by Kim Josephson
One of the best things that
has come from the attack on America has been a renewed sense of unity and
patriotism in our country. Even my son Keegan has gotten into the act. He rolls
around on his skates in our driveway and waves a 4ft American flag at people
going down the road. But after all the blood drives, money collections and other
giving of time and resources, there is something more that we can do. We can
pray for America.
The volunteerism that has
sprung from this tragedy must not be allowed to subside. We, the Church, must
commit ourselves to prayer. I'm not talking about an unspecific sort of prayer
that asks God to bless America while we decimate our enemies. I'm talking about
specifically humbling ourselves before God and confessing our sins as a nation.
In Daniel 9, the righteous Daniel’s prayer is recorded to teach us how to pray
in this manner. Beginning with vs 4:
O Lord,
the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love
him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed
iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy
precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the
prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee,
but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far
off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their
trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth
confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we
have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses,
though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the
LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the
prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that
they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the
oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have
sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us,
and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for
under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As
it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we
not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities,
and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and
brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he
doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought
thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten
thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord,
according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury
be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins,
and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a
reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of
thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy
sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear,
and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is
called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our
righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O
Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and
thy people are called by thy name.
I have printed it out for
your convenience. Now notice first, that Daniel is one of the only people in the
Bible who is depicted as a thoroughly righteous man and yet, hear how he humbles
himself. Vs3: And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes. Listen as he prays. We
have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have rebelled by departing from thy
precepts and from thy judgements. Vs8 :O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face
because we have sinned against Thee. Vs10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of
the Lord our God to walk in His laws.
Can we not pray this prayer
with Daniel? Was their sin any greater than our own? I don't think so. In fact,
our sin is multiplied more than theirs simply because of the great light we have
been given. Why then this boasting? Why then this expectancy of blessing without
the least humility or repentance. Perhaps our pride is more repugnant to God
than any of the more seemingly outrageous sins we are so prepared to condemn.
If you love America, then
PRAY FOR AMERICA. Keep this back page handy and get down on your knees and read
it, out lowd, unto the Lord, substituting our name in the place of Israel,
Judah, and Jerusalem. We must do this and we must do this now! We have not been
faithful to God. He has been faithful to us, but we have not been faithful to
Him - certainly not as a nation. Let us repent before it is too late! O God,
give us repentance and grant us mercy. Won't you pray with me? Won't you repent
with me? Can't we do this for America?
