Cheatham Memorial Methodist Church

250th Anniversary Prayer for the Nation

FOUNDING WITNESS
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin urged the delegates to return to daily prayer, asking, “How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings?” He confessed, “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men… I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”

SCRIPTURE
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

FOCUS
On this 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, humble ourselves before God in gratitude and repentance, asking Him to heal what is broken and to bless the next 250 years with righteousness, mercy, and peace.

PRAYER (A Psalm style Prayer for the Nation)
O Lord our God,
You have been our dwelling place through every generation of this land.
You saw a people declare that all are created and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights,
and You have carried us through war and peace, through failure and fresh beginnings.

Yet we confess: we have often forgotten You.
We have trusted in our own strength and turned against one another.
We have called evil good and good evil;
we have been proud in our prosperity and slow to repent in our sin.

Have mercy on us, God of compassion;
do not repay us according to our transgressions.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Savior of the world and King above every nation,
You shed Your blood to break the power of sin,
You rose to bring new life to people from every tribe and tongue.

Turn our hearts from idols to Yourself;
teach us the narrow way of truth, justice, and sacrificial love.
Holy Spirit, breath of God,
come and move upon this land.

Humble our pride and soften our hardness;
expose what is crooked and cleanse what is unclean.

Teach us to pray when we do not know how;
groan within us for what pleases the Father.
Heal our land by first cleansing our hearts;
revive Your church, renew our homes, correct our leaders,

Lift up the poor, the wounded, and the forgotten;
let righteousness and mercy meet in our streets.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You have borne with us for 250 years by grace we did not deserve.
So we entrust the years to come into Your hands:
set Your truth at the center of our common life,
Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

Make this nation a place where life is cherished,
where liberty is ordered by love,
Where the longing for happiness
leads many to find their joy in knowing You through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For Yours is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, now and forever. Amen.

7/1/26 - Day 38 — Timely

Founding Witness: The founding generation believed they were living in a decisive hour that required both courage and dependence upon Providence. Wise prayer asks not only for change, but for faithfulness in the season at hand.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Focus: Trust God’s timing in the life of the church and the nation, praying for discernment to respond faithfully in the season now before us.

Prayer Prompt: Lord of time and history, teach us to discern the moment in which we live. Keep us from panic and presumption, and help us act faithfully, prayerfully, and courageously in the time You have given us.