declaration of repentance
A Declaration is an emphatic statement either written or spoken.
The vision of America was born when Continental Congress announced their intention to form a new nation when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. Prayer is something most don’t like to do in public. It is a conversation between God and you. But prayers can also be made as declaration. The word ‘declare’ in Hebrew is saphar which can be translated as speak, tell, write, reckon, celebrate, score. A prayer declaration is when you make a public prayer of repentance.
make a bold step
Love And Loyalty
Love and loyalty, is generally personal but can also be expressed publicly as a formal declaration of love. When you make a prayer declaration of repentance, you are taking a step to publicly make known about your love and loyalty to your Creator. “Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before people I, too, will acknowledge before my Father in heaven ” (Mat 10:32). In other words, whosoever shall acknowledge or covenant or confess the Lord before people, such a person He will never forsake to acknowledge before the Father. “But I tell you, the Son of Man will acknowledge before God’s angels everyone who acknowledges me before people.” (Luk 12:8). If you acknowledge your covenant with Him here on earth, He will acknowledge yours in heaven. By making a public confession you are renewing your covenant with the Lord and acknowledging your love and loyalty to Him.
Person
Daniel was an exile most of his life since his teenage years. Daniel was a 80 year old statesman in the kingdom of Persia when he prayed in Daniel chapter 9. It is an excellent model for prayer of repentance. Nehemiah, burdened by the ruins of Jerusalem started his mission by a prayer of repentance. Parts of Daniel’s prayer Nehemiah prayed a century later in 444 B.C. Daniel was not a prophet in the cadre of Jeremiah or Isaiah or the rest of the Minor Prophets in the Bible. He was more of a statesman. He worked as a Government adviser and a Prime Minister. Nonetheless, Daniel’s book is considered as one of the most profound prophetic books in the Bible. Daniel earnestly believed and followed God’s leading in His life. He was a student of God’s word and his prayer was inspired by prophet Jeremiah (Jer 29:12-14). “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
Promise
If Daniel as a statesman prophesied 600 years before Christ, there is a greater promise given to all the sons and daughters to be able to prophesy as a result of the Holy Spirit in Act 2:17. One does not have to be a professional prophet in order to prophesy; you can be a doctor, engineer, musician, school-teacher or even a politician and be a diligent follower of God like Daniel. You can access the mysteries of God and prophesy like Daniel did and make a impact in your generation. Daniel followed God in one of the most adverse political culture to practice his faith. Yet he did not waver in his destiny. He was able to hear and prophesy in the midst of busyness and noise around. His life is an encouragement for us to seek God and experience the fullness of the Spirit in our generation even in the most difficult cultural conditions. The promise of the Spirit is a clarion call to the sons and daughters of our day to step out and be a heaven’s voice. Repentance is the starting point.
Purpose
Daniel when he prayed, he prayed according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. First, he humbled himself. Daniel not only decides to seek God’s face. He accompanied his prayer with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. In humility he decided to pray and make confession. “I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing…” (Dan 9:4). Most of us pray when we have needs or when we have something we want done, or when faced with something beyond our ability to deal with. Daniel pleaded for God’s mercy according to the promise God had already made in His word. He saw prayer as a way of being involved in what God intended to do. James explains, “You do not have, because you do not ask,” (James 4:2). Prayer is so important in God’s sight. It is the trigger that moves the hand that moves the things on earth. He can delay doing what He said He would do only if we stop praying or ask with wrong motives (James 4:3). To humble before God and praying with repentance is foundation of a God-centered prayer. It moves us away from a self-centered prayer of satisfying only our selfish needs.
declaration of repentance – based on Daniel Chapter 9
I am setting this time apart to seek your face O God, my Lord. First, I come before you confessing my own sins before I lift up the sins of my people and my nation. I come before you as your chosen son/daughter through the blood of the atonement of Christ. I plead your mercy to forgive my shortcomings.
I revere you in worship as you are the supreme magistrate of all living beings and the creator of the universe. You are great and mighty in all your actions. All your deeds are perfect.
I don’t have any merit or deserve an answer to my prayer before you. I know your love is everlasting. You long that we love you like you loved and offered your life for us. We cannot love you on our own. Therefore you send your Spirit to reprove and rebuke us like your dear children. You chastise us so that we can draw closer to you willingly. You don’t have to treat us with such great love. But you choose to do so because you are merciful.
Furthermore you have given us a covenant. You keep your covenant which is your word. We have gone far from your covenant. We have done wickedly in our actions and have caused trouble to come upon us. Moreover, we also have nourished a rebellious lifestyle that caused us to depart from your holy word. We have misaligned with your divine will. We pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We have also neglected and not paid attention to your servants that have spoken to us from your word. Despite your warning and counsel to us time and time again we backslid. We have let the consequences of our sins spread to our families, churches and nation and have further departed from you.
I therefore confess on behalf of my own family and generational sins. I also confess our backsliding on behalf of our president, members of executive branch, elected officials, government and military leaders, and judges. I confess on behalf of all the people of the land as you showed us to love our neighbors regardless of color and race.
O Lord, all sort of justice, virtue and prosperity comes from you. You are a perfect father and all good things come from you. When I come to seek your face all I carry is shame, idolatry and chaos as the result of my iniquities and the sins of my families, leaders and people.
My people and I have been unfaithful to you. Because we haven’t humbled ourselves before you you humiliated us. But you always long for us to come back to you. Our rulers, officials, and our generations, we’ve sinned against you. We approach your face based on your compassion, pardon and covenant and not on our merits or the work of our hands.
Moreover, we have abandoned to raise our children in the fear of the Lord or have them experience the love of God. Consequently the enemy sow tares while we were sleeping and our generations have complied with the culture and ways of this world. They have provoked you to anger and have forsaken you as Lord. Consequently, they have fallen into worship of the modern versions of Baal and the Ashtarot as in Judges 2:10-13. Our future generations have abandoned you and don’t know you. We have not valued you as the Master and Lord of our lives. Therefore our land and our generations no longer recognize sin and continue in the path of justifying sin calling good evil and evil good. Open our eyes and bring us into desperation to see the status quo that we have been tolerating. Do not let us sink deeper into our sins deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we will worship You wholeheartedly again (1 Sam 12:10). We ask for forgiveness not only for our sins but also for rejecting your pardon and freedom through your Son’s atonement.
After sending your warning and the calamity that we rightly deserve we still haven’t entreated you with pricking of our hearts for your favor or understanding of your truth-faithfulness (Dan 9:13)
You bought us out of the Satan’s kingdom by the blood of Jesus and by your mighty hand and your will. No situation we are in now is not too much for you to deliver us. We confess that all your transactions are just and righteous towards us and it is we who have not obeyed your voice.
As your adopted son/daughter I come and beseech on behalf of your mercy and your righteous acts, please turn your anger and wrath away from your church. Because of our sins and the iniquities of our generations, we have become an embarrassment to all of those around us. So now, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and look with favor on your desolate assembly for your own name sake. Cause your face to be luminous upon your remnant that is ruined and shine upon us again because your name is attached to your church and your people. Therefore hear intelligently, forgive, take action and do not delay any further on account of your great character and authority attached to your name upon your land and your people.
We acknowledge that repentance is not a one-time deal. Help us to come regularly to receive mercy and grace in the time of need. Let us not harden our hearts again and delay to repent when we hear your voice according to your word that says, “Today, if you hear your voice harden not your hearts”. Let us not test you again with our unbelief, rebellion, rather let us not depart from living in holy fellowship with you 24 hours and 365 days of our remaining lives.
We see ungodliness and perilous times continue to arise-self-lovers, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Help us to turn away from such. (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Our people still rage and our nations continue to devise worthless things. Our rulers have revolted and have taken counsel together against the LORD and against your Anointed. Despite all that, give us wisdom to execute whatever Your hand and Your will had previously decreed to take place as it is in heaven on earth. Grant us boldness to liberally share your good news. Send healing, and wonders and the miracles which are done in the name of your holy Son Jesus amidst persecution or difficult times ahead (Acts 4:25-30).
Let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your son/daughter and Your servant that I am praying before You on behalf of Your servants, Your people and Your land (Neh 1:6).
Samuel Langdon, Harvard President, May 1775
My brethren let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance…
Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic, 1861
He has sounded forth the trumpet
That shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men
Before His judgement seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him;
Be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.