Incline Your ear to our nation, O Lord. Hear our cry. Bring us out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set our feet upon the Rock. Establish our steps, Lord.
Put a new song in our mouths, a song of praise to You, so the whole world will hear it and see it and trust in You.
Help us to make You, and You alone, our trust. Save us from turning aside to lies. Your thoughts towards each one of us cannot be recounted; they are more than can be numbered.
Help us delight to do Your will, O God. Write Your law within our hearts.
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from us, Lord, but let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve us. Innumerable evils have surrounded us. Our iniquities have overtaken us so that we are not able to look up. Our hearts are failing us. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver our nation. Make haste to help us!
Let us learn again to seek You, rejoice in You, be glad in You. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation, so that everything we do magnifies You.
We Americans are poor and needy and don’t even know it, Lord. Yet You still think of us. You alone are our help and deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. From Psalm 40
The prayer of Nehemiah:
O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God Who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for Your people in America. I confess that we have sinned against You. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations You gave us in Your Word. (from the Message: We have treated You like dirt: We haven’t done what You told us, haven’t followed Your commands, and haven’t respected Your Word.)
Please remember what You told Your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for My name to be honored.’
The people You rescued by Your great power and strong hand are Your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those who delight in honoring You. What joy for the nation whose God is You, Lord, whom You have chosen to be Your people! Nehemiah 1:5-11 NLT, Psalm 33:12
Father, I pray for all the people of this nation. Please help us; I am crying out to You on behalf of every individual citizen; I give You thanks for each and every one. I pray especially for our leaders and everyone who is in authority, so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. For when there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. We desperately need wise and knowledgeable leaders to bring us stability. I know this pleases You, Father, because You want everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Proverbs 28:2
Transform our pledge into our prayer: that we become one nation, under You; indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (From the Pledge of Allegiance)
Lord, may we obey Your command to love others as You have loved us. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. Teach me to love like You, Jesus. John 15:12-13
I did not reprint it here, but I invite you to go to the Sow Love home page for the prayer of St Francis.