A Heavy Dose of Repentance

I stood in the Library of Congress and surveyed not only the collective beauty of knowledge stored there but the exquisite design and architecture of the building itself. Knowledge is powerful stuff!  And here you have a collection of writings of the most famous in our history and of those among us.

We only had a few minutes to visit because we had arrived at the end of the last day of our three day prayer vigil at the Capitol of the United States of America. The Capitol is full of symbolism and history and ironically many of the Federal Buildings boldly declare the name of God and Jesus Christ. Our nation's governmental buildings boast a knowledge of God, but many of our leaders cringe at the name of Christ today and have invented a phrase, “separation of Church and State” to push God out of the public arena of government and political life.

So, that is why we were there. As the words of former President Ronald Reagan said, “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”  Prayer still changes things, and when we collectively and corporately as the body of Christ, begin to pray again, God will hear our prayers of repentance. He will forgive our sins and He will heal our land (2 Chr.7:14).

Our land is sick! Because our sins have separated us from our God! How can you be healed if you reject the prognosis and remedy of the Great Physician? We have sought out our own inventions and home remedies that are not working. We have much more than a sore throat! Our malady cannot be healed with just an “apple a day to keep the doctor away”! We need a heavy dose of repentance, godly sorrow, and a return to the ancient landmarks of godliness and the fear of God.

Sadly, even among professing Christians there is an appalling irreverence for God! We rejoice in grace and so we should, but then we live as if grace and forgiveness were never applied. We have His Word, which instructs us how to live godly and soberly. It is seldom read because many have no appetite for the Word and even less for the manner of life that it teaches. So the cancer in the body spreads and the victim is afflicted to the point of death. All hope is gone for any kind of a bright future. Life is cut off prematurely and does not have to be. A person can live to a ripe old age and still live as a dead man. They will be missing all the joy and righteous pleasure that could be theirs.

I hear God calling us back to Him as a nation and as a family of believers! You may not be able to quickly travel at any time to pray in the Capitol of our nation, but you can bow in humble reverence and repentance to God. Kneeling by our bedsides or sitting at the desk in our offices, we can plead for God to have mercy upon ourselves and this nation one more time!

God loves this nation and has blessed us tremendously, but now we have departed from Him and served our false gods of materialism, immorality, of greed and avarice and the time has come to pay the proverbial piper! Is there any hope? Have we gone too far? As we have forsaken God, will He now forsake us and leave us to our own devices? Can the nation return from the brink of bankruptcy; from the precipice of ruin?

Yes, our nation and the people of it certainly can return to God! He is not willing that any should perish! Take a refresher course of His love and forgiveness in the cliff notes of John 3:16! He plainly tells us in His Word that if a nation or a people would repent, He would even withdraw His judgment and grant mercy! 

Father, in Jesus’ name we repent for the sins of our nation, of our leaders who have tossed aside the laws of God in the favor of the failing laws of man. Laws that are inferior to the laws of God that brings health and prosperity to a nation. Forgive us, as individuals, while we stood by silently for so long. We have failed to pray for your guidance and have been remiss in supporting godly men and women, unashamed of Christ and their relationship with Him, who ran for public office.  Give us righteous judges that will restore justice, for in many cases justice has not been served while your laws have been trampled.  And how can we render justice when we’re too weak as a nation to even allow the “Ten Commandments” to reside in our halls of justice.

Send an awakening to the nation and a reverential fear of God that flows from the halls of government to the local businessman, corporate heads, and right down to our dinner table as once again we give thanks to God who provides the very food we eat. Amen!

By Frank Blalock