SCRIPTURES:
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants, the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.
DEVOTIONAL:
Daniel prays one of the most powerful prayers in Scripture—and it’s not even “his” sin. He identifies with the people: “We have sinned.” There’s a kind of spirituality that’s allergic to responsibility. It’s always “them.” But revival people don’t point fingers first - they humble themselves first.
Today, we confess not only personal sin, but the sin in our homes, churches, and land: apathy, compromise, racism, greed, sexual brokenness, violence, the devaluing of life, the worship of comfort, the neglect of the poor, the celebration of what God calls bondage. Corporate confession isn’t politics. It’s priesthood.
QUESTIONS:
1. Where have I blamed others instead of grieving before God?
2. What national/community sins do I feel the Spirit highlighting?
3. What would humility look like in my prayer life?
PRAYER:
Lord, we have sinned. Have mercy on us. Heal our land. Purify Your church. Start with me. Amen.
FASTING FOCUS:
Fast defensiveness. Let humility lead today.