I Wonder...

I just finished reading Nehemiah. One of the things I like about Nehemiah's writing style is he puts short little prayers everywhere. As he's telling what the "bad" guys did to oppose the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, he just lights into a prayer asking God to deal with them. (Neh. 4:4-5) Then he goes on with his narrative.

Sometimes it's just one sentence like the end of Nehemiah 6:9 - strengthen my hands. Over in the New Testament writings, Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. I think Nehemiah already had that one down.

One of the most interesting things in the book is the prayer of confession of sins in Chapter 9. The people don't just confess their sins but go all the way back to the beginning to the promise God gave Abraham after calling him out of Ur. They confess the sins of their fathers starting with Moses in the wilderness and God's great mercies toward them and come forward until the present day. One theme is the people are stiff necked and sinful but God always forgives when the people cry out in their distress.

I wonder...what would happen if we could get the leaders in America to stand before the people and pray for forgiveness for the sins we've committed as a people, as a country. The hatred, the violence, the abortions, the homosexuality, the lust, the debt, the greed and on and on and on. But I think too often, Christ followers believe THEY have been unfaithful when in reality WE have been unfaithful. So maybe is we just confessed our sins more and then were more obedient God would respond in a favorable way to our country in our time of distress.