Daniel 9 - A prayer on behalf of our nation

Daniel 9:3-19,

³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your commandments and rules. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which You have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against You. ⁸ To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, refusing to obey Your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against Him. ¹² He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. ¹³ As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that He has done, and we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for Yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

¹⁶ “O Lord, according to all Your righteous acts, let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸ O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by Your name. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (ESV).

The Prophet Daniel turned his face toward the Lord, seeking Him in prayer and pleading for mercy on behalf of his nation of Israel.  He prayed to the Lord and made confession for Israel’s sins.  Israel is a nation that is special to the Lord like none other, because through it He has sent the Messiah Jesus to suffer, die, and rise again to life to redeem sinners back to Himself.  Whatever your home country, you can pray a similar prayer of confession, repentance, and contrition as Daniel did on behalf of your nation.  In like manner, we also turn our faces toward the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking Him in prayer and pleading for mercy on behalf of our nation the United States of America.  We stand in the gap.  We make intercession.  Now, I pray to the Lord and make this confession for the sins of our nation.

O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your commandments and rules. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets and apostles, who speak in Your name to our leaders, our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To You, O Lord Jesus, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of America, to the inhabitants of Washington D.C., and to all of the United States, those who are near and those who are far away from sea to shining sea.

I confess that we have broken Your Ten Commandments, disregarding these vows of the covenant that You first proposed to Your beloved people at Mount Sinai.  I confess we have had other gods before You, worshiping false gods and making gods in our own image that better suit us; blasphemy, taking Your Name in vain; dishonoring and disregarding the Sabbath day of rest; disrespecting and speaking maliciously against our parents and those in authority; murder, hatred; adultery, looking with lust, fornication, pornography; theft, failure to give, hording; lying; and coveting our neighbor’s possessions and relationships.

I confess our deeds of the flesh: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly; impurity, degrading our bodies, shameful lusts, unnatural relations, indecent acts, perversion, depravity of mind, wickedness, strife, gossip, hatred for God, insolence, boasting, disobedience, inventing ways of doing evil, being senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless; prostitution, drunkenness, and swindling; debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and orgies; evil desires, anger, and filthy language; being lawbreakers, rebels, ungodly, sinful, unholy, irreligious, killing our fathers or mothers, human trafficking, perjury, and false doctrine; being cowardly, unbelieving, vile, immoral, and practicing magic arts.

I confess abortion, homosexuality, removing the Bible from the education of children, debt, dishonesty, poor stewardship, materialism, humanism, atheism, false religion, racism, and disregard for marriage.  I confess among professing believers hypocrisy, selfishness, pride, persecution, backbiting, divisions among and within congregations, focus on buildings and programs to the neglect of biblical values, favoritism of the rich, neglecting the poor, orphans, and widows, failing to visit believers imprisoned for their stand for Christ and ignoring the persecuted church, failing to preach the Gospel and take a stand for the truth; failing to fulfill the Great Commission around the world, trivializing Hell and the judgment of God; sloppiness and lack of precision in our study and teaching of the Word; loving politics and sports more than the Gospel of Jesus; loving arguments and debates more than the truth.

To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our leaders and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets and apostles. Our whole nation has transgressed Your law and turned aside, refusing to obey Your voice. And the consequences of our disobedience have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against Him. He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us great calamity.

O Lord, according to all Your righteous acts, let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from America, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, the USA has become a byword among many peoples around the world. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon this land. O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for Your own sake, O my God, because of the believers in this nation, Your people who are called by Your name.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus, our Lord and Messiah, AMEN!

(November 6th, A.D. 2012)