Commit to Pray For Our Country

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 (NKJV)



I can't remember a day in my lifetime when our nation's future has seemed so bleak and hopeless, even though I know that God is still in control. While it's easy to point fingers and play the blame game over the condition of our country, the verse above pretty much tells it like it is.



If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray . . .



As followers of Christ, we've grown proud and complacent. (More on this topic in Saturday's post, part #5 of the messages to churches found in Revelation.) If we're looking for a place to lay the blame, then maybe we need to take a good long look in the mirror. Notice that the verse isn't addressing those who don't belong to God. It addresses those who call themselves by His name! If we are truly appalled by the condition of our country, we need to abase ourselves, fall to our knees, and profess that God alone is able to deliver us. We should cry out like Jeremiah did for the nation of Israel, weeping for what America has become, and weeping that our complacency played a part in it.



. . . and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways . . .



I sadly confess that I am often much more eager to seek God's hand than I am His face, and I think that's true for many of us. We've become a nation of greedy gobblers with a gimme mentality. God will not tolerate being treated like our personal magic genie when He sacrificed so much to be our personal Lord and Savior. Again, He is not addressing the wicked ways of nonbelievers here; He's talking about His people.



. . . then will I hear from heaven . . . 



Is it possible that God has turned a deaf ear because of our wickedness, pride, and selfish prayers? In order for Him to hear us, we should do what this verse in the Bible commands: humble ourselves and repent.





. . . and will forgive their sin and heal their land.



I think we all agree on this one point: We're all hungry for our land to be healed, for America to return to God-fearing country we used to be. God has made it pretty clear in this one verse what needs to take place first before that healing can happen. Please forgive me if I come across as mean-spirited and/or hateful here. I certainly don't mean to, nor do I have any reason to sound that way The solution doesn't lay in pointing fingers. It lays in repentance and humble prayer by God's people, and that includes me.



Will you join me and others in committing to pray for our country? In addition to our daily prayers for America, here are a few special dates and organizations to keep in mind (if you know of others, please feel free to share them in the comments section):


January 20, 2013 (Inauguration Day) - "Join me for "A Day to Pray", where we will ask God to grant our leaders, from the local school
houses to the White House, the wisdom they need for the road ahead. We
will gather to ask God for forgiveness and healing of our land and to
bless our Country and her people. This will not be a political rally but
a spiritual event and hopefully one that can help bring us together as
we move forward as a nation." ~Mike Huckabee, Facebook online event
May 2, 2013 - National Day of Prayer - "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." ~Psalm 33:12 - "The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to mobilize prayer in America and to encourage personal
repentance and righteousness in the culture." 
Pray For America - "Engage in prayer for our nation, equip and encourage yourself and others
to take the challenge to Pray for America, and encounter the power of
God through prayer."

Heavenly Father, we come to You with humbled hearts, seeking Your face and Your forgiveness for our pride, our wickedness, and our selfishness as Your people. Lord, we are broken for our country, which no longer seems to stand for the Christian values and beliefs we hold so dear. We're saddened that our society seems bent on removing You from every nook and cranny of our nation, especially in light of all You've done for us. Lord, we humbly pray for Your healing of our land. Make Yourself known to our leaders as Sovereign God of Creation. Thank You, Father, that nothing is beyond Your control. May we continue to humble ourselves, seek Your face and forgiveness, and repent of our wickedness. Above all, Father, may Your will be done. Amen.