Tefillah (Prayer) | The Prayer of the Qodesh Qadasheem | Confession and the Plea for Justice

I. The Confession: Owning the Breach

O YAH, the Great and Terrible GOD, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him and obey His commandments. We come before You today with a downtrodden spirit, shame of faces, humble hearts, and outstretched hands. We do not stand on our own righteousness, for we have none. We stand only on Your great mercies. As we stand in the breach for our people, we acknowledge that the "yoke of iron" was a result of a broken covenant by a hardhearted, stiff-necked, and rebellious people.

We confess, O Elohim, that we have sinned. We and our forefathers have dealt very corruptly against You. You gave us the Statutes of Life, the Paths of Peace, and the Wisdom of Your Word, and consistently told us to seek the ancient paths, but we turned our backs on you, our true and living waters for broken cisterns that cannot hold water. We went after the idols of the nations; we desired to be like the people around us rather than being the set-apart nation You called us to be.

• We confess that we ignored Your Sabbaths and made light of Your Law.
• We confess the stiff-necked pride of our ancestors who silenced the prophets You sent to warn us.
• We confess our own current mental slavery—how we still cling to the traditions of our captors and still bear the names of those who oppressed us.

We admit, O Judge, that the curse did not come without cause. We acknowledge that the ships, the auctions, and the chains were the fruit of our rebellion. We accept the punishment of our iniquity, for You are just in all that has come upon us. You are righteous, but we are covered in sin and iniquity, and we love it so.

II. The Plea: A Call for the Judgment of the Nations

But now, O YAH, look upon the "Cost of Free Labor." Look upon the nations that took Your heritage and treated them inhumanely, and sought to destroy us as a nation. Though You used them as a rod of correction, they exceeded their bounds with "very sore displeasure." They helped forward the affliction with a heart of malice.

Arise, O YAH, in Your anger! Lift Yourself up because of the rage of our adversaries.

• Judge the Nations, O Most High, for the blood that cries out from the soil of America and throughout the four corners of the earth; blood that has never been covered. Blood that the earth still remembers. As it is written in Isaiah 34:8, "For YAH has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion."
• Judge the Ledgers, for the wealth built upon the bodies of Your children. They have treated our people as chattel; they treated the image of GOD as a line item in a bank book. We call upon the promise of Micah 5:15, "And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey."
• Judge the Merchants, who cast lots for Your people and sold a boy for a prostitute and a girl for wine. Let their silver and gold be worthless; let the systems they built on the backs of slaves become the weight that destroys them. We declare the word of Nahum 1:2, "YAH is a jealous and avenging Elohim; YAH is avenging and wrathful; YAH takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies."

Do not let the "statute of limitations" of men stand in Your courtroom. You are the GOD who remembers the end from the beginning. As it is written in Jeremiah 51:56, "For YAH is a GOD of recompense; He will surely repay." Take the "cup of trembling" from our hands and place it firmly in the hands of those who afflicted us,  murdered us, scattered us, and now vex us, for Isaiah 63:4 declares, "For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come."

III. The Petition for Restoration

O YAH, hear! O YAH, forgive! O YAH, listen and act! For Your own sake, do not delay. Restore the identity of the Dry Bones. Release us from the grips of gross darkness. Breathe Your Ruach into our minds so that we may no longer be slaves to the world’s idols, customs, and traditions.

Let the nations know that You are the Shield of Israel. Let them see that though we were sold for nothing, we are redeemed without money by the power of Your outstretched arm.

We wait for Your judgment, not with the hatred of men, but with the hope and justice of the Covenant. Gather us from the four corners of the earth so we may give thanks and praise to your holy name. Let Your Kingdom come, and let Your Justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. Selah!

GOD still loves you, Israel. The call remains the same: Choose Life, Choose Blessing, Choose Undivided Devotion. Repent, Return, and be free from the groass shadows of darkness. 

I hope this prayer has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. Shalom qodesh qadasheem - the “set apart ones.”