I read this yesterday:
Daniel 9:16
"O, Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."
And I've been thinking:
What is the place for corporate confession? Here Daniel is quite obviously confessing sin...but not just his own personal sin...he is confessing the sins of the entire nation of Israel. Up until this point in my Christian experience, that kind of "universal confession" has been non-existent. Is there a place in my prayers for me to confess the sins of MY country--the immorality, the abortion, the sick obsession with possessions, the self-worship, the greed, the lust, the corruption, the drunkenness, the homosexuality, the pride, the rejection of authority...
It grieves me and I pray my country will repent for these sins that we've committed against God and God alone! Lord, have mercy on us!
1 comment:
I regularly repent for the sins of my community, state, nation, and the world in blaspheming the Name and holy ordinances of our God. I also pray for the universal church to repent of our sins of materialism, slandering one another, and other sins that may be considered small, as if they don't count. As individuals, we sin against God; as a nation, we sin against God; and as members of His appointed preisthood, those called to holiness and bought by His blood, we sin against God.
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