Gracious Heavenly Father,
We lift our voices in thanksgiving
For Your inspiring, all-sufficient,
Life-giving Word.
It is the source of life.
It is our refuge and solace,
The source of wisdom and blessing,
The very essence of justice and health.
We pray for these truths to be engrained
In our hearts and minds
Through the work of the Holy Spirit,
The Comforter — our Guide.
We pray for your Holy Church,
Your body on every country around the world,
That it may be guided by that same Spirit,
Rooted in Scripture.
We pray that we may represent
Your grace and transforming power in our lives.
We pray for humility, kindness, perseverance,
And boldness, with longsuffering
That we may learn to live and model
That victorious life, which has alluded so many
Christians — misguided and/or deceived by the enemy.
We repent. Show us the way. Open our eyes.
Help us be agents of change,
As the bearers of the Gospel — the good news of Christ!
Help us to embody His love,
A love that gave His life for the least among us.
He came as the Great Physician for the sick and suffering,
Not an ambassador to bring honor to the religious and pious.
Deliver us from the pharisaical attitudes that plague us,
And help us to rejoice in our weaknesses.
We feel weak in many ways right now,
So there is cause for great rejoicing in our land.
But this requires something called “discernment,”
That mysterious vision the opens the spiritual to the carnal.
Grant us that discernment.
Grant it to our leaders on every level,
And help us to live out our motto,
Trusting You — Who rule in the affairs of men.
With perfect wisdom and love and patience,
With omniscient precision and perfection,
Without doubt or fear or earthly restrain,
You love … and we say, “Amen!”
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Click here for more prayers from our For America Prayer Journal.