Gracious God, author of liberty and giver of every good gift, we come before you this Independence Day with a spirit of gratitude and celebration. Two hundred fifty years ago, a fledgling nation dared to declare that all people are created in your image, endowed with rights no earthly power can rightly take away. From the mountains to the prairies, thank you for holding our nation together through all the seasons of this quarter-millennium.

Yet even as we celebrate, we come humbly, for we know that gratitude without honesty is hollow. We confess our sins, both as a nation and against one another. Forgive us for the times we have wielded freedom as a weapon instead of a gift to be shared. Forgive us for the walls we have built where you call us to build bridges — walls of suspicion, contempt, and pride that separate neighbor from neighbor, family member from family member. Forgive us for the harsh words spoken too quickly and the listening ear withheld too long. As your Word promises, “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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). Hear us now, Lord, and heal our land.

We pray for those who lead us — in this nation, our states, and our communities. Strip away, we ask, every hint of selfish ambition and self-interest that so easily takes root in seats of power. Clothe our leaders instead with moral integrity and political wisdom, that they might govern not for personal gain or party advantage, but for the true good of all people, especially the most vulnerable among us.

We pray for the great gulf that divides so many of your children — by politics, by race, by class, by conviction. Heal it, Lord, and create among us a spirit of unity. Where we have made enemies of those who simply see differently, restore us to one another. Teach us, we pray, that working with one another and truly listening to each other accomplishes so much more than working against each other. Give us the humility to hear before we speak, and the grace to disagree without being disparaging.

And in this season of loud allegiances, remind us that our first and highest loyalty belongs to you alone. From sea to shining sea, may our allegiance to you, O God, rise above our loyalty to any other alliance, affiliation, party, or platform. Let our citizenship in your beloved commonwealth shape our citizenship in our beloved nation, and not the other way around.

Finally, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who identified himself with the hungry, the stranger, the imprisoned, and the forgotten, we pray for the least of these among us — the poor, the sick, the lonely, the overlooked. Give us eyes to see them as you see them, and hands willing to serve them as we would serve you.

As we mark two hundred fifty years of this nation’s story, make us responsible stewards of the freedom we have inherited and faithful servants of the One who makes us free indeed. Forge in us the faith and courage to become a more perfect union, a nation that truly pursues liberty and justice for all.

We pray in the name of the One who teaches us to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgives you.” (Ephesians 4:32)  Amen.