Lord, you are great and deserve respect as the only God. You keep your promise and show mercy to those who love you and obey your commandments. We have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commandments and laws. We haven’t listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the common people. You, Lord, are righteous. But we—the men of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, and all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far—are still ashamed because we have been unfaithful to you. [Daniel 9:4-7 (GW)]
The book of Daniel was written during the Babylonian captivity. Nebuchadnezzar had assaulted Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and exiled the people of Judah to Babylon. Jeremiah had prophesized that Jerusalem’s desolation would last seventy years and Daniel realized that their time of exile was nearly complete. After fasting, donning sackcloth, and covering himself with ashes, Daniel passionately prayed and pled with God to return His people to their land.
Found in Daniel 9, his prayer starts with worship and praise but quickly moves into confession—admitting that the people were rebellious and disobedient and had ignored God’s prophets, abandoned his word, and disregarded his commandments. Admitting that they’d been warned time and time again, He acknowledges the justice of Jerusalem’s desolation and the righteousness of God’s severe judgment. He concludes with a plea to God to forgive them and restore Judah and Jerusalem.
Today, the first Thursday in May, is the National Day of Prayer, and many of us will meet in front of courthouses or in houses of worship and pray for our nation. If there ever was a time our nation needs prayer, it is now! This year’s theme is “Hear us…Forgive us…Heal us! For the Glory of Your Great Name” and is taken from Daniel 9:19. Today’s prayer was written by Anne Graham Lotz and, like Daniel’s prayer, clearly acknowledges the sins of our nation’s people. I have included just a few of the highlights (actually our low points) of her prayer, but I urge you to read and pray the entire prayer for yourselves.
We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning. … We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess. … We confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves. … We confess to believing that the prosperity of our nation has been great because we are great while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from Your hand. … We confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don’t need You. … We confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness. [Anne Graham Lotz]
Unlike Judah, our nation is not yet in ruins and we haven’t been taken captive by a pagan army, but not much else is very different. Have we learned nothing in over 2,500 years? What will it take for God to get our attention? We still put ourselves before God, commit crimes against both God and people, defy and disobey our Lord, and have turned away from His word. We should be ashamed. The sole hope for us and our nation is found in God. Today’s prayer ends with these words:
Therefore, we turn to You with tears of shame and a heart of fear for the judgment we are provoking. We repent of our sin. Please, God of Our Fathers, do not back away from us. Do not remove Your hand of blessing on us. As we return to You with humility…With sincerity…Out of necessity…With a desperate sense of urgency. Please! Return to us! Hear our prayer. Forgive our sin. Heal our land. … For the Glory of Your Great Name…JESUS. [Anne Graham Lotz]
Lord have mercy upon us!
I have a friend who worries. Her husband says that even when she has nothing about which to worry, she worries about whatever next could go wrong long before it possibly can. He added that having a “designated worrier” has made his life much easier—while she worries, he can relax and enjoy himself! His comment made me remember a trip we took to the Cayman Islands nearly forty years ago. We were accompanied by a worrying friend.
After more than a year without a pastor, our northern church is finally getting its new minister. He will be stepping into some very big and well-worn shoes. The last pastor was at his post for over forty years. To say that the congregation has become somewhat set in their ways is probably an understatement. “But we’ve always done it that way!” and “He’s not like Pastor S!” are bound to be said more than once.
Jealousy – that green-eyed monster – certainly caused a lot of problems throughout the Bible. The first case of sibling rivalry occurred when Cain, jealous that God approved his brother’s sacrifice but not his, killed Abel. Saul was jealous of David’s popularity and battles were fought, the Jews slandered Paul and Silas because they were jealous of the large crowds that gathered to hear them preach, Jacob was jealous of Esau’s relationship with Isaac, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of jealousy and the prodigal’s brother became jealous when his father threw a party for the black sheep of the family.
“A Christian doesn’t die,” declared the pastor, which may have been news to some of those attending the Celebration of Life. “He just moves!” the minister added as an explanation. Indeed, we are just temporary residents here on earth. Death for a Christian is simply a relocation and, unlike most moves we’ve made, it doesn’t require a purging of the items in the attic, garage sales, packing up boxes, or wrangling friends into helping us carry the heavy stuff! This is one transfer that neither requires moving vans nor mail forwarding.
The words Soli Deo gloria, meaning “glory to God alone,” were the words at the end of the actor’s bio in the show’s playbill. The addition of those three words in his brief resume was the actor’s way of acknowledging the source of his talent and dedicating his work to God’s glory. I thought of those words when someone flattered me recently. While I knew “Glory to God alone,” was not the right response, I wasn’t sure what was.
Devotions of the Heart 