Sound the Shofar
Teshuva, Repentance is a Choice
9/25/20
Shalom Praying Friends,
Daily we are faced with decisions that require a choice and we are the only ones who can make it. We choose to get out of bed. We choose to get dressed and choose what we will wear. We choose to eat or not to eat. We choose to take action or defer. We choose to enter in fully with life or retreat. We choose who to listen to and who to reject. We choose to defy God or obey Him. We choose to repent of our iniquity or choose to wallow in it. We choose to forgive or we choose to swallow the pill of bitterness. We choose to be kind to others or we choose to cut them to the quick. We choose because the Lord gave us a free will when He chose to create us in His image.
As I write this to you, the faithful are gathering in Washington DC and throughout this nation answering the call to repent for our personal sins and of this nation. They are meeting in response to a call to Return to the Lord with a National and Global Day of Repentance.
2Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Why at this particular time? because it’s the time! Leviticus 23:1-2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
He then went on to list what those feasts were. There are seven. Right now, on the traditional Jewish calendar, we are in the midst of the "Days of Awe," the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah (the biblical holy day of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This period of introspection and repentance begins with the blowing of the shofar. This year, the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 23:31, known also as Yom Kippur, falls on Monday September 28. That date starts at the setting of the sun on the 27th. It is recognized as the most solemn of days as we approach the Lord to cleanse ourselves of all iniquity and to relinquish offense, bitterness and unforgiveness. It is marked by prayer and fasting as we repent of our sins and ask the Lord to forgive us. Oh what a burden we carry when we carry those heavy stones.
You might say, “But you’re not a jew, why do you remember the Lord’s Feasts?” I remember and observe because my heart is circumsized for the Lord. Romans 2:28-29 I’m in love with my Messiah and I want to answer His call. When we choose to renounce and repent of our sins, to release bitterness and unforgiveness, we discover that it is not someone else we have been punishing but rather ourselves who are being set free. Free to be in the liberty of the Holy Spirit of God. Free to fly, free to love, free to live. The prison door opens and we walk out free at last!
I don’t know about you, but my heart's desire is to walk free in the land of the living. I want the peace that comes beyond all understanding when I am in the will of God. I want my nation back, one nation under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, not separated by race or economic standing. I want the right to bear arms to protect myself and my loved ones. I want the right to declare my faith with out being spit on and my God cursed by demons in human hosts. I want the right to live in health and not mandated vaccines. I want the right to speak freely and not be muzzled by a mask. I want to breathe in the breath of the Holy Spirit and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Thats’s what I want…… I want to see our Bill of Rights and our Constitution respected again because its genesis is the Word of God.
In the last several months the Lord has called me to set everything aside, every cause and every concern and focus simply on Him and what He wants. Won’t you join me? Set yourself free to become who you were created to be. In His image? Our creator, the Great I AM, the Word, the Prince of Peace, Yeshua, the Lamb of God, waits for you on the portico of the Temple, He longs for you to meet Him there. He served the ultimate sacrifice for you to be set free!
Suggested Prayers of Repentance, please take your time as you meditate upon them and ask the Holy Spirit of God to reveal to you others that you can repent of, believe me we all have “others”:
Abba, Your Spirit has been calling out to us to return to You! You Lord, the Lord God Almighty, our Creator, You are merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth and You have called for us to return to You and repent of our sins. Exodus 34:6
It is written in Psalm 51:2, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”
It is written in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.”
It is written in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
It is written in James 5:16. “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Lord I confess that we, in fact I, have sinned and often, but today we are choosing Teshuva, to return to You and repent of our iniquities, though they be many. We are coming before You for release because we no longer want to be a prisoner to iniquity and defiance of You. You are our God and we will have no other god before us. We are making a choice today to walk in the Light of Your countenance and not in the dark and shadows of defiance. As we embrace Your spirit of Repentance, we do so not just for our family, nation and Your church but especially for ourselves and the choices we have made throughout the years.
As for our nation, the United State of America, I confess our foolishness, of denying You as the one true living God, our Creator, to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are simply by accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning. We renounce it as sin and repent of it. Elohim forgive us as a nation. We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess. I renounce it as sin and ask You to forgive us and cause Your Spirit of Fear of the Lord to come upon this nation.
I confess that our nation has believed that we are great because of our own worth and cleverness, that our prosperity is because we are great, while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from your hands. I confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don't need You. That is impossible thinking and it leads us to the edge of the abyss. We turn away from the abyss and turn toward You, Lord forgive our arrogance. Release truth and humility upon us. Will You forgive us and restore us to You?
I confess that we depend upon our military might and our weapons systems to defend us from harm and danger while denying, defying and ignoring You. You are our Deliverer, we have been prideful, forgive us and create in us a right spirit. I confess that our leadership in the military forces and often even the executive branch of government have promoted unjust wars in order to further their own wicked desires. Consequently much innocent blood has been shed. I confess their lies and their duplicity have brought heartbreak to families and nations as a result. I confess and repent for the military and leadership who acted under the color of authority to commit atrocities. Forgive us O Lord!
I confess that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism not just in our nation but in Your church and our desire to be inclusive so that we honor other gods as though You are just one of many. There is only one way to heaven and that is through the sacrifice and salvation of Jesus Christ. We renounce secular and religious humanism and ask You to forgive our errors.
I confess that we often feel entitled to what someone else has earned instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust in You. Covetousness is a sin. We renounce it and turn toward You. Forgive us Oh Lord and teach us the value of what You have bestowed, You are the supplier of all our needs, Jehovah Jireh!
I confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness. Happiness is not guaranteed but joy is when we are in alignment with the plans and purposes of heaven and You! We renounce all the consuming aspirations for the wealth, fame, recognition and ask for forgiveness for thinking we could replace You with worldly possessions and regard. Instead would You consume us in Your zeal!
I confess that our national greed has run up trillions of dollars of national debt. I confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves. Instead I renounce our poor stewardship as a travesty, is sinful and ask that You would forgive us our iniquity. Teach us oh Lord to live debt free!
I confess our national addiction to sex, to money, to pleasure, to entertainment, to pornography and sexual perversion, to technology, to drugs, to alcohol, to food, to television, to popularity, to ourselves. I renounce it as sin and ask You Lord to release strength to us as You forgive us for the willingness to deny ourselves that which is dangerous to our spiritual well being.
I confess that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies. Our main sources of media have created an elaborate illusion that has caused us to travel on the wrong roads. Forgive us for the deceptions, the lies, and shine Your light upon us. Remove the blinders from our eyes. I confess that we have become one nation under many gods divided and polarized, with license to sin and justice that often does not follow the rules of law, especially in our judiciary. They have ruled with unjust weights and measures and that is an abomination to You. We renounce it as sin and ask You to forgive us.
I confess that our legislators who took an oath before God and country to serve the people who elected them in righteousness, have enacted laws of desecration and perversion not only to You but they defile the people. They have become overweight in their extreme corruption. Forgive us O Lord and correct us.
Father God, on behalf of our nation, the United States of America, we repent and renounce as sin for the Central Intelligence Agency, known as the CIA, for their part in destabilizing and undermining nations of the world. We repent for their part in dehumanizing human beings created by You, by calling them “assets” and programming through mind control persons working in their employ, thereby destroying their free will. Father God have mercy and forgive our nation’s leaders for creating the CIA. We confess as sin and repent for their acts of treason committed to satisfy unholy desires and beliefs.
We repent for and renounce as sin, on behalf of all law enforcement officers on the federal, state and municipal level, who have participated in treason and sedition against this nation. For those, who took an oath to protect and serve the people through truth and integrity and then falsified testimony in a court of law to justify arrests. Father God have mercy and forgive us.
We repent for and renounce as sin, on behalf of any and all law enforcement officers on the federal, state and municipal levels who stole evidence or falsified written reports for personal gain or use, including to curry favor with higher authorities. We repent for the training officers who knowingly mentored false ideologies and principles when they were in a position to promote integrity, law and order. Father have mercy and forgive us.
We repent for all law enforcement officers who operated under the color of authority and applied the rule of law unjustly on the basis of race, gender or economic status. Forgive us O Lord!
I repent for the failure to thank You God for Your blessings or answers to prayer.. We confess as sin and repent for entering divorce in pursuit of happiness with no basis for the divorce, thereby the dissolution of the nuclear family, creating fatherless and motherless children. Forgive our selfishness Father God, have mercy on us. We confess and repent as sin when we, who are married, gossip about our spouse or display their faults for everyone to know, thereby diminishing them in the eyes of others. Forgive our sins Father, for tarnishing the covenant of marriage.
We repent for neglecting to read the Bible, Your Holy Scriptures, Going for a day…or days…or months…or years..without reading our Bible. Or reading it without remembering what we read.
We confess and repent for the ungodly belief that God will not give us what He has promised because He hasn’t given it to us yet. His timing is always perfect. When we don’t trust Him, we are believing He is not perfect and that is sin. Forgive us Lord.
We repent for wrong way prayer or absence thereof. When we offer God spiritual chatter, fantasy, wishful thinking, or daydreaming as prayer or we pray without fervent, focused faith, half hearted in our efforts. Forgive us Lord. We repent that we secretly believe we are better than someone else. We are offended when people say we’re wrong.That pride blinds us to Your Goodness and leads us in to:
Envy We confess jealousy of those who seem more recognizable than us. We struggle with hearing someone else praised. We repent.
Critical Spirit We find fault with others because they don’t measure up to our standards. We repent.
Slander We tell the truth about a person with the intention of causing people to think less of him or her. We repent.
Lying We have sought to impress someone with something that wasn’t the whole truth or was an exaggeration of the truth. We repent.
Hypocrisy We are pretending to be something we are not. We repent.
Temper We have lost patience with a child, coworker, friend, spouse, staff member, or another person so that we have spoken cross words. We repent.
Bad Temper We have lost control of our emotions, thoughts, and words so that we have abused someone else verbally. We repent.
Arrogance We have accepted God’s forgiveness while refusing to forgive myself or someone else. We repent.
Lord we ask you to cleanse us from all effects of the spirit of jezebel in our lives and the fear of man where we failed to speak out about the sin of abortion and the shedding of innocent blood. We repent for not doing the right thing even when Your Spirit was prompting us to speak out. We repent for disobeying You and bowing to the intimidation by man.
We repent for and renounce as sin on behalf of the Body of Christ for those who have failed to set an example of humility and repentance for fear that they would be considered less than who they are supposed to be. Father have mercy and forgive us. We confess and repent as sin for judging others when You alone are the True Judge who sits on the Throne of Righteousness. Forgive us o Lord!
We repent for and renounce as sin on behalf of those women in the Body of Christ, who wore and continue to wear immodest, seductive and revealing clothing to gain attention. Father have mercy and forgive us. As a whole we confess and repent as sin for entertaining impure thoughts and actions and even engaged in acts of adultery, fornication, sodomy, bestiality and all forms of perversion. Cultural changes are not acceptable when they oppose the Word of God and we shall not embrace them.
Father God on behalf of the Body of Christ in the United States of America, we repent for and renounce as sin for our failure of the Body to consistently pray for those in authority to include as well our pastors, employers and teachers as we have been instructed to do for our own well being. We confess and repent for the pastors who failed to shepherd their congregations in a Godly manner and stand on the Word of God due to fear and compromise. Father have mercy and forgive the Body of Christ.
We repent for and renounce as sin on behalf of those in the Body of Christ who gossip and betray confidences by means of prayer requests. Father have mercy and forgive them. We repent for and renounce as sin on behalf of those in the Body of Christ for releasing un-sanctified mercy even when the Holy Spirit said not to, thus disobedience against You. Father have mercy and forgive us.
We repent for and renounce as sin on behalf those in the Body of Christ for family members who did not help or give assistance to another family member in need despite having an abundance. This does not apply to family members who repeatedly squander their assets. Father have mercy and forgive us.
Father God on behalf of the Body of Christ in the United States of America and worldwide, we repent for and renounce as sin for our failure to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and even to preach a false Gospel that Israel has been replaced by the gentiles. Father have mercy and forgive us.
Father God on behalf of our nation, the United States of America, and for the Body of Christ at large, we repent for and renounce as sin for voting for and electing individuals who clearly did not represent us and in fact promoted ungodly and abhorrent practices of abortion, racism, anti-Semitism, changing of sex genders, same sex marriage and those sins which You call an abomination in Your Word. We repent for those in the Body of Christ who were mute and allowed this to happen and didn’t stand on Your Word. Father God Have mercy on us and forgive the Body of Christ.
Father God, on behalf of our nation, the United States of America we repent for and renounce as sin for the Body of Christ who did not vote in elections, thereby allowing the ungodly and evil to gain foothold in our nation. We repent for those who voted on the basis of old wounds and race and who did not vote according to the precepts of Your Word. Father have mercy and forgive the Body of Christ. Proverbs 14:34, 11:11
We repent for and renounce as sin for the teachers and instructors in our educational systems who have taught curriculum that denies Your existence even though they knew it was a lie. Especially those who had been taught the truth but through fear of loss of employment they complied. Father forgive them.
We repent for and renounce as sin for those in the medical and scientific professions who know who You are yet participated in abortions, gender change surgery, human experiments that are a perversion of Your law of creation, mind control experiments, development of bio weaponry and life destroying medications. Have mercy and forgive them. We repent for and renounce as sin for doctors who knowingly performed unnecessary surgical procedures only for profit and not to correct a necessary life function. Father have mercy and forgive them.
As we draw to conclusion our Teshuva and returning to You Lord, we ask that our names be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Revelation 20:12-15
We pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of our brethren and companions, We will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the Lord our God we will seek your good. Psalm 122:6-9 AMEN!
Stephania
Shofar Sounder