Father, this is Your world and we are asking You to have Your way and bring about Your will in it. For all the earth is Yours and all the people who inhabit it. You are the King over all creation. You are the sovereign Lord who is in absolute control even in what appears to be absolute chaos and confusion.
In the midst of great division, hatred, and hostility, You are the Prince of Peace. Through Your death on the cross, Jesus, You were reconciling the people in the world to God. And for those of us who know You, we have been reconciled to God together in Christ. We are now one new humanity in Christ, You have become our peace, and You have utterly demolished the wall of hostility that stood between us. By the power of Your Spirit help us to live out our new identity together as we have put on Christ. Empower us to live worthy of Your calling as Your people set apart in this world.
Racism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, sexism, classism and many other isms and schisms are rampant in the world because of sin in the heart of people. May these not be true of Your holy and redeemed people, who are to no longer value one another according to the flesh, for You have made us new creations in Christ. God, lead us to repent as we often allow these worldly values to affect the way that we view and live with others, especially in the body of Christ. Forgive us for being silent, in agreement, complicit, and participating in these sins which have lead to inequity, injustice, and inhumanity against human beings for differences that have been conferred on us by You. Forgive the sins of our ancestors and forefathers in this nation, especially those done in the name of Christ.
God, as You lead us to repent, we ask that You would revive us! Fill our hearts with Your love and empower us by Your Spirit to love one another as You, Jesus, have loved us - particularly across the lines in our world where there is great division, hatred, and hostility between people groups. In these days and times of great racial tension and unrest, grant us the grace and wisdom to know that we are on the side of Christ and called to be Your ministers and messengers of reconciliation to all people groups and not just those who look and think like us. God, give us Your heart to value each and every person as You do, where we do not show partiality or favoritism, and where we long for them to experience Your righteousness and justice.
God, we confess that we do not know what to do nor have the power to do anything on our own to bring about what You desire - Your name being honored as holy, Your Kingdom coming and Your will be doing on earth as it is in heaven. We need Your presence and Your Word which is powerful to save souls and transform lives, marriages, families, communities, cities, states, and nations. So God, we ask that You would manifest Your presence, pour out Your Spirit, and use Your Church to live and preach the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Use us to show the world Jesus. For Jesus, You alone are the only hope for the world. Amen!
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