January 2, 2021 Prayer - Purifying the Sheep Church

Lord God,

You are our Sun and Shield.  You bestow favor and honor and do not withhold good things from those who walk blamelessly with you.  So, on this second day of a new calendar year, Good Shepherd, we pray you would cleanse your Church and her People of all unrighteousness and unholiness.  Purify us from sin in our individual lives.  Forgive us as individuals and as a Church for our complacency, our ignorance, and our idolatrous striving to build our own kingdoms, to fill our bank accounts, and to fulfill our own dreams.  Forgive us for our inattention to your Spirit's call and oud dabbling with worthless, fleshly, even evil things in this world.  We bow our hearts and bend our knees; we turn our eyes from evil things and cast down our idols.  Spirit, make us humble so we are a generation that seeks your face, God, and your will and your ways.  We know that it is better to spend even just one day in your courts - to be a doorkeeper at your house - than to spend any time elsewhere, especially in the tents of the wicked.  Make your Church ready for your call to the next season of ministry.  Separate the "sheep" in your Church from the "goats," and especially root out any and all "wolves" and others who sully your Bride and your Kingdom purposes.  Prepare your people to help you seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak.  Destroy the fat, strong, and wicked; feed them in your justice so that your Name is known as Mighty and Righteous.  For the Glory of King Jesus and the readiness of His Bride we pray, Amen. 

"Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless." (Psalm 84:10-11)

"I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.  I will feed them in justice." (Ezek. 34:16 ESV)

"“And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats." (Ezek. 34:17 NLT)

"We bow our hearts

We bend our knees
Oh, Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes
From evil things
Oh, Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
And give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
And give us clean hands
And give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh, God let us be
A generation that seeks
Who seeks Your face, oh, God of Jacob..." 

"Give Us Clean Hands" by Charlie Hall