Repentance That Brings Healing to a Nation
I have written in a number of my books about the power of history. I have written about healing history. We should not sweep under the rug the mistakes we have made. We need to talk about the fact that we broke covenants with the First Nations peoples. We need to learn about the slavery issue. We need to understand the effect on our nation of abortion and the shedding of innocent blood. We can’t just ignore these things. They have to be forgiven and healed.
I have talked about identificational repentance. We can repent for the sins of our fathers and forefathers. God honors that. I have given biblical examples of this. In “The Way Back”, “Giants Will Fall”, and “Appeal to Heaven”, I speak of these things. No one that understands scripture is saying that we should ignore the past and act like it never happened. What we do teach is that we can repent for the sins of the past, and then the iniquities of the fathers are not passed on to the next generations. Also, God can begin to heal the wounds.
There has been much repentance in America over our past sins. A lot of people protesting probably don’t know that. There are probably a lot of people in Native American communities, African American communities, and others, that don’t know that. Yet, there is a large element within the praying Church that understands this and has done a lot of it over the last 20 or more years. I am talking about 1000s of people and thousands of times. I have been in gatherings myself with thousands of people that prayed prayers of repentance over the sins of our ancestors.
So, there has been a lot of intercession and a lot of repentance. I believe that because of that God is now able to cause healing. This is because when we repent and there is forgiveness, it brings release. Luke 6:36 says, “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” It also says, “Release and you’ll be released.” When we forgive and pray prayers of repentance, there is more than a verbal forgiveness. There is a release that happens. We are released from the guilt and shame. The access given to Satan to accuse, steal, kill, and destroy, is cut off.
I believe that America, because of this repentance, is now at a place where healing can come. God will heal hearts, but also the scars, the pain, and the injustice. These things can now be changed. Evil iniquity and sin are no longer flowing through the cord of history. It has been broken through prayers of repentance. The blood of Jesus has been applied and healing can now come.
“‘Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.’ If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” (Matthew 6:12-14; NLT)
Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:
Thank the Lord that He has allowed the chaos in the nation, so that we can see the work that still needs to be done.
Thank the Lord for the thousands of people who have prayed thousands of prayers over the years in repentance for the many sins of our nation.
Thank Him for leading us to repentance and forgiving those who forgive others and releasing us from any further generational bondage as a result.
Ask the Lord to show acknowledgement and fruit of repentant prayers.
Say, “God has heard our prayers of repentance. He has forgiven and He is healing our nation!”
A prayer you can pray:
God, we are thankful today! Our nation is in another cycle of turmoil. Rather than be afraid, let the Ekklesia be thankful to see the work that still needs to be done. We have come far, but there’s another layer here. You have given us the key to deal with much past sin and pain with the gift of identificational repentance. It is so encouraging to hear of the thousands of people who have prayed thousands of times for forgiveness for the sins of our forefathers. Thank You for identificational repentance. Thank You for breaking our hearts for what breaks Yours. Thank You for forgiving us as we press toward love and unity in the bond of peace.
Lord, begin to show how far we have come. There have been times of healing and all is not lost. Manifest the fruit of repentance where all can see it. We believe You have heard our prayers of repentance, You have forgiven, and You are healing our nation! We will continue to pray and love and act until we see a clear turnaround in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today’s decree:
God is healing injustice in America.