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, we have indeed sinned with our fathers, and we have persisted in continuing in their rebellions. That which they gave us that was good we have abandoned, and what they bequeathed to us that was corrupt we have held and maintained. Father, our nation is in dire need of deliverance, and there will be no deliverance without a Deliverer, no salvation without a Savior. In our conceit, we thought that we had the right to strip the public square free of every reference to You. Forgive us for this grievous sin, we pray.
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 in the Church have accommodated ourselves to this idea of neutrality in public affairs. We have thought that nothing terrible would happen if the public sphere became officially Christ-less. And so we have done this thing, and terrible things have happened. We confess that it is all happening because of the folly Your people have committed at this point, and so we confess it to You as sin.
We also confess our individual sins to You—and Selah . . . We do this in the great name of Jesus, and amen.
God promises in countless places to forgive the iniquity of His people when they confess their sin to Him. You have done so, and so in the name of Jesus Christ the Risen, I declare that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!