I pray today, Jesus, for Your bride, the Church. It must hurt You to see all our sin and rebellion, all our fighting and backbiting. It’s presumptuous, I know, to think I can ever enter the ache of Your heart for Your children. Even so, as best as I can, I repent of my sins and the sins of my people. We have scorned You in so many ways:
• by prostituting our integrity for the sake of personal advantage, forgive us O Lord;
• by loving our structures more than Your Church, forgive us O Lord;
• by disregarding those who are precious to You, forgive us O Lord;
• by working as if we are the ones in charge, forgive us O Lord.
Forgive. Heal. Restore. Amen.

My little child, I am pleased that you would come to me in this way.
Gladly I forgive! Gladly, I heal! Gladly, I restore! Welcome Home!
from Richard Foster’s Prayer Treasury