Unity and Repentance
This prayer was offered by Rev. Caleb Campbell as part of our August 14 prayer call.
Jesus, you have prayed to the Father that those who believe through the message of the disciples would be one, just as you and the Father are one. As you are in one another, so too you invite us to be one with you. You prayed, Jesus, in that high priestly prayer, that we would be brought to complete unity so that the world would know that you were sent by God the Father, and that the world may believe.
And so we pray for the unity of your church, thinking specifically about the church in America. We pray for unity in these coming months, and we ask, Lord, for your forgiveness for the ways in which we have sown disunity. We ask for forgiveness for the ways in which we have centered ourselves over others. We ask for forgiveness for the ways in which we have failed to show hospitality, failed to welcome the stranger and the outsider. We ask for forgiveness for the ways in which we've given ourselves over to rage, allowed for anxiety to overcome us, and placed our desires and needs over the needs of others.
We ask, Lord, that you would forgive us for pursuing the way of the sword and denying the way of the cross. And we recognize, Lord, that you are gracious, and ask that you would be gracious towards us.
For many of us, our faith in you has, to one degree or the other, faltered in these last few years. We ask that when we experience anxiety, you would be the bringer of peace. When we experience division in our families, in our congregations, in our communities, you would bring reunion and reconciliation.
When we experience rage, may our hearts find their rest in you. When the outlook is grim, may we fix our eyes upon you, Jesus, the bringer of all good things and bringer of ultimate hope.
And when we see nations rage, may we continue to live as steadfast ambassadors of reconciliation, as ones who put on display the values of the kingdom of God.
Jesus, may your church here in Phoenix, in Arizona, in Dallas, in Chicago, in New York, in LA, in Washington, in Wyoming, in North Carolina, in every other place in this union, be a model of your kingdom, living on earth as it is in heaven, practicing the fruit of your Spirit. May we be agents of reconciliation in the brokenness in our congregations and our families, in our workplaces and our communities.
We lament, Lord, that there has been and continues to be division around issues of cultural values, political commitments, and convictions around institutions that are outside of your kingdom. It’s in the midst of those divisions, Lord, that we pray for your reconciling, redemptive power.
We know, Jesus, that you have risen from the grave. We know that you have conquered over Satan, sin and death. We know that you stand victorious over evil and that you call every wayward heart to turn back to you, and that, like the father in the parable of the man with two sons, you stand ready to receive us back. It's in light of that amazing grace—your overwhelming love, compassion, and mercy—that we turn to you, seeking to live as agents of reconciliation in this season of division.
And so, as each of us think about broken relationships with people in our lives that have become—relationships that have become combative, where toxic tribalism and polarization have left us overwhelmed—we also entrust our friends and family and loved ones into your care. And we seek to restore them gently to the way of union, to the way of grace.
May we find in our own hearts that there is a space of humility and repentance. As we strive collectively as your church to follow you in this upcoming election season, we entrust ourselves, our churches, our families, and our communities into your care, knowing that you will never leave us or forsake us. Knowing that you are good, that you are loving, and that you are powerful to fulfill your promises towards us.
It is in your name, Jesus, that we pray.
Amen.
Caleb Campbell has been a pastor at Desert Springs Bible Church in Phoenix, Arizona, since 2006 and lead pastor since 2015. He is a doctoral student at Fuller Theological Seminary and serves as the regional director for the Surge Network. He lives in Phoenix with his wife and children. He is the author of Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor, available now from InterVarsity Press.
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