“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—all those in authority…”
—1 Timothy 2:1-2
This is an excerpt of Anne Graham Lotz’s prayer for America during a special livestream prayer event in October:
Father we bow before You … in my spirit I can feel overwhelmed as though darkness has descended on our beloved nation … as though we are living in a moral and spiritual twilight zone. The fog has come in and I am praying dear Holy Spirit, that You would breathe Your breath through the fog, and that You would clear it away as we pray. …
I pray for those who are wrestling with this dreadful disease—who have dealt with death. … for those who are wrestling with disasters—whose homes have been destroyed, whose businesses have been destroyed, whose crops have been destroyed.
Lord, on top of that there are so many things coming at us from every direction and from every angle and every level. Just chaos and confusion. It is overwhelming. I believe, Lord, that You allowed this pandemic to put us—the whole world—on a Sabbath rest. You are trying to get our attention. It is time to look up—it is time to turn to You.
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And who are You? We bow before You and acknowledge that You are the Living God, You are the Creator of the heavens and earth. You spoke a word, and all of the world came into existence. You hung the stars in space, and You call them all by name. You stride the winds of the earth; the clouds are the dust of Your feet. You are Almighty. You are awesome. You are righteous. You are holy. You are glorious. And, oh God, wonder of wonders, You loved us so much that You got up from heaven’s throne; You left Your throne and You came down, and You dwelt among us so that we might see You and know You and hear You.
We praise You for the Son of God, not God Junior, but Jesus who is God in the flesh, whose love for You and love for each of us sent Him all the way to die in obedience on the cross and shed His blood as the Lamb of God, sacrificed to make atonement for my sin and the sin of the world. That when we would place our faith in Him, we would not perish—we would not be separated from You. We would not go to hell, but we would have everlasting life—a right relationship with You now and go to heaven when we die. Thank you that after His death on the cross He rose up from the dead. He ascended into heaven—He has opened heaven for us.
So we look to You, Lord—we turn to You now, and we are reminded that You are a God of Your Word. Your Word is forever settled in heaven. You have said so, and Jesus said not one jot or tittle will pass away until all is fulfilled. Lord God, You are true, You are trustworthy. Your Word stands. And we believe, as 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says … When you send a pestilence among us … if Your people called by Your name would humble ourselves and we would pray and we would seek Your face and we would turn from all the wrong things we are doing. Oh God that we would repent and stop it—stop our sin—that You would hear and that You would forgive and that You would heal.
So Lord God I want to confess our national sins, and I pray now as we confess:
… our national addiction to sex, to money, to pleasure, to entertainment, to pornography, to technology, to drugs, to alcohol, to food, to television, to popularity, to ourselves. Oh God, we repent and we confess our foolishness in denying You as the one true living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable … living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning. We repent.
… our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt. We repent.
… our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves or that we are better than someone else or we are inferior to somebody else based on our skin color. We repent.
… believing that our nation’s prosperity comes from our own greatness while refusing to acknowledge that all blessing comes from Your hand. We repent.
… that we depend on military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger while we defy and ignore You. We repent.
… that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism in our desire to be inclusive, honoring other gods as though You are just one of many. We repent.
… that we have allowed material blessings that You have given us to deceive us into thinking we do not need You. We confess that we have valued our foolish pursuit of happiness through wealth and prosperity rather than measuring our relationship with You. We repent. …
Oh God, we could keep on confessing and confessing—and we are so sorry, and we turn away from our sin. We ask please, Holy Spirit, that You would convict us of our sin; personal sins, national sins—convict us and bring us to the foot of the cross, confessing our need of a Savior who shed His blood to forgive us.
We thank You that You are righteous, and that Your cross states for all time that there will be judgment for sin. You do not tolerate sin. At the same time You are so gracious and merciful that You stepped in and took the judgment for us that should have been ours.
So God, we bow before You as a righteous God who is gracious and kind and merciful, and we claim now Your Word that says if we confess our sin, if we turn to You, humble ourselves, pray, turn away from our sin—then You would hear our prayer and forgive our sin and heal our land. …
You are our God, the God of our fathers, and we bow before You now claiming Your Word. In Jesus’ Name and for Your glory.
Amen.
