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)