There are many calls today to pray for the nation with a spirit of repentance but many Christians find this difficult. How do we repent of things for which we feel no responsibility?

We grieve over family breakdown and the suffering of children, of those who are killed on the streets of our cities and the babies that are aborted from their mother’s wombs. But we feel helpless in the face of the forces of evil that are sweeping through our nation.

How can we respond to calls to pray in repentance?

This is where the prayer in Daniel 9 is of tremendous help.

Daniel was a righteous man who was not one of the leaders in the nation of Israel. He was not personally responsible for any of the sins committed in the nation or for the corrupt policies being followed by the nation’s political leaders, or for the unfaithfulness of the religious leaders.

Daniel did not even live in Israel: he was in exile; but he received detailed accounts about what was happening in the land of his birth and he was desperately concerned for its welfare and for the moral and spiritual condition of his fellow countrymen.

A Covenant-Keeping God

Daniel’s prayer begins with acknowledging the nature of God – that he is a covenant-keeping God of love.

He then identifies with the sins of the nation, even though he himself had not in any way been involved in them. He was nevertheless a citizen of Israel whose leaders and people had disobeyed the commands of God and thereby had put the nation outside the protection of God. They had brought upon themselves all the consequences of disobedience promised in Deuteronomy 28 from verse 15.

The Righteousness of God

Daniel’s prayer acknowledges the righteousness of God in bringing disaster upon the nation as a result of the things that had been done by its leaders and people.

But he does not say “They have sinned” – he says “O Lord, We and our Kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.”

God’s Mercy

Daniel then speaks of God’s mercy and his willingness to forgive even in the face of deliberate disobedience.

He acknowledges, “We have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.”

True Repentance

Of course Daniel could not repent on behalf of the whole nation. We can only repent for ourselves. But by identifying with the sinful nation Daniel then could pray positively asking God for his help: “O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath” (v.16). He is then able to pour out his heart before the Lord on behalf of his sinful nation:

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favour on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the City that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.

“O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name” (vs.17-19).

Ungodly Laws

In praying this prayer we need to have in front of us the list of ungodly laws that have been passed in Britain since the 1950s to remind us of the things that as a nation we have put upon the Statute Book of the nation. Laws such as:

• the Abortion Law 1967 that has polluted the land with the blood of the innocent:
• the Sunday Trading Act 1993 that directly opposes God’s command to observe a Sabbath Day:
• and the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013, that made homosexual practices equal to the marriage of men and women which is part of God’s act of creation.
  

Prayers of Repentance

Our prayers of repentance acknowledge that we are part of a nation that has deeply offended the God of Creation and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are ashamed to be part of such a nation that has known the truth for many generations and has deliberately turned away from the word of God to embrace idolatry, lies and deception and is now steeped in corruption and unrighteousness that fully deserves the judgement of a righteous God.

The Faithful Remnant

We nevertheless cry to him whom we know to be a covenant keeping God of love and mercy; that he will hear the prayers of the faithful remnant in our nation and help us to make his word heard in Britain once again, that there may be a turning in repentance in the nation and that times of prosperity and blessing may come upon the land and upon our people.

First published by Issachar Ministries Trust, Office 5, Shannon Court, Sandy, Beds SG19 1AG.