Father God,

Today, I pray for the future of our nation, its people and its leaders. Having celebrated the 250 years of Your providing a nation of freedom yesterday, today I humbly ask that You would make the coming years of our nation greater in terms of righteousness rather than earthly prosperity.

As righteousness exalts a nation, let our nation be forgiven of its having forsaken You, and be restored to walk in righteousness prostrate before Your throne. As we look forward to all the nations bringing their gifts to Your holy city, let Your bride, the Church prepare herself and lead the procession.

Restore justice to the halls of government. Remove deceit, vain philosophies, and doublespeak from influence in our nation. Lift up Your Law over our nation and let us be known not as a nation of our own strength, but a nation of those who are righteousness before the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.

Father God,

Today, I pray for the weary, those that are persevering through trials, weathering storms, awaiting the answers to prayers. Those trials and storms come in so many forms that I cannot list all the ways that your people feel the pressure weighing down upon them. Some are physical trials. Some are emotional trials. Some are relational. Some are focused spiritually. Most are a combination of two or more of these.

Ultimately all test our spirits ability to continue to look to Your nature, Your promises, Your faithfulness in order to continue to hope.

Grant that Your children would be upheld through any thing they face by Your righteous right hand according to the love and wisdom of the One who Sustains all things. Let Your children not lose hope in the darkness of the nights of waiting and enduring.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.

Father God,

Today, I pray for discernment to separate eternal truth from the dross mixed in by contemporary culture. I pray for clarity of sight for Your remnant that we might confidently know how to apply Your Word to the issues of today whether at a personal level, a family level, a church level, or at a larger level of state and nation.

I pray that You would remove the scales that prevent us from seeing clearly, both the scales we put upon our own eyes to self-justify sinful patterns and the scales we accept from a degrading culture which refuses to submit to Your Word.

I pray that we would understand how Your Word applies in the walk of faith in all areas of life, not just the internal thoughts and feeling, but all works of our hands and words of our mouth, personal and collective. I pray that we would recognize and submit to the truth that all areas of life belong to You.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.

Father God,

Today, I thank You for Your Servant from Isaiah 42 Who neither breaks the bruised reed nor quenches the smoldering wick. Your greatness is overwhelming, yet You sent Christ in the flesh that He might fulfill this prophecy for us throughout history.

We are that bruised reed, that smoldering wick. We are weak and feeble, yet Christ is gentle with His children. We see that throughout the New Testament as Christ cared for disciples who were often confused and struggled to fully grasp His Words. We know that to be true with our own lives in the day to day and the extraordinary circumstances of life.

Thank You for Your patience and persevering with us as we walk out our faith before Your face. Thank You for neither breaking us finally nor quenching us in our stumblings.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen

Father God,

Today, I pray against the scars of life, not the physical ones, but the deeper and more tender ones of the heart. I pray against the emotional memories which cannot always be put into words, but that arise often when we least expect it. I pray against the continued distress that those scars cause in both the person and in the relationships affected by the scars’ outward effects.

We are embodied souls who not only think and act, but feel and our souls remember pain beyond the cognitive. For those whose memories contain repeated pain of one form or another, they can feel the scars into the bones of their soul.

Grant those those whose lives have marked them with scars would find Your healing just as fully and deeply and lasting as the leper when touched by Christ. Give us victory over those scars, even those which we can’t put into words, that we may rejoice in You and Your blessings poured out upon us.

For those who do not carry the scars, but love those who do, grant them patience and perseverance, as well as wisdom to be Your hands and feet in caring for the scarred of heart.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen

Father God,

Today, I pray that You would remind Your children who are dismayed by the world’s pressure upon them that You understand our feeble frames in the response You give in Isaiah 41:10-13. In the command to fear not, You also tell us why we should not fear.

You tell us You are with us.

You tell us that You are our God.

You promise to strengthen us and to help us.

You declare that You will uphold us by Your righteous right hand.

In contrast, all those who oppose us will come to nothing.

Remind us today that You hold our right hand and though we do not have sufficient strength for the day’s battles, You have promised all that we need, Your presence and provision. Whether the opposition takes the form of physical enemies or spiritual enemies, we are secure in You, oh Lord.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.

Father God,

Today, I pray for those who are weary from the burdens of this world. Though the physical burdens do take a toll on our bodies and endurance, the daily carrying of the spiritual toil can be heavier to continue with.

We live in an age where less and less of society’s basic beliefs and habits are grounded in Your ways. More and more of society is leaning away from a Christian worldview if not pushing us towards a secular worldview antagonistic to a walk of faith.

Many of the simple acts of life are becoming harder and harder to walk out without more and more conscious effort. Expectations of what is normal have changed. Even those who profess faith operate with an underlying secular mindset.

Give us strength and perseverance to stand on truth, to refuse to just fit in with the flow of society, to proclaim that You and Your Word stand over all of life without exception. Renew the strength of our hearts.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.

Father God,

Today, I pray for those who are seeking wisdom from You today for different decisions and situations they face. We walk in a fallen world with limited sight and understanding of present and future. So much is uncertain to us though entirely clear to Your eyes. Even what we see is unclear and partial.

We are called to trust You with all of this, yet our frames are weak, our will is easily diverted, our minds easily distracted, our emotions easily swayed. Today give us sight and understanding according to Your mercy and love for us. Grant that we may know enough to respond to our present in a way that is pleasing before Your eyes and blessing to us and our loved ones for whom we care.

Thank You Lord for Your faithfulness to meet us in our need for understanding. Let us glorify You before the watching world.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.