Prayer for Revival on Good Friday

As I write this, I would really like to go to bed, but the Lord told me to get up and type this prayer and then to schedule it to be published on April 19th, 2019. This date has a special meaning to me: it is the 30 anniversary of when I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life. But it has special meaning to believers as Good Friday, the day that we remember Jesus’ death on the cross when He assumed all punishment for our sins, our many, various and repeated sins. 

And yet the Church today is sick, giving little thought as to how far we are from Christ and His ways. We need to repent. And so I offer this prayer:
Lord, let there be a revival in America and a renewal in Your Church throughout the world. We have let You and the world down. We have not lived as we should. We have sought to entertain ourselves rather than to find joy in Your Presence. We have sought our own comforts over the needs of our brothers. We have acted spiteful toward others instead of loving our enemies. We have not represented You or Your Kingdom well. We have not led well and for that we are truly sorry.
We are no better than our ancestors and prone to the same weakness. We focus on self and even look to You as the Provider of all our wants and desires, mistaking Your love and grace as a sign that You are our personal genie in a bottle with unlimited wishes. We follow in the steps of Adam, believing that we can choose what is good for ourselves rather than turning to You as Lord, God and Father, Who knows what is best for us, even if it is hard. We whine about your correction instead of thanking you, understanding that correction is a sign of a Loving Father. 
So change our hearts, minds, and habits of thought to make us as You want us to be. Change our habits so that we find pleasure in You. Draw us into your Presence and change us; fill us with Your joy. Let Your joy truly be our strength, and fan this flame in our hearts to pray, so that we pray just to be close to You and so that we pray for Your good and perfect will to be done in our lives and in the world around us. Rekindle in us the fire of Your Love and inspire us to join You in the work You are doing. Open our eyes to see that work, but don't let the work overshadow why we work or for Whom we work. 
Bring into our lives seekers and give us the words and actions to represent You well. We have no hope apart from You, and the people in this world need to know that You are the One True Hope for all mankind and for all the elect. So open our hearts, minds and souls to Your good and perfect will. Change our request from "Help me, Lord!" to "Show me how to best serve You, Lord!" And help us to pray. To set aside time to pray. Lord teach us once again how to pray and lead us into intercession for a worldwide revival! 
It's Good Friday, a day to remember who we are and what Christ has done for us. May we all truly turn toward God in a new and more tenacious fashion!

And all God's people say: Amen!

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