National Day of Prayer

by Dan Jones

By now, I am sure you have heard on Kinship Christian Radio that this Thursday, May 4, is the National Day of Prayer. Please join me in this prayer and forgive me if I have left anything out.

Oh God our Father, who lives and reigns in heaven forever and ever, we praise you and we worship you in Spirit and in truth. We accept and praise and proclaim your very name as holy.

Let your kingdom come upon us in the fullness of time as you see fit, Lord.  In all things we pray your will and your will alone would be done here on earth as it already being done in heaven.

We thank you for all our many blessings, great Father. They are like the stars of the sky, being too numerous to count. Our greatest thanks we give you, Lord, for sending your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take away our sin, to redeem us and save us!

We thank you Lord, for our churches and the ministries that you have put in place that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be praised and honored throughout our land and over the face of the whole earth that souls would be saved, again, to the glory of your holy name. We ask that you would bless all who preach the true gospel here and wherever you deem to send them, that you would provide for them, guide them, protect them, and lead them. We ask that you would raise up people who would destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. We ask that you would breathe your Holy Spirit into a mighty army as the Spirit breathed life into the dry bones in the valley where Ezekiel stood. We ask that you would raise up preachers who would prophesy to the dry bones saying, “Dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD!” We ask that our churches and ministries would be filled to overflowing with the love of Jesus Christ, that many souls would be saved to the praise of your glory!

We confess that we have neglected your church and those who serve you. We confess that we have allowed false teachers to rise up among us. We ask, Lord, that all those who preach lies to itching ears would hear and heed your loving rebuke through the power of your Holy Word, repent, and be welcomed into the marvelous light that is Jesus Christ. 

We thank you, Lord, for those you have put in positions of power and authority. We ask that you would direct their hearts like streams of water in your hand that they would know and do your will. We ask this that we would lead quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and holiness, to the praise of your glory.

We confess that we have not supported and encouraged and lifted up these people in prayer as you have called us to do and we repent of this. We confess that we have engaged in political debate without the love of Jesus Christ first and foremost in our hearts and we repent of this.

We thank you, Lord, for the media and the miracle of being able to convey news and information all over the world in the blink of an eye. Mighty Lord, we pray truth into the media –the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We ask that you would raise up good and godly people to speak and write and present this truth to the world in ways that bring glory to your name and honor you.

We confess that we have accepted into our hearts and homes messages which are ungodly and unworthy of your praise. We repent of this and ask for the strength to resist such temptations in the future.

We thank you, Lord, for all who teach our children. We ask that you would bless them and empower them. We ask that you and your Word and prayer to you would be welcomed into all places of education, that your truth would be freely taught and learned throughout our land and the world.

We confess that we have allowed the world to attempt to exclude you, the source of all wisdom, from our educational institutions. We ask that you would grant us the guidance and the wisdom to repent of this.

We thank you, Lord, for all who serve and protect our country. We ask that you would bless each one whether they serve in a local, state, or federal position. We ask that each one would dwell in the shelter of the Most High, that they would rest in the shadow of the Almighty, that all would say of the Lord,  “He is my refuge and my fortress my God, in whom I trust.”

We confess that we have allowed sin and worldliness to creep into our military, Lord, and we ask that this would be speedily corrected.

Lord we thank you for a country based on the concept that all men are created equal, that all men are endowed by you with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We thank you that justice and mercy are foundational concepts of this great land and we ask that the love of Jesus Christ would overpower hatred and racism and cause all people to view each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, once and for all.

We confess that we have harbored pride in our hearts, that we have not loved the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our strength and with all our minds. We confess that we have not loved our neighbors as we love ourselves. We ask that you would help every one of us, in humility of mind, to esteem his neighbor as better than himself. Let this be so, to the glory of the name of Jesus Christ.

Lord, we thank you for families. We thank you for the love of mother and father and children that you have arranged from the beginning as good and holy and nurturing to our bodies, our minds, and our very souls. We ask that families would be blessed and protected, that men and women would be instructed and lead by your holy Word in good and godly ways to love and serve one another, each esteeming the other more highly than themselves. Where families have been broken and torn apart, Lord, we ask that you would send healing in the Lord Jesus Christ and comfort and guidance and direction from your Holy Spirit.

We confess that we have allowed ourselves to be deceived, Lord, in many ways in regard to the family. We pray that our nation and the world would see the error in this and repent, that father and mother would be honored so that children would live long upon the earth and be blessed.

Mighty Lord, we pray your protection over the unborn and we ask that life would be honored and treasured and the practice of abortion would come to an end.

We confess that we have not done enough to end this evil. Please help us to speak the truth in love, help those who find themselves in situations where they believe they have no other choice, and open hearts and minds to know the love of Jesus Christ to all people.

Lord, we thank you for the blessing of being able to make an honest living, that we would be able to provide for ourselves, our families, and be able to have something to give to others. We pray your blessing on all who labor with their hands, who serve others in so many different ways. We thank you for the fruits of those labors and ask that you would bless those who labor in service to others and those who rest from their labors after a lifetime of such work. We pray for those who suffer from conditions which prevent them from working and ask that you would bless them and provide for them out of your abundant mercy.

We confess that we have often taken for granted our blessings and the talents and abilities you have given us, Lord. We confess that we have attempted to transfer our responsibility for the poor to others and we ask that you would grant us hearts humble enough to wash the feet of others, always remembering that all have fallen short of your glory and not one of us is better than another.

Lord, we sincerely thank you for the forgiveness granted us in your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help us to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Please lead us as a nation away from any and all temptation and we beseech you that you would deliver us from evil. We ask that a powerful wave of awakening, repentance, and revival would sweep over this land and the world to the praise of the glory of the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord! 

AMEN AND HALLELUJAH!

Today’s Praise

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 6:13b (KJV)