Thoughts On the National Day of Prayer

Tomorrow is the day we set aside as The National Day of Prayer. I hope each one of us who call Jesus Lord understand that tomorrow is not the only day we need to be praying. As Christians, we not only are commanded to pray every day, we are commanded to pray without ceasing, as we see commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Personally in my own life I have learned that my very existence depends upon following this commandment. What this verse is not saying is that we are constantly in a literal state of being on our knees in a formal posture of prayer. What it is saying is that we must walk through every moment of our lives in communication with God. If you are a Christian, then you ARE the temple of the God. This is accomplished through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who takes up residence in ALL believers (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is life changing. This means that the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), lives inside us. There is nothing that God wills that we cannot accomplish. But if we tune out the Spirit, we will walk in the flesh. Since the Holy Spirit is not an “it” but a person, and the Holy Spirit is God, then we can understand that God truly is with us all the time, everywhere we go. So, praying without ceasing simply means we communicate with God at all times for He is right there with us.

So, tomorrow is our chance to possibly share with unbelievers the power of prayer and the joy of the eternal relationship we have with Jesus. It is an opportunity to demonstrate how our faith carries us through these dark and difficult days. It is a chance to show that we walk, not by sight, but by faith. And it is because of that faith and the promises we are sure of as written in our Bibles, we know we can trust God. We also know He hears our prayers and He wants us to come before Him with our daily needs.

And the National Day of Prayer reminds us of those needs. It is easy to remember our own personal desires. And praying for those is ok, God tells us through James that we don’t have because we don’t ask, so clearly it is right to come before God with all our requests. We just need to remember that James also tells us that we “…ask and do not receive, because [we] ask with wrong motives, so that [we] may spend it on [our] pleasures.” - James 4:3. It is important that we grow in our prayer life to a place where we pray more for God’s will than for our own.

But scripture also commands us to pray for others and for our leaders. So, tomorrow is a good opportunity to renew our commitment to praying and to reevaluate our priorities in it.

Our country is in trouble. It is in moral decline and moving away from God more each day. One of the most popular scriptures is we hear around the National Day of Prayer is 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
 

"If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

America has not yet been placed under a complete judgment by God. But the signs are there. God is watching. He has blessed us as a nation with many things that include freedom to worship, bountiful food and clean water, and except the Civil War, we have not had to face war on our own land in modern times. We can debate all day, whether America was ever a Christian nation, but it is indisputable that we were a people who sought the God of the Bible. The Ten Commandments were the basis for our justice system. Prayer was part of schools. Celebrations of holidays such as Christmas and Easter, though certainly filled with consumerism, had at their root, Jesus Christ. Though certainly sin always existed in the American culture, it was not celebrated and shame was associated with it. The legalization of abortion, the removal of the Ten Commandments from our buildings, lawsuits over having a manger scene in front of our buildings, prayer stripped from the schools, and the complete acceptance of same sex marriage is a clear message to God, as a people we don’t want you ruling over us. We no longer place the Holy Bible up as the standard for morals and law. God is watching.

So we need to pray just as 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says. But we better be praying for a change in our nation as a people because if we want God to heal our nation we must humble ourselves, we must seek God’s face, and we must turn from our wicked ways. If those things don’t happen? The God will not heal our land and we will end up in the judgment of God. The full judgement and it won’t be pretty.

We need revival. Hear God’s Word from 1 Peter 4:17
“For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

Revival must begin with us. It must begin in the churches of America. It must start in our own hearts.

What should we pray for tomorrow?

Pray for yourself to put God first in all things and to be bold in sharing the Gospel. Pray that we would preach a Gospel of repentance, for that is the Gospel.

Pray for the church and its leaders. The church must stop seeking to please man, but must seek to please God and give all glory to HIM.

Pray for the government. We need Godly people running our country. Godly police officers and a justice system that is about justice. We need judges who follow God’s law. We need a system of rehabilitating people not simply caging them up then letting them back out unprepared.

Pray for the family. We need divorce to stop. We need fathers to be fathers and mothers to be mothers. God has a design for families and we must return to that design.

Pray for the educators and the system. We need our children to be taught and given opportunities to develop their God-given talents.

Pray for those who run our businesses. We need people to be able to have employment that is fair and balanced so that our economy isn’t self-defeating but instead provides a cycle of earning and buying that keeps itself viable and gives opportunity to all.

Pray for each other and for others. We need to replace violence, hate and mistrust with attitudes that are like the attitude of Christ, who gave Himself up for others. Pray that we might consider others as more important than self.

There is no end to the prayer needs of our people and our nation. Pray without ceasing.

Get involved tomorrow. But let it be the day that marks the rest of your life. Let us become a people that every day humbles ourselves before God with confession, repentance, thankfulness, and worship for our God.

Revival starts within our own heart. Imagine the possibilities if we all just start there.

There is Hope Even For an Old Guy

This morning is kind of a milestone day for me. First of all I turn 60 today. I guess for many of my friends who are in their 70’s and 80’s this is not old but for those of us who leave the 50’s age group and enter our sixth decade of life it is certainly the entrance into the golden years. Every night when I report to work I take a step back and realize that my working days are numbered and soon retirement will be upon me. It is a bit daunting to take hold of this fact.

This morning also was a milestone for me in that I completed a journey started back in December of last year. This morning I completed my reading of the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation of the New Testament in conjunction with The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. Several years I ago I committed myself to a continual reading of the Bible from beginning to end and as part of that discipline I have been reading the various versions of the Bible. I have also used been using a specific commentary each morning to enlighten me to the teachings of God’s Word as I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me into all the truth of scripture. My desire is that I might be faithful in following the commandment of 2 Timothy 2:15 which calls me to “Be diligent to present (myself) approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” I encourage each and every Christian to read God’s Word from beginning to end. Though it is good to attend Sunday school and small group studies and we all need to memorize the specific scriptures that bring us comfort, the Bible was written to be read from beginning to end.

As I completed the book of Revelation today, I was moved greatly by the hope the Bible provides. The news and the Internet is a constant barrage of bad news. Violence seems to be increasing and in general the world appears to have fallen into an age of complete sin and rejection of God. Even this election offers no hope that our country will turn back to being a nation that bases itself on God’s law. But the Bible really is clear; God is sovereign and He hasn’t just abandoned us to crash and burn. God has a plan and that plan will come to fruition.

So this morning as I enter my seventh decade of life I have hope. Like all of you my life has had its share of grief, crying, and pain. But listen to the revelation given to John.

Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

A day is soon coming when this mess we’ve made of things will be cleaned up. Many people wrestle with why God allows suffering but the truth is most of it is of our own doing because we, like Israel of the Old Testament, ignore the basic law of God. God has told us how to live so that it might go well for us but we choose our own will, not His. We live in rebellion against God. But in Christ God has made a way for us sinners to be restored to Him. For those who reject the free gift of salvation there is coming a day when judgment will come down.

Again John was shown the revelation of the judgment and he shares it to us as a warning.

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

But for those whose name is found in the Book of Life there is a great reward coming.

Revelation 21:5-7
And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."  Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.  "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

Yes there is great hope, even for an old guy like me. Jesus is coming back. And when He does He will usher in an eternity where those who by His blood are made holy, will forever bask in His glory and dwell with Him. He will make all things new.

So I live with a sure hope. Do you? It’s not too late. But don’t wait to call out to Jesus for when He comes, He will come quickly.

Revelation 22:20-21
 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

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