On Level Ground

My Lord and Father,

I can only imagine how sad You may be when one of Your children falls prey to the principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, resulting in the spiritual wickedness of sin and evil. There is nothing any one has ever done that we are not capable of doing ourselves. So when we pray for our brother, Ted Haggard, we pray not out of pity or self-righteousness but with a humble spirit because we know that we are standing with him on level ground before the cross. Your Word tells us if we confess our sins You are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse of all unrighteousness.

Father, give this man and his wife the gift of your grace. Protect them from the constant accusations of the evil one who will seek to torment them, deny them sleep, tempt them to talk too much to the public, and arouse conflict between them as a couple and with their children. Send the right people into their lives who can provide the correct mixture of hope and healing love. Deliver them from people who will run to tell them things that they should not hear. Please restrain Ted and his wife, Gayle from making poor judgments in their most fearful of moments.

Lord, be ever present to the leaders and people of the New Life Church. Lord we ask that You comfort the NAE leadership which has to live with the side effects of this tragedy for years to come. Show Yourself strong to the people in the evangelical tradition who are now wondering who they can trust. Lord, I don’t know what else to pray for, but You know all things. We know so very little, but in You we trust and believe completely, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
In the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ we pray,

Amen.

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Authors:
Pastor and author Gordon MacDonald is chair of World Relief and editor-at-large of Leadership, and L. Johnson, author of the blog, A Heart of Worship-To My Sisters in Christ.