A prayer for the times
The days demand spiritual sobriety
This is the iconic image of former President Donald Trump who said, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” after being shot July 13 in Butler, Pa. AP/EvanVucci via the AP
The following prayer is offered on behalf of the nation and the church after the assassination attempt of Donald Trump July 13 in Butler, Pa.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are the sovereign God of heaven and earth, all wise and all powerful, with all authority and dominion resting in You. There is no one above You, beside You, or like You. There is no one greater or higher!
You are the God of creation, history, science, communication, understanding, law, morality, ethics, the family, the church, government, yes, all of life.
You know the hearts of kings, rulers, and princes of this world. Nothing happens in heaven or earth that surprises You, catches You off guard, or somehow occurred outside of Your masterful control.
And that is why Americans must come to You, Dear God. We need You, more than ever before, and we need more of You each and every day.
We need Your forgiveness for a multitude of sins as a nation and the church.
America devalues children in countless ways, and abortion is just the tip of the iceberg. The vile practice of abortion is reason alone to need forgiveness, Dear God. However, in America the most innocent among us are seen as expendable. Dear God, it happens in homes, it happens in schools, it happens in communities, it happens in broad daylight, and it happens in the dark.
Our children are in crisis and more than ever they need loving, caring, compassionate, and empathetic parents and adults to help guide them in life.
America also needs forgiveness for the abuse of children, sometimes in the most unspeakable ways.
Forgive us for also devaluing families, families marked by godly husbands and wives understanding they must raise children in the grace and admonition of the Lord. Yet, Dear God, our culture sees marriage as a contractual agreement, rather than a solemn vow, a covenant between a husband and wife before God that cannot ever be redefined and twisted to match the whims of society.
Forgive us for countless other sins, especially where our culture has now deemed what’s right to be wrong. This has countless Americans exasperated about how to respond to the moral mayhem and cultural chaos that surrounds us.
But oh God, we also ask forgiveness for the church in America that far too often does the safe, comfortable, and timid thing, rather than possessing moral clarity for the cultural climate change that bombards us.
Forgive the church for its political idolatry and for those moments when people view the church, Your house, not ours, as uncaring.
Forgive the church for failing to be the salt and light that Your Son, Jesus Christ, called his children to be in the Sermon on the Mount.
Make Your church the place where all find genuine care, compassion, comfort, love, and a sense of family, as You called it to be.
In light of recent events, with the assassination attempt of former President Trump, we thank You for the divine Providence that unfolded in those moments. And while we are grateful our nation and political system is not dealing with an assassinated candidate and former President, our hearts ache for the families reeling from death or injuries from those events.
For Donald Trump, James Copenhaver, and David Dutch, please grant them full and complete physical healing. We call on You to grant it swiftly, but we also call on You to comfort the Comperature and Crooks families. Both are grieving in different ways and they need Your loving arms around them. Make them aware of Your presence and make even this to turn out for Your good.
Dear God, we pray for peace in these shocking circumstances. We pray for peace in our country, peace in our political process of elections, peace in our political discourse, and peace worldwide. If people have crossed the line, even in the church, help us to seek forgiveness and repentance. Help followers of Jesus Christ to set the standard, not lowering ourselves to the pitiful standards that the culture accepts.
We also pray, Dear God, that you would expose the public officials–at every level of government–who are serving for their own selfish desires, seeking to enrich themselves, their families, and the
ir friends at the expense of taxpayers. Expose them and bring them to justice, especially at a time when Americans don’t see accountability come to people in power when they get in trouble.
We also pray that You would give us the elected officials who we need, not the ones that we deserve. In the spirit of Exodus 18:21, give us:
People who are able;
People who fear God;
People of truth; and
People who hate dishonest gain.
Dear God, please give us men and women of character and integrity, people who will stand for what is right and just based on how Your Word describes them, not the culture.
Dear God, we also pray for the judges, police officers, executives, and legislators at every level of government. Give them strength, energy, focus, discernment, and wisdom for every event that comes before them.
As You called the Israelites to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we pray now for the peace of the United States, from sea to shining sea, at a moment for such a time as this.
And we pray for all of these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, our Lord, and the coming King, Amen.
Amen and Amen!