Not in the Name of Fiscal Common Sense
Liturgy and Worship - Confession for the Nations
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all.
Father and God, we confess that we have become a debtor nation, and yet Your word has told us not rack up the kind of uncharitable debts that we have done. Father, the trillions of unpayable debt that we have incurred is a set of impossible obligations that will land on our children and grandchildren. On behalf of a stiff-necked nation, we confess our greed and self-absorption, and we ask You to grant a spirit of deep repentance. Father, we do not ask for deliverance in the name of fiscal common sense, but rather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know, Father, that if we in the Church regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. Father, we confess that the Church has not spoken prophetically on this issue, and we confess that we have not done so because we have been complicit in the sin. Help us to see the sinful nature of our debt slavery, and we pray that You would rise up and deliver us, despite the fact that we have not deserved any deliverance at all—quite the reverse. Forgive us our sins, we pray.
And Father, we confess our particular sins to You now—Selah . . . We do this in the strong name of Jesus, and amen.
You have confessed honestly, and without reserve or evasion. You are trusting in Jesus, and only in Jesus. On that basis, I declare your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
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