If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14

We Have Failed as the Church

Lord, I come before You today on behalf of Your church. Though You intended us to be one, we are fractured. We focus more on our interpretation of Your truth than we do on the truth itself. And because we are fractured, we are rendered largely ineffective. Lord, forgive us.

Because we cling to the teachings and traditions of men, we have corrupted and discarded Your truth. We have elevated ignorance over immersion because ignorance is less convicting. We have promoted culture above godliness. We promote the favor of men over the favor of God, choosing to let our sympathies lie with men rather than with the One who holds our eternity in His hands. Lord, forgive us.

We have corrupted Your plan for Your church, which You intended for the worship and glorification of Your name and the edification of Your saints, and we have made our services into social gatherings and entertainment venues. Lord, forgive us.

We Are Weak in Our Witness

We have become lazy and apathetic, prayerless and complacent. We have long abandoned spiritual disciplines, and we have grown silent and immobile in our witness. Lord, forgive us.

We have failed to be Your ambassadors—as Your hands, Your feet and Your mouthpiece. We have failed to display Your beauty and Your grace and have instead displayed wrath and judgment. We have focused so much on changing minds that we have neglected winning hearts. Lord, forgive us.

We have desecrated the holy sacrament of marriage; we have abdicated our parental responsibilities; we have deprived a generation of the precious sanctity of a family unit. We have poisoned the innocence of our children, and we have grown too weak to teach them to stand strong against the temptations of the world. Lord, forgive us.

We Have Set Aside Your Glory

We who were once the imitated have become the imitators. We are vapid and shallow and wanting. We have so filled our minds with the things of the world that we cannot possibly hunger for anything more. We are salt that has lost its taste; we are lukewarm and in danger of being vomited out. Lord, forgive us.

We are narcissistic and self-centered. We take pride in our individuality and seek our own glory. We spend more time reflecting on our own character than on Yours. We are ungenerous and uncaring. Lord, forgive us.

We Have Forsaken Our Duty

We have turned our backs on Your chosen people Israel and have failed to pray earnestly for the peace of Jerusalem. We also fail to pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution throughout the world. We are insular and provincial and distant and disinterested. Lord, forgive us.

We have failed to show Your love to the least of these. We have forgotten the widow, the orphan, the sick and the imprisoned. We turn our backs and close our hands regarding the weak and the helpless. We are more interested in being comfortable than in being a comfort. Lord, forgive us.

We Need Revival

We have spurned Your grace and grieved Your Spirit. We are being swallowed up in unbelief and no longer eagerly await Your return. We have forgotten that someday we will have to stand before You and give an account. Lord, forgive us.

We deserve Your judgment, but we pray for Your mercy. Purify our hearts, cleanse our hands, touch the coal to our tongues. Let us be what You created us to be for the glory of Your holy and awesome name. Lord, revive us.