Dear Lord Jesus,
Again we have been witnesses to another round of violence, this time in Texas and Ohio. Over twenty people are now in eternity, either with you or apart from you, some with the honest intention of surrendering their lives to you when they had more time, or were ready to settle down. Now these victims, regardless of background, economic status, or nationality have stood before You, either to receive rewards or condemnation. Those that chose to neglect You are now in the same predicament as the rich man in Hades (Luke 16:19-31), wishing that there was someone to warn their loved one about avoiding this place at all costs.
The families of these who, not so long ago, were walking among us, are now faced with the task of burying them and getting away for a few brief moments from the noise of the politicians, activists, and ordinary people with limited opinions who want to use this tragedy to pursue an agenda.
LORD, sometimes I wish You would put a mute on every one of us who want to bellow and whine about what is wrong with our world without taking the time to think that it could be our fault for ignoring You and Your decrees and guidelines, and put the blame on our own sins and shortcomings. I ask that You would remind us that we have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth, so we should see and hear more and talk less. It’s so easy to get frustrated and angry and allow this fallen world to shape our thoughts as believers and mimic their outrage.
We as the remnant church have been bullied into silence by peers, politicians, media, and our own blissful ignorance of the things around us, choosing to chase after emotions and experiences, wrapping ourselves in a blanket of spiritual euphoria, figuring out that it is the preacher’s job to go out and tell people about you.
All of us are rotten to the core. We’re the product of blatant disobedience against You, and we are reaping the harvest of dung and mud that we want to wrap up and give to each other as a gift of goodwill and pride in our self-righteousness. We, all of us, have spit in Your Holy Face by the support of lifestyles and behaviors that even Sodom wouldn’t have undertaken.
We have left Your righteousness and traded it in for the devil’s costume jewelry. We call evil good and good evil, and we tear into anyone that doesn’t toe the line of “tolerance” which is one-sided at the least.
Our nation has been overtaken by people and movements that not too long ago would have seen the perpetrators being sent to prison for treason and perversion of morals.
Our children are being brainwashed by malevolent educators who promote globalism, abortion, homosexuality, hatred of biblical standards, the lie of evolution, situational ethics, allegiance to Satan, and preparing the next generation to embrace the coming Beast of Revelation.
Books and movies now have a godless agenda posted in every scene and story, pulling people away from the truth of Scripture.
We have elected members of Congress now crying for the rotten road of socialism to be our governing standard. There are godless people governing our country and states.
We have governors who sign legislation allowing innocent babies to be butchered at the moment of birth, daring to call it a “woman’s right.” The demons of hell are laughing at the growing body count, and there are very few who are standing up to this evil and damning it back to the pit of hell where it originated.
We have so-called “ministers” who champion social justice; same-sex marriage; illegal immigration; false gospels; who say that Christians and Muslims worship the same God; who advocate for political parties and movements that are anti-God; and preach everything except the Scriptures, championing flattering words and the desire to tickle ears in place of convicting the sinner with the truth of God’s Word and the fact that it is You, and You alone, who atoned for the sins of the world and Who is the ONLY way to God the Father.
Lord Jesus, we have absolutely no hope whatsoever without You.
I ask that You would have some mercy upon us, but then I wonder if that is the right thing to ask. We’ve butchered babies, abused and molested children, and tolerated sins that would have been condemned by fearless preachers not so long ago. We’ve mocked You at every turn, trashed the Scriptures, championed atheism, and produced so-called “entertainment” that is nothing more than material fit for a sewer.
We’ve elected politicians to office who promise things, yet lie and deceive in order to stay in power, leaders who are morally and ethically unfit to do their jobs.
We have mothers and fathers turning their children into gender-confused experiments in the culture war, trashing our love of country, and embracing everything and anything that insults and degrades Your holiness, and are the number one exporter of drugs, pornography, and liquor.
We hate the man that has been elected President of this nation simply because many people are nursing a three-year-old grudge about a situation that didn’t go according to their will.
LORD, it seems that the hatred and vitriol towards our President and all who support him isn’t merely of our own nature, but has its source from the demonic hordes that now run roughshod over the nation. It seems that hell is having a field day with the souls of the people and that wickedness is the new norm of our nation.
LORD, our only hope is You. Forgive Your people of their idleness and apathy towards others. Forgive us for not standing up to the forces of wickedness and condemn it as we should have long ago. Forgive us for our silence as innocent babies lie in garbage bags and dumpsters around this nation while their murderers bathe in riches gotten by the sale of their body parts.
Forgive us for not speaking out against the obvious moral wickedness that we could have stopped with prayer and holy boldness. Forgive us for watching movies and shows that glorify sex and violence and champion causes that are an affront to the holiness of God.
Forgive us for electing officials in areas of government that have no religious or moral standards for the sake of a monthly check or assistance instead of trusting you for our needs.
Forgive us for not putting our faith and trust in You when times in this nation were bleak and troubling, and forgive us when we turned away from You when everything seemed to be going well.
I repent of every thought and action that I have done that has not been forgiven by You through Your precious blood, and I ask that You would continually direct my life and work and allow me to be the believer that is expected of me. Never let me fall into a position where my walk could be compromised.
Never let me be found guilty of hypocrisy. Let the Holy Spirit renew my walk with You, and give me a desire to do and say those things that are pleasing in Your sight. I want to be worthy of the sacrifice You endured on the cross so long ago. I’m not worthy of such love. I’m a rebel; and if it were not for Your love and mercy and act of salvation, I would have gone to hell, and You would have been perfectly just in allowing me to go there, all the while receiving glory from Your creation and the angels of heaven.
LORD, I pray this not just for my unworthy being, but for all of my brethren around the nation and the world who are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for those who are angry and yet weep over the state of affairs today, and who will be bold in their walk and unafraid of what others might say or do, and to declare that sin is evil, grace is good, heaven is glory, hell is hot, that there are absolutes such as black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, and that only Jesus has the answer to the questions of life and the only means of eternal peace and safety.
We come against all earthly and malevolent forces who would try and impair the flow of the gospel to foreign lands and try to stop people from embracing Christ as Lord and Savior. We come against all powers and principalities that promote evil and worship of devils and demons, and we ask that if there is anyone in government or corporate power that has blatantly rejected the free offer of the gospel and has embraced the Prince of Darkness and his claims, that they would be stopped by divine decree and action or through death. If they won’t come to You, then we ask that they would be taken out before they can do further damage to individuals or nations. We ask that every scheme and plan of the wicked one would be thwarted and put into confusion and calamity as You see fit.
Destroy and eliminate every enemy who will not bow to You. Destroy and eliminate all of those who molest and harm children and the infirm. If they will not repent, then place death and judgment upon them, and let them pay for their wickedness in the chambers of hell where no one can ever be harmed by them again. Let Your holy wrath come upon every individual who has dared to say that you don’t exist and who mock you. Terrify them with visions of their eternal doom if that is what it takes to get their attention.
You are Sovereign and holy. Have Your way with all who will not bow to You. May that day of holy victory come swiftly where we see the end of evil and malice and that all things in earth, on earth, and in heaven will bow before You and proclaim You LORD of all.
Dear God in Heaven, give us bold, no-compromising, Spirit-filled, hellfire-and-damnation, grace-and mercy-proclaiming, fearless, imposing, no-nonsense, Christ-anointed preachers of the Gospel who will shout from the housetops the need to get right with God and silence anyone who would mock their task. Let preaching come from pulpits that are truly anointed by the Spirit and that call out sin and the need for a Savior. Let them preach nothing but Jesus and Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let preaching come forth that condemns fads and trends and anything that waters down the power of the Word of Almighty God.
Let preaching come forth that demands holiness unto the LORD and a desire to trust and follow Him in these trying times. Let preaching occur that tells the wicked to tremble before the holiness of God and make amends for their ways and words. Let preaching come that will condemn once and for all any teaching that does not emphasize salvation, the joy of heaven, true riches in heaven, eternity with Christ, and the elimination of all that is wicked and abhorrent. Let there be preaching that declares the Scriptures to be inerrant, God-breathed, all-sufficient, and powerful to change hearts and lives and that anything else is not worthy of examination.
LORD, in these final days before the trumpet sounds and we are caught up to meet you in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), let Your remnant church be active in the fields, calling out to all who will hear and respond. Let us be found at work for Your glory and grace. May the hosts of heaven adore and praise You now and forever, and may we who are unworthy of Your mercy give You all glory, honor, power, and praise both here and in the world to come.
Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered!
Praise You, most Holy and wondrous God of all creation and salvation, and may tomorrow be the day where we finally see You face to face and to know that these temporary adversities were as nothing compared to the glory we shall see in the new heaven and the new earth.
For the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal glory, I say, Amen.