Good + Faithful Father,

Help us to model our hearts’ desires after Your will for our lives. Let the sin of old (greed, coveting others’ possessions, back-biting, killing, lust) be struck down immediately. Heal our land + make it Holy ground again. We are desperate for Your trial of those that wish to punish the righteous, the chosen, the obedient. For we are not judges + executioners.

But You, oh God, can destroy strongholds and mountains alike. Turn our hearts back to You, Lord. Forgive us for every step taken without consulting You—leading us back into the wilderness. Face us, Father, with all Your light. Remove this veil of dishonor. Pick us again to show up as an example of Your kind + forgiving love. You, Lord of second chances, slow to anger with those that seek You + quick to blot out anything wicked in its ways; You are our only hope. You are our reason to rejoice.

We look around + see only devastation + rotting because we have forgotten Your command to purge the evilness. Forgive us for that which we allowed to consume our hearts + the hearts of our families without consequence, remorse, or even a whisper. Correct our vision + our hearts, God. Make us like Phinehas, Father God: ready to immediately disrupt that which displeases You. Our next generation depends on our current wisdom. But our disobedience will send them into ruin. Fix our lives + secure our futures, Most High. Create spaces for us to shift + thrive. We are deprecated by You for loving all things You see as detestable. Can You change our minds, mend our hearts, + help us to rebuild what we have destroyed?

We love You, Father. We just don’t know how to show it. Some of us are lost + need You to leave the herd on our behalf; seeking everything because we don’t realize what we really want is You. Have mercy on us, God, and thank You for Your never-ending love.

In Jesus Christ’s Name.

Amen.

Tonight, I’m reading: 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 and James 1:15