A Prayer for My/Our Nation: Lord, You have no need for me to tell You what is on my heart, because You know all things. You tell us in Hebrews 4:13 that no creature is hidden from Your sight, “but all are naked and exposed to [You] to whom we must give account.” So, I do not purport to pray unwisely. I know that all things, especially my fallen heart, are exposed to You. I know You know all things. Your psalmist records, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; [His] understanding is beyond measure” (Psalm 147:5). You have revealed to us who You are.

And because of who You are, my prayer is offered to You and not to man. Your people have always been part of a culture—whether in Israel, in Egypt, as exiles in Iraq, as strangers and aliens dispersed across the former Roman Empire, or whether as Reformers in England, Switzerland, Scotland, Germany, or as missionaries to cannibals in the jungles of South America, or as missionaries in China and India, or as Christians trying to bear witness in our own zip codes in our generation.

Your people are scattered by design, in order to be salt and light to a corrupt and dark cultus of self-absorption and death. Lord, forgive our iniquities, which are many; encourage Your people with Your Spirit by Your Word; and raise warriors for truth and light for such a time as this. This is not a time for self-reliance or secular machinations; it is a watershed in our day wherein our souls are being tested. May You quicken the hearts and hands of Your people to be of good courage, because You are omnipresent and wholly wise. Hear my/our prayer, Lord, for the glory of Christ. Amen.