A Day of Prayer

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:13,14 NIV

Our President has declared today a day of prayer. What do we pray for or pray about? The first thing I see in this passage is Christians must humble themselves. To be humble we must lower ourselves in dignity and importance and ask for help. We as a nation and as Christians must see ourselves as unable to conquer the world with our mighty strength. Without God, we can do nothing, but with God all things are possible. Conquering the plague that now besets the world can only be done with God. We can't figure this out on our own. 

But let's look at another passage when the Children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt. In Exodus 5,6 Moses went in before Pharaoh and demanded he let the people go. Pharaoh just made life harder for the Israelites. Then they blamed Moses, their leader. Moses didn't understand either. He was doing what God had asked. Moses went to God and God gave him a message for the people. 

I am the Lord. God is God and He is in control. Trust Him.

I will bring you out from under the burdens. It is God who will bring us out of our sin burdens.

I will rid you out of their bondage.  When we are redeemed we are no longer in bondage to sin.

I will redeem you with a stretched out arm. Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross to redeem us from our sin.

I will take you to me for a people. When we humble ourselves and allow Jesus to rid us of our bondage to sin, we become one of His own. 

I will be to you a God. Jesus our Savior will always be our God when we humble ourselves to His will and way.

I will bring you in unto the land. God was bringing the Israelites back to the land of Canaan but think of our history if you will. Why did the Pilgrims come here? God gave them a land to worship freely the Lord our God. 

I will give it you for a heritage. I am the Lord. He has given us this land for our heritage. When the children of Israel failed to follow God, He punished them but the land is still theirs. He often delivered them from their enemies when they humbled themselves and prayed. 

How should we humble ourselves and pray about our current situation? Could it be a spiritual situation that has brought us these medical and economic troubles? What attitudes and laws hinder our nation that must be repented of for the healing of our land?

Praying in repentance for our nation,

Gail