spirit’s conviction in my life and into my country.
In the powerful name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords–
the Beginning and the End–
the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron. 7:14)
