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 God, we confess that in these troubled and unsettled times, nothing is
happening to us that we do not deserve. We confess that, as a people, we have been stiff-necked, and have not regarded Your word. We acknowledge that anything that happens to us is richly deserved, and yet, Father, in confessing the sins of our people, we are explicitly asking You to not give to us as we deserve. We dare to ask for this in the name of Jesus, and if You intend in Your justice to strike our nation, we would dare to interpose the blood of Jesus Your Son. He has died for this nation, as He has died for them all, and we want to intercede for them as we are Your people, called by Your name. Hear our prayer, and teach us we ought to intercede for the unbelievers around us.
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 we have lived in the grip of unbelief. We have not believed that we had the authority to intercede for the nation we inhabit, and so we have come to this sorry place. Forgive us, we pray, and set us on our feet.
And Father, we also confess our own particular sins to You now—Selah . . . We do this in the strong name of Jesus our Savior, and amen.
This is a gospel transaction. God is really doing something here, and He is doing it on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are His people, called by His name, and therefore cleansed by His blood. I therefore declare that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!