Daniel 9: 4-6
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.”
As I observe unseemly behaviors on display with recent protests, riots, violence, and political rhetoric, just to name a few, it has led me to believe that there is something more going on behind what we are witnessing. Watching television or reading and viewing news online might give one the impression that what we are seeing is a well-orchestrated, strategic tug-of-war being played out right before our eyes. Just like the tug-of-war that was waged over my soul years ago, this war is being waged in the heavenly realm as well as on our streets, in our cities, schools, churches, neighborhoods, in the media, and in the halls of political power. This conflict is for the very soul of our nation.
I would suggest that the remedy for our country is for America to return to God, through repentance and prayer. Yesterday the focus was on our personal sins, and today we shall address the issue of “national sin,” and what it means to the heart of our nation.
As we read today’s passage from the book of Daniel, we see a prayer of desperation, offered by Daniel on behalf of his nation, Judah. After being taken into captivity by the Babylonians, the people endured seventy years of separation from God’s blessings. Daniel confesses how the people had turned from God and His commandments and laws and had foolishly turned a deaf ear to the warnings against rebellion. By utterly throwing himself on God’s mercy and praying in total faith, trust, and dependence on His God, the Lord repeatedly provided, personally, and powerfully.
Do we dare believe that God can do the same for us as we pray on behalf of our nation? Yes! Now is the time for us to recognize our sins, acknowledge them before God, confess, and ask forgiveness for our national sins:
• Under the label of the “right to choose” we have willfully taken the lives of over 60 million children by abortion.
• Under the label of the “right to love whom we choose” we have perverted God’s institution of marriage.
• Under the label of “freedom from religion,” we have systematically removed God from our schools and universities, and from our holiday celebrations.
• Under the label of “progressive Christianity” we have dimmed the light of God’s Truth in our churches, neglecting the preaching of the pure gospel of Christ, that it is by faith in Jesus alone that we can be saved.
By no means is this a complete list but, dear readers, we must consider all of the above and more. Oh, how our sins must grieve God. Pray on behalf of America, that our nation would be restored and that our cries for mercy be heard. Daniel continues his plea in verses 18b-19a: “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act!”
Most Holy God, we acknowledge that we must meet the conditions that will enable You to fulfill Your promise from 2 Chronicles, “I will hear from Heaven, forgive their sin and will heal their land.” May we as a nation recognize our national sins, be contrite of heart, and confess that we have disobeyed Your laws and the laws of nature. Forgive us, O Lord. By Your forgiveness, mercy, guidance, and power may the land that we love once again turn to You as sovereign ruler and divine helper, as in ages past. Hear our prayer and grant us healing for the divisions so that no man can put our country asunder. Bind all evil from entering our land, whether through physical means or through the hearts of man. We love our country. Preserve it, we pray; protect it, we pray; bless it, we pray. In the merciful name of Jesus. Amen.
