Praying for the State of Idaho & Our Nation (House Concurrent Resolution 28)
Lord's Day Exhortation
In response to the crisis of judgment in Judah, the prophet Joel called to God’s people, saying,
“‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm… Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly…” (Joel 2:12–13, 15).
As with Judah in the ninth century BC, our state and nation are clearly under God’s judgment because we have turned from His ways, embraced wickedness, and are reaping the consequences. But one of the first mercies of the Lord in the midst of judgment is the opening of His people’s eyes to their need to repent and turn to Him again with prayer and fasting.
This past week, the Idaho House of Representatives and Senate passed a resolution “encouraging the people of Idaho to observe a day of fasting and prayer on March 1st to seek peaceful resolutions to the challenges facing the state and nation, to pray for snow and rain for Idaho’s water supplies, and to pray for wise decision making by state and federal leaders.”1
There is a long tradition of both the church and the civil government calling people to observe corporate days of prayer as an appeal to God in times of desperate need. In 17th-century Scotland and England, it was normal for the civil magistrate to call for times of prayer and fasting.2 And this practice continued in the United States, with an estimated 1,400 prayer proclamations issued by state governments prior to 1815. Therefore, in response to this biblical call from our elected representatives, our elders believed it would be right to pray in our service this morning for our state and nation.
We live in interesting times, but in the midst of the chaos of our sin, there is hope. Our Lord has preserved a remnant of His people in our land, and His Spirit has not altogether departed. He still graciously hears the prayers of His people, and He may yet relent that we may not perish (Jon. 3:9).
Prayer of Confession:
Most Merciful Father,
We come before You this morning, on behalf of our state and nation, seeking Your undeserved compassion. For we confess that we, as Your church, have fallen short of Your glory. We have followed the idols of our hearts and have not discipled our nation in righteousness. Many of our neighbors and countrymen have departed from the truth. They do not seek Your face and have embraced all manner of wickedness, even calling evil good.
Lord, have mercy on us.
In particular, we ask for peaceful resolutions to the afflictions besetting our land, including violence, protests, lawlessness, strife, envy, societal discord, and even war abroad.
We also pray for our state and federal leaders. We ask that Your Spirit would soften their hearts and cause them to humble themselves before You. Grant them wisdom to render decisions guided by justice and compassion, and let Your blessing and protection be upon our families and communities.
Father, we also lift up before You our need for snow and rain in our Idaho mountains. Without this blessing, not only are our water supplies diminished for crops, but our risk of destructive wildfires this summer also increases. Therefore, we ask that You would open Your heavenly storehouses and send rain upon our lands.
Lord, as we pray today for our land, show us also this day what our own besetting sins are. Reveal to us the ways in which we are not honoring You in our hearts and in our homes. Purify us, Your people, that we may be a light to our neighbors in troubled times. For as we pray each week, we know that if we in the church cherish secret sin in our hearts, these prayers are in vain and will be ineffectual. And so we now silently confess our individual sins to You. Selah.
This exhortation was given on March 1, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.
https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2026/legislation/HCR028.pdf
See the Directory for Public Worship: https://thewestminsterstandard.org/directory-for-the-publick-worship-of-god/#13