Prayer of Repentance

“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession…”(Daniel 9:3-4a) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=daniel+9%3A2-19&version=ESV

“And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:25)

“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land…”(Ezekiel 22: 29-39a)

God calls us to stand in the gap to

Pray

Repent

Intercede

Especially in times of plaques and pestilences

May we all

Repent

Plead to God for mercy

For Him to move His

Mighty

Powerful

Healing

Hand to

Heal

And to stop this pandemic

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

God calls us to collaborate with Him

He calls us to

Stand

by going down on our knees

To stand in the breach

To stand in the gap

To pray

To repent

To intercede

Daniel prayed in response to Jeremiah’s prophecy

that the Jews would be in exile for 70 years

Daniel then confessed the sins of his forefathers

And pleaded with God for mercy

Out of pride David numbered his people

David chose as his punishment

for God to send a pestilence

When God out of His mercy stopped the pestilence

David erected an altar to intercede on behalf of the land

God responded and averted further plaque from Israel

God told Ezekiel that

God was looking for an intercessor

To stand in the gap

On behalf of the sins of the Israelites

When there was no one to stand in the gap

God had to unleash His punishment upon Judah and Israel

We all have fallen short of the glory of God

We all have sinned

None of us is righteous

No not one

God has provided The Sin Bearer

In our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ

Who bore our sins and our punishments

Jesus

Stood

In

The

Gap

The gap between God’s righteousness and our sinfulness

By dying on the cross

Now God calls for us to

Stand in the gap

To confess

Our own sins

The sins of our nation

The sins of our society

The sins of our culture

The sins of our present world

The sins of our forefathers

To take ownership of our own sins

Like David did

To take ownership of our forefather’s sins

Like Daniel did

To stand in the gap

So the punishment due our society would be averted

As God said to Ezekiel

Lord we have sinned

We have each turned to our own wicked and selfish ways

We have rebelled against You and thumbed our noses at You

We have not taken care of the earth You entrusted us with

We have oppressed the needy and the downtrodden

We have exacted or ignored injustices

We have neglected the poor the needy and the vulnerable

whom are near and dear to Your heart

Lord we confess our sins

 We repent from our sins

Turn us around Lord

Turn us back to You

Turn our gaze upon Your face

To fixate on You

To make You Preeminent

In our lives

In our nation

In our society

In our culture

In our world

To seek Your Kingdom and Your Righteousness

That Your Name be glorified and lifted up

Your Name be a shining BEACON

In this tumultuous and suffering time of

World wide pandemic

For You are the LIGHT of the world

And You have come to give us abundant life

 Even when we hear of and see death all around

Even during this pandemic

May Your Kingdom come

May Your Will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven

May Your Name be lifted high

For Yours is the Kingdom

And the Glory

And the Power

Forever and ever

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Amen 

and AMEN