The Desolate City

Lent & Beyond is focusing on praying for the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans next month. The reason that prayer is the place to turn, as it always has been, is explained well here. At Lent & Beyond they have been praying through a scripture that has been before them from Daniel:

Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9:17-19

We too join in praying for that gathering. We'll be onsite in New Orleans standing watch and praying as well. As mentioned at Lent & Beyond, it's difficult to know what to pray for and how to pray. Perhaps the place to begin is with our own repentance, our own desperate need for Jesus. See Daniel's plea, "We do not make requests of you because we are righteous..." Our authority is not based on our own testimony, but on the testimony of the Lord, "because of your great mercy," as Daniel says. Standing on that truth, we can pray in confidence, not in our own righteousness, but in His. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.