Praying for America

Chuckle: A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

Quote: "Prayer doesn't get man's will done in heaven; it gets God's will done on earth." --Ronald Dunn

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34 NIV).

No doubt you are as disturbed as I am by the moral and spiritual decay in our beloved USA. It seems that nothing is sacred any more and morality has been sacrificed on the altars of self-indulgence and relativism. People are conditioned to want immediate self-gratification with little or no thought for future consequences or the needs of others. Many are becoming increasingly dishonest, promiscuous, selfish, cruel, and demanding. We depend less and less on God's providence in our lives and are oblivious to God's hand and direction in the founding of this great nation. Many of our churches are dead or dying social clubs rather than Holy Spirit empowered organisms serving as beacons of hope to a lost and dying world.

If you agree with my assessment, what should we do about it? What should we ask God to do about it? After all, it will ultimately be God's mighty power working in the hearts of His people that will turn our country around and back to Him. Such a discussion would be incomplete without looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14. "If my people (that's us), who are called by my name (that's us), will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways (that's us), then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." These are beautiful promises from God Himself which we should take seriously and pattern our lives and prayers accordingly.

We tend to blame the condition of our society on those terrible sinful and corrupt politicians, criminals, and hoodlums out there who are destroying the very fabric of our society. But, is this really so? From Scripture, it is clear that God blesses or punishes a nation based on how His own people live. It's true that God wants all unbelievers to come to Him in repentance, but only when God's people get right with Him will we see that happen. When we begin to live holy lives marked by prayer, repentance, kindness, unselfishness, compassion, and service to others, we will be spiritually ready to pray for our nation and for a great revival and spiritual awakening.

First, we must humble ourselves before God. We must recognize our own sin and inadequacies and see ourselves as God sees us. We must see ourselves as the problem in our country because of our pride, greed, selfishness, unconcern for others, etc. When we humble ourselves before God, we will fall on our faces before Him, confess our sins, repent of those sins, and ask him to forgive us and cleanse us. True repentance and forgiveness will then cause us to make conscious decisions to turn from our wicked ways (sins) and live like we really belong to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Praying for our country in the abstract without beginning with personal confession, repentance, and cleansing of our own individual hearts will be futile. Once we have allowed God to deal with our own sins and disobedience, we are prepared to pray for our nation. "God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will" (John 9:31 NLT. Let's get right with God, then pray earnestly for His healing of our beloved land.

Love, Jerry & Dotse