4th of July Prayer

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Our Gracious, Merciful and Glorious God: Father, Son and Spirit: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it. All Glory belongs to You in heaven and on earth. We praise you for your wondrous deeds and for the salvation You have granted unto us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We delight in the goodness of Your provision. You give water to the thirsty and food to the hungry, and even prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We express our absolute dependence on your good gifts. Apart from You we would be lost and purposeless beings, but with You there is fullness of joy. Your Kingdom, O Lord, is an everlasting kingdom. It is a kingdom of glory and victory. May we have faith to see Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

God of Creation, we delight in this period of history. We celebrate the good gifts that You have given unto this nation. May we acknowledge your mercies to these United States. We thank you for the beginning of this nation, its Christian legacy that has long been forgotten in our day. Yet, we praise you for preserving our liberties to adore you Father, Son and Spirit. And we pray that you would bring liberty to other nations around the world. May we remember that we are not at liberty to forsake Your word, but we are liberty to live by Your Word.

O Lord, despite the atrocities committed by this nation, in particular towards the unborn, we pray that You would heal this land and forgive us our sins. Cleanse and crush the gods of our imagination. Forgive us for our empty rhetoric. Forgive us for equating love for God for love of a party. Forgive us for equating this country’s agenda with the kingdom’s agenda. Lord, we know that we are far from pursuing the kingdom’s agenda in this nation.

Yet, we pray that you restore this land. Turn President Obama’s heart unto You for you tell us that You can turn the hearts of rulers.

Rule in the hearts of our leaders. May they rest in You even when it is not popular or convenient. May they lose their jobs for Your sake if necessary, so You may be exalted above their careers and reputation.

Take us from a nation of idolaters to a nation of worshipers.

Do not forsake us, O Lord, but be with us. Though we have a glorious past, we do not want to look to the past, but we want to look to the future. We cannot re-live the past, but we can seek your guidance for the future.

We ask that Your justice would prevail. Do not forsake us, O Lord, for we Your people cry for the manifestation of Your Mighty Hand in our midst. Restore us that we may be saved, and unite us ever more to the King of the world, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray in this manner:

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen.