March 1, 2021 | Prayer by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, NCNW National Chaplain and President of Skinner Leadership Institute
True and living God, you alone are worthy of all praise, glory, and honor. Lord, you are blameless in all your ways, so I look to you and your word as the truth about how we, who put our faith in you, should live. For you said in your word, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1.4).
Today, O Lord, my heart grieves that the nation I love so deeply was birthed in the untruth, etched into our very constitution, that all “men are created equal.” Yet, the slaughter of Indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, the removal of Chinese and retention of Japanese, the abuse of Hispanics, the exploitation of poor whites, and the devaluing of women continue to sustain inequitable structures today and is the truth of who we are.
Your truth, O God, sets us free, so I repent on behalf of our hurting nation and pray that followers of Jesus will confess the lie of white supremacy on which our nation was founded and structures of benefits erected, wounding so many of your children of color. Forgive us, even within our own race, for failing to uplift one another. Help us to tear down idols of race, class, gender, or any other that leads to systems that favor some of your children over others. Help us to acknowledge that America’s current racial division is deeply rooted in the failure to speak truthfully about our historic roots so that you might heal our land.
And then, O God, as we work to perfect our union, embolden us, as your people to honor, and protect the “imago dei,” the image of God, in every person making them worthy of honor, value, and dignity as citizens. Fix our hearts to cry out for you to mold our character like yours, that we might walk in your truth, live in your truth, and act in your love toward all your children. In your mighty name, I pray, Lord Jesus, AMEN!
