Declaration of dependance

When in the course of human events we come to the end of our resources and recognize that we are unable to solve the world’s problems on our own, it becomes necessary to dissolve the illusions that have connected us to our false hopes in armaments and political platforms, in education and government programs, and to assume among the powers of the earth the humble and repentant station to which Nature and Nature’s God has called us.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are equally sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. 

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We were not created this way. We and our ancestors chose it—even the ones who founded this great nation. To recognize our sinfulness even those of us who have “lived a good life” have only to examine our hearts and honestly confess our moral failures. God’s glory is evident in the star-spangled heavens  where we clearly see His eternal power and divine nature and in the stripes on our Lord’s back. We fall short—far short. 

And so, O God, we declare this day our dependence on you. 

We cannot end the wars in Syria or Afghanistan. On our own we can’t even solve the conflicts in our homes.

We can’t stop wild fires or turn back flood waters. We can’t even tame our own tongues.

We have shown ourselves to be inept stewards of both our economy and of Your creation, struggling to make use of Your good gifts without destroying them in the process.

After all the discussion, we still don’t see our way clear to just solutions in immigration or medical care. 

Despite the best efforts of our most skilled teachers and youth workers new generations grow up unmotivated to work or study, choosing self-indulgence over their families and even their own well-being. 

Putting this nation back to work, housing the homeless and pulling banks in Europe and North America back from the brink of ruin is all beyond the smartest people we know. 

We fall on our knees, O God, and declare our dependence on you. We have neglected your worship and abandoned your laws. We have loved justice only when it suited our own purposes, begrudged mercy unless it was toward ourselves and walked arrogantly away from You.

We humbly ask your forgiveness and declare our dependence on you—our just and merciful Judge—to lift us out of this mess and set us on solid ground. 

We depend on you—the Light of the world—to give us understanding and show us the way forward. 

We depend on you—Hope of the nations—to grant us wise leadership in the fall elections. 

We depend on you—our Refuge and our strength, our ever-present help in trouble—to protect us from enemies in our midst and abroad. 

We depend on you—our loving Father, our great High Priest, the Good Shepherd who is Himself the spotless Lamb—to transform the hearts of Your people so that we may be salt and light in the communities in which You have placed us.

For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Your divine Providence, may we mutually pledge to You our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. 

If you would like to declare your dependence on God, feel free to put your "John Hancock" here and share this on Facebook or elsewhere as you pray for revival.

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
--Daniel 2:20-22