so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
and that He may send Jesus Christ,
who was preached to you before,
whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things,
which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets
since the world began."
(Acts 3:19-21, NKJV)
Dear Praying Friend,
Thank you for persevering in prayer these past forty days! It has been a joy and a privilege to pray with you and for you these past few weeks as we have soaked in the beauty and majesty of the Father's love and sought His blessings on behalf of all those He has brought to our mind and impressed upon our hearts. It has been a richly rewarding labor of love. I do pray you have witnessed His goodness and faithfulness in answered prayer during your journey. Today we unite for our final day of prayer with fasting (as a symbol of our deep humiliation and utter dependence upon God) in a concert of praise to God for His constant and faithful love, and with a sorrowful heart of repentance on behalf of our nations' departure from God. We come before the throne of grace boldly and with confidence, believing that God hears our prayers and will answer "the effective, fervent prayers of a righteous" remnant of praying people if they are obedient to His commands and truly repentant over the sins which have brought disaster upon us. "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:9,10). If we truly desire the awakening and revival that will bring necessary healing to our land and the utmost glory to God, then we need God's favor; and that is only possible with a humble and contrite heart that seeks after God's heart and not just His hand (Isaiah 57:15). "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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
For our three spiritual meals today we will feast on the wonderful prayers of national repentance found in the ninth chapters of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel. You are encouraged to not only read these heartfelt and humble prayers, but to meditate fully on the words these servants of God spoke as they stood in the gap on behalf of the people and cried out to God with repentant hearts, and received the answer their nation so desperately needed. Today, let us use their prayers as a starting point and framework for constructing our own prayer of confession and supplication to the Lord, that we might begin to experience healing in our hearts and for our land. "Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you had days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down" (John Wesley).
MORNING DEVOTION - "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee..." (Psalm 63:1)
Scripture Reading: Daniel 9:1-19
Daniel was a devoted servant of God who was able to look and live beyond his challenging circumstances because he had his eyes and his heart fully fixed on God. In 606 - 605 B.C, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, laid siege to Jerusalem, Daniel and his three friends were included with the first group of Jews dragged from their homes and taken into captivity. From the very beginning of his time in exile Daniel was determined to live his life set apart to the Lord, and to resolved not to become corrupted by this pagan nation - the place God had brought His chosen people to cure them of their own idolatrous practices and covenant unfaithfulness (reference Daniel 1:8).
Daniel was a man of prayer who would not even allow the threat of being thrown into a den of hungry lions to interrupt his daily prayer meeting with the Lord (Daniel 6:10). Daniel was also a man of the Word who understood from his diligent studies that their captivity was almost over. His prayers were in accordance with God's revealed will. Therefore he prayed that God would prepare the people for their coming deliverance. Daniel became God's chosen instrument to intercede for the people of Israel as well as influence the reign of four kings. In Daniel's prayer for the restoration of his people we find a great model for our own prayers for our nation today. Before praying, Daniel prepared first by humbling himself before the Lord: "So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3). He then began his prayer as many of the saints in the Scripture have - with adoration and worship; and acknowledging his fear of, and faith in, God. "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands" (v.4). When we fix our eyes and our hearts on how great our God is, we have no reason to fear man or believe that God doesn't want anything but His best for us. The Jewish people pointed the finger at the wicked people of Babylon for their personal woes, but Daniel recognized that they were responsible for their present circumstance. They had violated God's law and they had refused to listen to His repeated warnings through His prophets. Daniel acknowledged that it was sin that was the cause of all their trouble; therefore he confessed his sins to God, and included himself in his prayer of repentance for the sins of the nation. "We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws" (v.5). God only needed to hear the cries of one faithful intercessor to be able to begin to work on behalf of His people (reference Exodus 32:11-14). God is always ready to pardon sin. When we come to the Lord with humble repentance in our hearts and with true confession on our lips, God will hear our prayers, forgive our sin, and bring the healing and restoration we need. Daniel reminded God of His past faithfulness, and he admitted that they deserved the punishment they were receiving, but, then he cried out for mercy; not for their sake, but that through their restoration God would be glorified. "We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name (vv. 18b, 19)!"
God heard Daniel's prayer and He answered by moving the heart and hand of king Cyrus to issue a decree the very next year, allowing the Jews to return to their land and rebuild the temple (reference Ezra 1:1-4). It was about 67 years after the conquest that Daniel discovered, through studying the writings of Jeremiah, that their captivity in Babylon would last seventy-years. Believing that God would fulfill the promises in His word, Daniel sought the Lord with fasting and prayer to prepare the people for the future. We live in our own modern Babylon, and we are called to Christ to live set apart and "holy unto the Lord" as Daniel did, and not allow ourselves to be corrupted by the world, or conformed to its patterns, but rather be transformed daily by God's holy standards (reference Romans 12:2). The Scriptures tell us to be ready, watchful and prepared for the Lord's return (reference Matthew 24:45; 25:13; Mark 13:35; Luke 12:40). If we are believing and anticipating the Lord's return we should be praying more fervently for the people of God to respond to God's call to return and repent so we can purified and prepared to finish the work that we have been called to do (reference Matthew 28:18-20). We are called to be salt and light in this dark and tasteless world (reference Matthew 5:13-16), so that many will be drawn to Christ and be saved (reference Acts 2:38).
Heavenly Father,
"I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, His works are perfect,
and all His ways are just.
We have acted corruptly toward Him;
we are a warped and crooked generation -
a nation without sense or discernment.
Show us how to be wise in this evil age, and give us understanding.
Judge Your people and have compassion on Your servants.
For there is no god besides You.
You put to death and You bring to life,
You have wounded and You will heal,
and no one can deliver out of Your hand.
Rejoice, O nations, with His people,
for He will avenge the blood of His servants;
He will take vengeance on His enemies
and make atonement for His land and people."
(Deuteronomy 32:3-5, 28, 36, 39, 43)
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
As we meet with the Lord this morning, as we have done for the past 40 days, let us take time to write out our own prayer following the framework that Daniel has given us: (1) Adoration and worship - our worship must be focused on God if we are to be heard (true worship includes the Word of God. Worship begins and ends with knowing who God is and praising Him for being who He is. Search the Scriptures for verses that speak of God's character; Daniel included the words from Deuteronomy 7:9 and 7:21 in his prayer); (2) Confession and repentance - when we begin to worship the Lord with all our hearts and come in contact with His majesty and holiness, we become increasingly aware of the sinful condition of our own heart. Let us lay our hearts bare before the Lord and ask Him to make us aware of any sin that is hindering our prayers from being heard and answered. Let us take time today to confess our sin by name and be willing to turn from any unholy activity or pursuit. (3) Thanksgiving - Let us then offer a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for His forgiveness, His restoration, and for His continued blessings in our lives; finally, (4) Supplication - this is where we humbly and boldly submit our requests for others before the Lord. We begin our prayers by first focusing on the One who hears our prayers and meets our needs, and Who knows our every need before we even begin to pray, and then, after emptying self in our prayers of repentance we turn our attention to the needs of other. This is where Daniel reminds God of His past faithfulness in delivering His people, and asks for the Lord to extend His hand of mercy once again, that the name of God would be glorified. "Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness" (Psalm 115:1).
AFTERNOON DEVOTION -"Evening, and morning, and noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17, KJV).
Scripture Reading: Ezra 9:5-15
In 458 B.C. Ezra, the scribe, returned to Jerusalem to serve the Jewish remnant who had returned years earlier; some 80 years after Cyrus had issued the decree for the exiled Jews to return to their land. In 515 B.C. the second temple was completed and dedicated under Haggai and Zechariah. Daniel had lived a life holy, set apart to the Lord, and Ezra was sent to exhort the people to be holy unto the Lord (reference Leviticus 11:44). On his journey to Jerusalem we discover that Ezra, like Daniel, was a man of prayer. Desiring safety for their journey, Ezra led the people with prayer and fasting to seek God's favor and protection. "So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer" (Ezra 8:23). Throughout the Scriptures, and without exception, every time God's servants humbled themselves with prayer and fasting, the Lord answered and delivered His people!
Approximately four months after arriving and settling in Jerusalem some members of the community advised Ezra that some of the people had broken the covenant marriage laws, intermarrying with the pagan nations. Ezra had come to lead them in living holy lives and right away he received confirmation of God's purpose in his mission. The remnant who had been set free years earlier to come back to their homeland had carried with them the corruption of Babylon. They were a people chosen by God to be holy and set apart for the purposes of revealing the living God to the nations, but they had compromised their privileged position and rejected God's blessings; ultimately sacrificing their future. Ezra responded as Daniel had, he turned immediately to the Lord with fasting and prayer. "When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled...Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed" (Ezra 9:3, 5, 6a).
Ezra's prayer was a prayer of confession for the sins of the nation:. "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens" (v.6). Although the sins that were committed were only committed by a small group of people, the whole nation was affected. Everyone had their share of the blame because they turned a blind eye to the sins of their fellowman. Ezra stood in the gap on behalf of the sins of the people and cried out to God to preserve the remnant. Ezra had come to Jerusalem to enforce the Law of God, but God was after more than their outward conduct; He desired their hearts. When the people saw Ezra "praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God" (v. 10:1), instead of preaching, their hearts were broken; God had His people right were He wanted them. The Lord had gained the attention of His people through the actions of His prophets' cry of repentance. Ezra withdrew from the people to continue fasting and praying; leaving the people to determine what they must do to make amends (v. 10:6). The Lord answered Ezra's humble, fervent, and repentant prayers, and the community took responsibility for their actions and were purified and cleansed.
Heavenly Father,
."O LORD, God of Israel,
there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below -
You who keep Your covenant of love with Your servants
who continue wholeheartedly in Your way...
Give attention to Your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy,
O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer Your servant
is praying in Your presence this day.
Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place,
and when You hear, forgive...
When they turn back to You and confess Your name,
praying and making supplication to You...
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people..."
(1 Kings 8:23,28,30b,33,34a)
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Ezra reminds us how complacent and apathetic we have become as the church. We have turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the immorality and corruption that is plaguing and destroying our nation. We tolerate sin and compromise our own holiness every time we sit in a theater or watch a television program or video that makes entertainment out of sinful behavior. The Lord desires that our hearts be broken over the sin of His creation which has separated us from the Father and which our Lord Jesus suffered and died to restore. We need to dispose of the laughter and begin to weep and mourn and repent over the depraved condition of our nation. "O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!" (Ezra 9:15). Are we willing to lay down our lives in prayer and fasting for the deliverance and healing our nation so desperately needs? Or are we willing to compromise the glory and honor of God's name rather than risk the consequences of confronting an immorally corrupt culture? The destiny of the world awaits the awakening of the church to answer the call to its' destiny of prayer. "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity...Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly...Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar..." (Joel 2:12-13, 15, 17a).
EVENING MEDITATION -"...and on His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2)
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 9:1-37
In 445 B.C Nehemiah, cupbearer to the king of Persia, returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. When he first heard the unexpected report of the drastic conditions of the walls of Jerusalem he responded in the same manner that God's other prophets responded: "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days, I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 1:4). Nehemiah's heart was broken; the people and place that bears the name of the Lord he loves was open to ridicule and attack. He was prepared to do whatever was necessary to restore their former glory; he began by offering up a prayer of repentance to the Lord (v. 1:5-11).
The Lord heard His servants' humble and repentant prayers, and He answered him by giving him favor with the king and paving the way for his return to Jerusalem to help with the rebuilding. Nehemiah oversaw the building of the wall and ministered to the people. When the wall was complete the people gathered together on the first day of the seventh month for the New Year's celebration, the Feast of Trumpets, and Ezra stood before the people to give a public proclamation of the Book of the Law of Moses; some 13 years after he had arrived to do just that in Jerusalem. When the people heard the words of the Lord they wept. "For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law" (Nehemiah 8:9b). The Word of God was read day after day, and on the 24th day of that same month they set aside a day of penance. "The Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads...They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers" (v.9:1, 3b). The people stood for three hours to hear the Word of God read aloud, and then spent another three hours confessing their sins and worshiping God. We can only image, and pray for a day when God's people would delight in standing in His presence and worshiping Him with no concern for the time that they might give Him the praise He deserves.
In the national prayer of repentance recorded in Nehemiah the people lifted their voices, beginning with praise for the greatness of their God. "Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You" (vv.5b, 6). They went on to recount the goodness of God in forming the nation of Israel and the many blessings He bestowed upon His covenant people. They confessed where they had refused to obey the Lord and rejected His plan and purpose for them as a nation by following after the gods of the neighboring nations. They had become prosperous and lazy in the land of promise and forgot the reason God had chosen them in the first place. Their exile in Babylon cured them of their idolatrous behavior and now they were recommitting themselves to the Lord. In this prayer they did more than ask for mercy, they took action and made a solemn agreement with the Lord to obey His will and walk in His ways (reference Nehemiah 9:38; 10:29-39). It is not enough to confess our sins and seek God's forgiveness, we must also be willing to walk in obedience to God when we rise to our feet and walk out the door. May we continue to carry on in the discipline the Lord has established within us these past forty days: seeking the Lord in His Word, and adding fuel to our prayers as we stand in the gap in fervent and earnest prayer, waiting expectantly for the answers that will surely come as the Lord unleashes His power in and through our lives to pour out His blessings upon His people and healing upon our land.
Heavenly Father
"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God,
who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him
and obey His commands, let Your ear be attentive
and Your eyes be open to hear the prayer Your servant is
praying before You day and night for Your servants.
I confess the sins, we, have committed against You.
We have acted wickedly toward You.
We have not obeyed Your commands, decrees and laws. (Nehemiah 1:5-11)
Create in [us] a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within [us].
Do not cast [us from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from [us].
Restore [us] to the joy of Your salvation
and grant a willing spirit to sustain [us] (Psalm 51:10-11)
May the Lord bless you and reward you for diligently seeking Him and faithfully praying and fasting on behalf of the church, our nation, and the world. You are part of the faithful remnant He is using to revive and restore us to the foundation we were built upon - Jesus Christ! To Him be all glory, honor, power and praise! May your year be filled with wonderful answers to prayer as you continue to stand in the gap on behalf of our nation! I look forward to our next journey together!
Dearly Beloved of the Most High God
it is time
to Raise Up the Standard, Revolutionize the World, and Restore Praise!
Join us
September 13 through October 22, 2015
for
CRUCIFIED
a 40 day meal-by-meal devotional email prayer and fasting journey
"I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me."
(Galatians 2:20, NKJV)
Prepare your heart and invite your praying friends
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