A Pastoral Prayer 7/22/2020

Heavenly Father, I come before You in humble prayer and adoration. To You alone belongs honor and praise and fear and worship.

And yet, I live among people who honor the military over Your holiness, who praise politicians over Jesus Christ, who fear COVID-19 more than You, and who worship the unholy trinity of money, sex, and power over the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Just as Your judgment has fallen upon all nations of the past who forsook You and Your holy Law, Your divine judgment has fallen upon my country. You have sent the fear of a deadly pestilence. Instead of repenting and crying out to You, we turn to unholy and ungodly leaders to save us. I know this furthers Your anger towards us, and it is well deserved.

We seek cleansing through the washing of hands, the wearing of masks, and by distancing ourselves from our neighbor rather than through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. We trust more in what experts say more than what Your word says. We turn to humanistic solutions rather than to the means of grace You have given us. We seek to force, shame, and manipulation to control others rather than practice self-governance.

Even those who are called by Your name have fallen prey to fear. Your holy Bride has prostituted herself to the state by becoming a corporation rather than the Body of Christ. Even Your shepherds have bent their knee to the god of this world. Your shepherds shut the doors of Your Church without a fight. Now they defy Your standards of worship by demanding people cover their faces in fear, by forbidding them to greet one another with a holy kiss or by extending their right hand of fellowship. Your pastors forbid the signing of psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit. We have broken covenant with You by banning baptism. We have withheld bread and wine and fed Your people individually wrapped pellets and watered down grape juice. Our sermons comfort and coddle rather than call Your people to repentance for wrapping ourselves in our flags rather than Christ's righteousness.

Forgive us for our hypocrisy of trying to protect those who might get sick while turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the silent screams of millions of innocent babies who have been sacrificed on the altar of ease and convenience.

Forgive us for our militaristic society that honors soldiers over missionaries that weeps at the national anthem over Amazing Grace, that evangelizes our youth to thinking that dying for their country is the same as dying for the sake of the gospel, that love is ministered through might rather than the preaching of the gospel and feeding the hungry.

LORD, pour out Your Spirit upon our broken, sinful, and rebellious world. Pour out the Spirit of repentance first upon Your Church. Pour out the Spirit of Truth and write Your Law upon our hearts so that Your justice will prevail rather than the arbitrary and anemic humanistic justice of disobedient rebels who fear no one, including You.

My country is burning out.

I pray You would wake up the remnant from their sleep and from their sin. I pray for a mighty move of Your Spirit.

And finally, I pray for the wisdom of how I can preach and proclaim Your message in love.

I confess I often react out of my flesh and pride more than out of love. But You know my heart and my passion for truth. I pray for more brothers and sisters to come alongside me, who will pray and proclaim Your message.

In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray,

Amen