39th Day of 40 Days of Prayer

“We must pray for and experience spiritual regeneration, then recognize and accept our responsibilities as Christians to be salt and light…”

-Richard Land

In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 7 and verse 14, we find the words that propel us toward revival.  Many will assert that these words were for the Children of Israel, and rightly so, but they will go too far saying these words are not applicable to us, the Christian Church in America today.  I am a dissenter of such a limited, near-sighted philosophy of the Bible.

In my humble opinion, the Word of God is profitable for us today, all of it and not parts and pieces.  I stand with the Apostle Paul, as he wrote to his young preacher boy, Timothy, as he penned the words, “Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ASV)  Therefore, I stand on solid, unmovable, and righteous ground when I say that I will adhere to all scripture and find that it is instruction for my life.  May I honestly say, this is true for all of us-for the Christian church in America and around the world, for America, for all nations in the entire globe.

When I refer to the passage from Chronicles, I am saying that this verse is a section of scripture we find applying to society today.  Particularly to the church in America:

 If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)

Yes, friend, this verse speaks to the very things we need in America today.  We need to find ourselves humbled, praying, seeking the face of God, and turning from our sin.  If-that word is a conditional word that represents a willingness to follow or reject the instructions placed before us-we do those four things, then the promise is that God will hear, forgive, and heal the nation.

For too long, far too long, we have sung out the words of the song, “I Did It My Way.”  We have taken pride in who we are and what we have done as an American people.  We have righted civil and social issues, fought the battles of prejudice and shortsightedness, and we have happily gone our way patting ourselves on our own backs, all the while thumbing our noses at God, saying “ We've got this.”  We have dreamed and planned out our courses of action, seeking to do what we thought was right and just, smiling along the way at our own intellectual well educated minds, forsaking God’s plan and purpose proclaiming our independence and free will.  Then when we have needed His help or assistance we have gone to Him en mass, hoping He will help us out of the mess we created.

On September 11, 2001 we watched as our world was devastated by the terrorist attacks.  Thousands died within a few hours on American soil, while many more thousands were injured, and hundreds of thousands were deeply impacted for the rest of their mortal life.  As the events of that morning transpired, churches around the country filled up as people found their way toward an altar, to pray for the immediate need, the sorrow and senselessness of the hour.  Over the next few months pews were packed in churches on any given Sunday morning as people found renewed interest in the only one they thought could help them survive.  Others found a new relationship in the Lord Jesus Christ, busying themselves in the task of serving the one true God-the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac.

While I do not believe God did what happened that day, I do believe He allowed it as an opportunity to bring us back to Him.  Today there are those who were eternally changed on that day, but as a whole we are more patriotic, more flag waving, but less Christ-like than ever before.

As a whole we are touting freedom of expression, freedom of selectiveness, freedom from religion as ever before, as we tumble into the abyss.  The acceptance of things once totally considered sinful, vain, and unacceptable are now waved in the noses of those who hold the truths of God’s Word as clearly the guide to live life by and through.  We have seen the acceptance of same-sex marriage, abortion, and abandoning Israel as the norm for society.  In the midst of this new morn God has been forsaken and delegated to just a good thing for those who need a crutch; casting aside of the Church in America, those who reject God easily debase and demean those who follow Him.  Or worse, God has been completely denied and dethroned from the conscience and soul of America.  

For centuries those who have held to a society of humanistic thought, proclaiming a clear line of separation of Church and State, denying God’s people any form of debate in social matters, now want to use the power of the government against the church.  This is truly a violation of the Separation Clause.  Today we have the government wanting to tell the church and Christian business they must provide insurance that is contrary to Christian principles, and if they do not do as they are told they will be heavily fined for failure to do so.  This is big government at its worst.

         I say all of this to say that America must humble herself before a mighty, all powerful, all knowing God.  It is He who establishes nations and leaders, and it is He who brings down and will cast aside nations and leaders.  We are at his disposal!

            Once we find ourselves humbled, we will pray to the one true God, for He is the power and strength of our lives.  It is then we will see our sin for what it is-a black spot, a cancerous sore, a plague that is slowly consuming us.  This sin is rebellion, self reliance, pride, and high mindedness.  This is an acceptance of things which are clearly condemned by the Word of God.  This is sin is a willingness to accepted and condone things God has called unclean, impure, and a barrier between us and Him. 

In His love and through the sacrifice of His Son upon the cross of Calvary He reaches out to us and calls us to recognize our sin and turn from our ways of rebellion, calling us to repentance.  He said, through His Son Jesus Christ, “That whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  Through the Apostle Paul, God tells us:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:9-13 (KJV)

            This is accomplished by seeking God’s face.  You and I must turn away from the faces of leadership for a moment; we must stop putting our trust in a man to lead our country.  We must stop putting our trust in a government bailout, or hand out; we must stop looking for the answer in the vain philosophy of man, or a creed or form of religion.  We must seek God-the author and finisher of our faith-the true Father of all of life and giver of eternal life.  We must seek Him, while the time is available to us. 

            This is when revival will come.  David wrote these words:

Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast  God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

Psalms 85:1-7 (KJV)

Today is Day 39.  This is the second day of praying for 40 Days of Prayer for Our Nation and the Christian Church.  It is also 39 days until Election Day in America.  Can you pray with me?  Will you seek God for how you will vote on Election Day?  Will you prepare to vote on November 6?  Real revival begins with me and “If it is to be, it is up to me.” 

I am praying for an out pouring of a new fire in the life of Christians in America.  I am seeking renewal in my own life and in the life of our leaders.  May God have mercy and revive us, so we might praise Him!