(Note from Mike – The following prayer was offered at PTP a few week’s back by Sam Dilbeck, the preacher for the University church in San Marcos. I think you will find it to be one of the finest prayers of its type that you may have ever heard or read).
Holy Father, Creator, Giver, Sustainer of life,
Thank you for the beauty of this land you have shared with us from the Smokies to the Rockies to the beaches and forests that reveal your glory. We thank you for the splendor that catches our eyes and lifts our spirits in praise to you. We see the people you have brought to this nation from a diversity of backgrounds and places to make them one in the melting pot of America. Thank you for the prosperity that has lifted so many people out of poverty and given them hope here and throughout the world. Thank you for those seeking harmony with their neighbors and peace with all. We thank you for the right to assemble without challenge or persecution. Thank you for the opportunities we have in this nation to speak the truth, even to those in authority who deny that truth.
This morning we bow in based humility before your throne recognizing your promise that “Unless you build the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless you watch over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” When this nation was conceived in the hearts of men, O LORD, you already knew her. When the fathers laid the foundations of freedom, O LORD, you already sacrificed for our freedom. When the framers of the constitution promised to protect personal rights, O LORD, you had already secured them. All our nation’s greatest achievements were already designed, established, and conceived by you. Today the freedoms, promises, and security of our nation continue to exist by your grace and long-suffering, but Father, we fear your longsuffering may come to an end soon.
Oppression falls on your people from the highest offices in this land. Leaders scoff at your design for marriage and the family. They scorn your creation as you made them male and female. They applaud, encourage, and defend perversion against truth, honesty, and moral valor. Our leaders seek to slaughter our children under the guise of healthcare and force your people to fund it. They mock people of faith under the name of science falsely so called. They ignore your warnings that righteousness exalts a nation and eagerly and enthusiastically embrace sin which ought to be called a disgrace.
“Greatly have they afflicted your church, yet they have not prevailed against us. The plowers plowed upon our backs; they made long their furrows.” But you are righteous; You have cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate the righteous be put to shame and turned backward! Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms, nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you! We bless you in the name of the LORD!” May their wickedness be cut off and their time in power cut short, Father. May their reign of terror, division, hate, and corruption cease. May your righteousness dominate the hearts and minds of national leaders. Let the nation seek solace in your word and comfort in your church. (More to come next week)
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