Tuesday, May 2, 2017

How to P.R.A.Y for America

    Related image

America did not spring forth from the precepts of the Koran, but the Bible. There were no Hindus who signed the Declaration of Independence. When the Founding Fathers wrote in their journals they didn’t quote from Buddha, but from Jesus.  Despite what the liberal, revisionists historians would have us believe, there is no doubt that America was born out of a Christian worldview. If you don’t believe that then all you have to do is read what our Founding Fathers believed.    

George Washington set the tone as our first president declaring, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”[1] In 1891 scholars uncovered a twenty-four page manuscript in Washington’s handwriting which he entitled, “Daily Sacrifices.” They were a collection of prayers that he either authored or copied. One of them read: “O most glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving savior, I acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins.”[2] Don’t you wish your president prayed like that?   

When Washington was inaugurated as president in 1789 in NYC, he got down on his hands and knees and kissed the Bible. Then he led the Senate and the House of Representatives to an Episcopal church for a two-hour prayer service. If that happened today it would be enough to send the ACLU into apoplexy.[3]  

One of the greatest prayers recorded in the Bible is offered by the statesman and prophet Daniel, who lived during a particularly disastrous time in Israel’s history known as the diaspora.

Jerusalem, the city that Daniel remembered fondly as a boy, had been plundered and the Temple ransacked by the marauding armies of Babylon. Daniel spent most of his life living as an exile in Babylon. Daniel understood that his people were being punished by God for their years of sin and blatant disregard for His Word. In Daniel 9:1-19 we find this man of God on his knees crying out for his nation.

Daniel’s prayer is a good pattern for us as we turn our attention on May 4th to The National Day of Prayer, in which we will pray for a spiritual awakening in the United States. If you are like me, then you are concerned with the direction of our country and you see that we desperately need God’s people crying out for His conviction, mercy and wisdom. Let’s use Daniel’s prayer as a model to form a simple acrostic that will help guide our hearts on May 4th.   

How to P.R.A.Y. for our nation . . .

Praise – Thank God for all His many blessings on this nation and the freedoms we enjoy. “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Dan. 9:4).

Repent – Confess your sins and ask God to reveal anything unpleasing to Him in your life. Cry out for the sins of this nation.  “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules” (Dan. 9:5).

Ask – Request that God would reveal His truth, turn our hearts back to Him and bring healing. “We have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth” (Dan. 9:13).

Yield – Submit to the Lord and know that He will answer our prayer according to His perfect and sovereign will. “O my God, incline your ear and hear . . . For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act” (Dan. 9:17-18).

-DM



[1] David Jeremiah, What in the World Is Going on? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 126.
[2] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 69.
[3] Ibid.

No comments:

Post a Comment