Lord of all life, every good thing comes down from you (James 1:17). You have adopted us as children through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:23). You have redeemed us by His precious blood (1 Peter 1:19) and given us a new standing in this world and the one to come. You are bringing all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ (Ephesians 1:10). Even so, Lord, the entire creation groans in agony, anxiously awaiting liberation from its bondage to decay (Romans 8:19-21). Your entry into this world changed its future and destiny (John 1:10-13)—the ramifications of which continue to ripple through our own lives, individual and corporate.
But, Lord, our fallen ancestors taught us to be sectarian and divided, and until we met you, there was precious little hope for change. Yet now that we do know you—now that we have become acquainted with the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit—hope surges against the intractability of fallen society.
We are inspired by what society could be like if it too experienced regeneration (Matthew 12:21). Though we are tempted to reduce our hopes to only what we can accomplish on our own, it is the supernatural possibility of transformation at the very core, made possible by the power of the gospel, which motivates us to work for the spread of the kingdom of God and the consequent resuscitation of humanity (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Yet, Lord, we confess it has been hard for us to shake off “the empty way of life handed down to us from our ancestors” (1 Peter 1:18). Our ancestors wounded us by their way of life and we yet bear the scar tissue from those wounds. Heal us, Lord. Cause us to feel. Even as we are drawn by what could be, we are hindered by what has been. Lord, we seek to “put off that old man which is corrupted by deceitful desires and be renewed in the spirit of our minds” (Ephesians 4:22-23).
Help us to reject the attempts of the fallen world to classify us and divide us by race, gender, or economic standing (Romans 12:2). But rather, help us, Lord, to see each other from the vantage that our new identity in Christ affords us. “We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that we may declare Your goodness” (1 Peter 2:9-10) to all people on earth.
We recognize only two races: Adam’s fallen race and the people of the Kingdom of God which has been constituted of every tribe and tongue. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Lord, it is our hope to address our own wounds as the family of God and to offer aid to the world at large.
We acknowledge that many injustices have been suffered by members of our society and that Christians have often been naïvely swept up in societal actions that are not based on the way of life You teach us, but are based on power, envy, pride, fear, or a host of other fallen motivations (2 Corinthians 5:16). We also acknowledge that there are deleterious effects to these past injustices which are still being suffered by various people in our society. Give us wisdom to reverse these effects while at the same time not propagating further injustice to anyone (Romans 13:10).
Our purpose is restoration to the good life (John 10:10), not vengeance for the past (Romans 12:19). Please, Lord, have mercy on us and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Begin with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17) and let us be the light on the hill (Matthew 5:14; Acts 13:47) that You have always wanted us to be. Amen.
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