Posts Tagged ‘30 Days of Prayer’

If My People. . .

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  – Proverbs 14:34

“Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm.  Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with the truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”  Ephesians 6:10-17

This election should be about character.  It should be about our values and our moral stands.  Yet you have not heard anything like that mentioned in weeks.  We are to pray for our leaders.  We have a tendency to choose them on the basis of our own selfish desires rather than their values.  This is a real problem that will not go away with this election no matter who is elected.

For us as believers, this is not the end of the process, it is the beginning.  Righteousness does exalt a nation.  If we expect God to honor our land, we must pray for revival.  We live in a country with so much potential, but we are drifting in terms of our character.  On this Election Day, we need to pray that somehow God will begin once again to work in our nation.  Our prayers are not limited by the polls or opinions.  In the coming days we must be found faithful in praying that God will do whatever He has to do in order that we might return to Him as a nation.

If My People. . .

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.  He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might He increases power.  Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;  they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” – Isaiah 40:28-31

For years we have been hearing about this election every day.  Over the last year, it has been the dominant story in the news.  They have tried to convince us that all of the answers can be found in the election tomorrow.  It is important for us as Americans to pay attention to the political process, but we must not forget that the Lord is our source of strength.  No matter who is elected at any level, we must put our confidence in the Lord.

The people of God must be prayer warriors.  Our strength is not in our political system but our dependence on Him as a people.  Pray that we will maintain a proper perspective.

If My People. . .

“He has told you, O man, what is good;  and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?  The voice of the Lord will call to the city and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name.” – Micah 6:8-9

We have seen thousands of political spots and we have heard promise after promise.  In the world of politics they constantly appeal to the selfishness and greed in our country.  We have heard the promises,  but  poll after poll tells us that we are not hearing anything new and that we have very little confidence in those promises.  We are a divided nation.

We must pray that the Lord is going to bring us together as a nation, but It is obvious that it will not be around a promise, a motto, a speech, or a slogan.
As believers we should pray that God will give to us the will, the strength, and the character to do what we can, should and must do.  Micah tells us that we are to be just, love kindness and to walk humbly with our God.  Pray today that God will give us the grace and the ability to show the rest of the world what it means to walk with God.  That is a real contribution to society.

If My People. . .

“Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters, who brings forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the mighty men(They will lie down together and not rise again: they have been quenched and extinguished like a wick):  Do not call on the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?  I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:16-19

What a wonderful privilege it is to be able to bring our requests to the Lord.  We have a tendency to respond to the circumstances around us.  We must keep our eyes on the Lord.  I heard this week that as of October 26, there have been 177 political polls taken on the presidency since October 1.  We have plenty of forecasters telling us what is going to happen in the election, the economy, the nation, and the world.  It is hard to know what to believe.

You can be sure of this.  We serve a great God that has given eternal life to those who put their trust in Jesus.  You do not need a poll to remind you of that.  He wants to do some exciting things in and through our lives.
Let us pray today that we will be available to used by God in whatever way He wants to use us.  We stand ready to serve Him.  Let us pray and get excited about God doing a new thing.  He is not limited.  He can use any circumstance.  He can put a super-highway in the wilderness and He can put a raging river in the driest desert.  Today, let us pray that we stand ready to be a part of it.

Our 30 Days of Prayer for our nation is coming to an end.  If you have not been a part of this effort, I certainly hope you will join today.  This is a critical time in the life of our nation and the Bible makes it very clear that we should pray for our nation, our leaders, and for the influence we can have on our culture.

This Sunday night we are going to have a very special service which will include some fantastic music featuring our choir, orchestra, and quartet. It will be built around praying for our nation. This is not about candidates or polls. It is about the direction of our country and it is about us doing all we can as believers to make a difference in our society.

The power of prayer is an incredible force and God’s desire is to hear from His people. As we gather together to pray, we do it in obedience to Him and it is a very clear witness to our families and to others around us.  I want to encourage you to make a special effort to be in this service on Sunday evening at 6:00. I want you to bring your kids because we want them to be a part of this effort. I want to encourage you to invite people in your neighborhood and people who work with you to come and be a part of this effort as we focus on such an important time in the life of our country.

During these weeks of prayer, I have had many wonderful comments on this prayer effort and God has used so many of you to touch the lives of others through this effort. My prayer is that we will finish strong and do all that we can to proclaim clearly what our priorities should be as a nation.