There is an epidemic inflicting our nation, and I'm not talking about the swine flu that has so many people confused and afraid. The national disaster I am speaking of began many years ago when we, as a nation, decided to expel God from our public schools and reject Him as a central part of our public life (Note: The Bible was chosen as the primary textbook in our public schools from its' inception; in 1963 it was removed. Prayer was a necessary part of our public school system since 1647, until 1962 when it was ruled unconstitutional. The Ten Commandments has long been recognized as the basis for all civil law for thousands of years; in 1980 it was stripped from our public walls).
What made our nation great was our acknowledgment and dependence upon God. The blessings and strength our nation has experienced, for hundreds of years, have all come from the hand of God, but somewhere along the way we forgot Who brought us to this place, deciding, instead, to take matters into our own hands. Doing this has only led us down a road of destruction that has taken us far from God! Our quest for independence as a nation was never meant to lead us to independence from God; this was never the founding father's intention. Unfortunately, it has become the relentless pursuit of a relatively small group of people who have no understanding of the catastrophe they are causing. "When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan" (Proverbs 29:2).
The damage is not irreparable, however. There is a remedy to this calamity, but it will require the response of the people of God with repentance and prayer (reference 2 Chronicles 7:14)! "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isaiah 30:15). Our healing will come when the family of God is willing to respond (reference 1 Peter 4:17). One of our greatest privileges as the children of God is prayer; only in exercising this privilege do we acknowledge our dependence upon God. It is through prayer that we unleash the power of God in the world and we become a threat to the plans of the enemy. Corrie ten Boom said, "The enemy finds great humor when we are up to our ears in work, but he trembles in fear when we are on our knees in prayer." Prayer is an absolute necessity in the life of the believer and for the work of the kingdom!
Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, "Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10). This is the enemy's greatest fear, because he knows that when the Lord returns his time is up. E.M. Bounds writes, "The Church on its knees would bring heaven upon the earth." If we truly understood the power of the weapons at our disposal, we would not fall so easily to the daily deception of the enemy and lose precious ground for the Kingdom of God. We must arm ourselves with the weapons of God's warfare: the Word of God and Prayer! "The Word of God and prayer are inseparable, the power of one is dependent upon the presence of the other." The disciples knew this truth and made it their utmost priority (reference Acts 6:4). We can do nothing, achieve nothing, and accomplish nothing of any eternal value apart from the Lord (reference John 15:5). When we neglect prayer we leave the Lord out of His work and we become a hindrance to the kingdom. May we get out of the way by getting on our knees, becoming a help instead of a hindrance!
This week we have a wonderful opportunity to exercise our divine duty to pray, and, as a result, impact our nation for the Glory of God!
Thursday, May 7th is the National Day of Prayer. Take this opportunity to begin praying fervently and faithfully for the seven centers of power in our nation: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church, and Family. Visit the National Day of Prayer website at
www.ndptf.org to find what events are scheduled in your area, and show up on Thursday to take part in public prayer!
Jesus' greatest priority was maintaining His love relationship with the Father through prayer; in doing so He didn't waiver in His committment to accomplishing the will of the Father. He set for us an example that we should joyfully follow (reference Matthew 14:13, 23; 21:17; 26:39; 27:46; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:35; 15:34; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 11:1; 21:37; 22:41; 23:34; John 4:34; 6:15; 7:35; 8:1). If you do not know how, or what, to pray in this critical hour consider praying through these powerful national prayers found in the Scriptures: Exodus 15:1-18; Deuteronomy 32:1-43; 1 Kings 8:23-61; 2 Chronicles 20:6-12; Ezra 9:6-15; Nehemiah 1:5-11; 9:5-38; The Psalms; Daniel 9:4-19; Matthew 6:9-13; John 17:1-26. May healing come to our land and salvation come to all people because we have returned to the Lord with repentance and prayer!
"For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power
through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, may have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask
or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
(Ephesians 3:14-21)
Dear Friend,