How We Should Pray

by JRP Ministry Staff on 04/10/20

Father,

We as your Church have become arrogant and proud, thinking and acting as if we have need of nothing, when in fact we have nothing (Rev 3:17).

We agree with you and confess that we are blind, naked, wretched, miserable and poor (Rev 3:17).

We have habitually and systematically, with wicked intent, grieved your Holy Spirit by not allowing Him to have His liberty as we gather in your name.

We have stood in the way of your power flowing to your flock and to the world, proudly believing we could fulfill the Great Commission on our own.

We have stood and are standing in the way of your Holy Spirit making His dwelling among us, which has grieved your heart.

We have not judged ourselves properly for our sins of disobedience and luke-warmness, therefore you have brought this calamity upon us and this nation.

We have not cried out to you regarding the slaughter of the unborn.  We have not supported the sanctuaries that you have established and the ministers you have raised up to work at the front-line against the wickedness that kills your offspring.

We have not been faithful stewards of the resources that you have entrusted to us, but rather we have bowed down to the idols of recreation, leisure, comfort and sports.  We have wasted our money on the things of this world without consulting you.

We have moved in the sin of presumption and have become experts in doing our own thing under the pretense of Christian ministry. 

We have not consulted you or waited for your counsel regarding issues that demanded revelation. 

We chose to move in the wisdom of this age and lean on the wisdom of man, rather than waiting for your Holy Spirit to reveal what you wanted to do.

We have made choices, habitually committing the sin of presumption, for so long, that we have completely lost our way.

We have gone astray thinking we didn’t need your Holy Spirit to lead, guide and protect us in real time, when in fact our stubborn, wicked and independent heart has brought us to destruction and we are now surrounded by evil.

We have been committed to a course where we are the first line of defense against the outpouring of your Holy Spirit you told us would come.

We have loved the praise of man, rather than the approval that only comes from you, and as a result we have been disobedient to your word, your voice as well as the leading and prompting of your Holy Spirit.

We chose to preach the words of men and the wisdom of this age, rather than what your Holy Spirit wanted us to preach that comes by revelation within the framework of your truths set forth in Scripture.

We have muddied the waters and have tread down the pasture for your flock by moving in pride and arrogance to secure our position in your house, effectively frustrating your will (Ezekiel 34:17-23).

We have attempted to remove the truths of your word regarding the fact that you do move in judgment.  We chose not to believe those truths and preached lies to your flock and to the lost.

We do not have eyes to see, ears to hear or a heart to understand the full extent of our sin (Deuteronomy 29:4, Isaiah 6).

We stood in judgment against our government and the school system for their decision to remove prayer from our schools, yet we have systematically and habitually kept you out of your own house.

We have actively recruited those who were never called to minister or to be leaders, to take places of authority in your Church, failing to understand that you alone know who is to minister in the anointing that only comes from you.

We have participated in leadership and committee meetings where we looked for an answer in the horizontal, i.e. from men, rather than seek your wisdom and counsel.

We have embraced the corporate systems to manage and lead your Church, when we should have sought your wisdom that you are more than willing to share; we would not wait for you to move.

We have a form of religion but we actively and persistently deny your power, living in direct contradiction to your word that our faith should not rest on the wisdom of man, but upon the power of your Holy Spirit.

We have built buildings without your approval and we have designed programs we call ministry that are not by your Holy Spirit.

We have substituted activity for true ministry that comes by following your Holy Spirit.

We presumed upon your grace due to our pride and arrogance, believing the lie that you would never bring judgment upon United States or your Church in this nation. 

We refuse to accept the fact that your house is in ruins.

We have not listened to you or the prophets that you have sent to warn us.  Time and again we have allowed our ears to be tickled, but we refused to change.

We have put up numerous barriers to your gifts operating in your house.  We under-mind the wisdom you demonstrated in the founding of your Church on the day of Pentecost.

We taught your people that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today or that they weren’t necessary for the establishing of your kingdom on the face of the earth.

We have taken our stand against the Holy Spirit, moving in rebellion, while many of our leaders stand guilty of high treason against you.

We have not fed your flock fresh bread or Living Water.  Instead, we fed them what others were saying and what we reasoned we should feed your flock, rather than receiving nourishment for your sheep in, by and through your Holy Spirit.

We have relied upon strategic marketing campaigns to attract people, rather than following your guidance.  In seeking to be relevant to the world, we have become irrelevant to your kingdom.

We actively fought against your Holy Spirit as you brought up the spiritual David’s in this hour.  Due to our jealousy and pride, we have forced them to stay in places they were neither called to nor destined to move in.  In doing so, we have actively stood against your Holy Spirit.

We allowed the enemy to fill the void left in the absence of prophetic dreams, visions and revelation, that permitted pornography to infiltrate your ranks bringing millions into bondage.

We refused to discipline and correct the unruly, the disobedient and the apostate (those who have turned from Orthodox Christianity), thereby signaling to your flock that their teaching and behavior was acceptable in your house.

We have allowed the apostate to rule in your house in the name of unity, thereby compromising and denying the truth set forth in your word.

We offered nothing to those practicing homosexuality because we have long lost the true reality of the Cross and the power of the Holy Spirit to set the captive free from all forms of darkness.

We have made Christianity a matter of the mind and self-discipline, rather than the truth of the power of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus who is our righteousness.  We have taught believers to settle for a set of do’s and don’ts rather than setting their eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.

We have not and do not love you.  We have not and do not want you.  We confess all of this wickedness and we ask for your forgiveness because of the sacrifice of your Son.  Our hearts have turned to stone, but we ask for a heart of flesh that only you can provide.

We have moved in presumptuous sin believing that you would protect us when we gathered in worship.  We took the bait of Satan thereby putting you to the test because of our pride and arrogance.

We have moved in careless disregard of our neighbor by defying the civil authority you instituted and because of this, we have caused the world to blaspheme your Name.

We have not demonstrated or manifested the power exhibited on the day of your resurrection yet we stand defiant claiming that you stand with us in our gatherings.

We easily see the darkness in the world but are blind to the darkness that you have allowed to fill your house because we would not allow your Holy Spirit in the front door.

We demanded that your sheep work harder and do more because of the threat of evil that stands to destroy, rather than guiding them into the rest of the Lord and the truth that it is not by might, nor by power, but by your Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

We have refused to acknowledge our guilt, our error, our pride, our arrogance and our complete disregard for your Holy Spirit who you sent to lead us in your truth.

Our sins are great and have caused you to release your righteous judgments.

We are guilty for conducting services and living lives that the world has rightly repudiated as being without power or life.

We have spurned your Holy Spirit causing a great falling away of the flock you have entrusted to us, disregarding your truth that the kingdom of God is not merely words but power.

We remember your great promise to us in II Chronicles 7:13-14 –

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 (NASB95)

¹³ “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

You have defined our wicked ways and we agree with your position regarding our guilt.  I acknowledge my guilt; you have judged all of us correctly.  You have called us to turn from what we have confessed above.  Hear our cry!  We seek your face!  Come and dwell among us for that is our desire.

Forgive us because of your great Name.  Heal us of our backslidden condition.  Open our eyes to our spiritual poverty before you.  You are our Lord and we honor you.  We have utterly failed you as the Church.  We throw ourselves on your great mercy.  Cleanse us and we will be white as snow.  Demonstrate to us again how great and powerful you are, and we will testify of your great love for the world you have called us to witness to.