December 30, 2020 Prayer - The Power of the Wicked Will Be Broken/Psalm 37

God,

We will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen our circumstances; you have known the distress of this year, and you have not delivered your people into the hand of the enemy.  You have set our feet in a broad place of security in you.  Your Word says that there is a time for every activity under heaven - and 2020 has seen all of them.  Thank you for the ways in which you have provided for us - spiritually, emotionally, physically - this past year.  As we look forward into 2021, it is not without some apprehension about the circumstances of the time and place in which we live.  The pervasiveness of sin, wickedness, corruption, and evil can appear so overwhelming.  But your Word says that you laugh at the wicked, for you know their day is coming.  You are not slow in rescuing your people, but are patient as you wait for all to come to repentance.  So, as we wait for you, remind us that you are a sun and shield who bestows favor and honor.  You do not withhold good things from those that walk with you in righteousness.  We claim the promise that the power of the wicked will be broken this year, in Jesus's name.  We proclaim that you will uphold the righteous, because you cannot fail to keep your promises.  We will not be downcast or disturbed because we put our hope in you, our savior and our God.  We praise you and claim your promises of victory!  In Jesus's name, Amen. 

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look for them, they will not be found.

11 But the meek will inherit the land
    and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
    and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
    and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
    and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
    than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord upholds the righteous.  (Psalm 37)

"Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless." (Psalm 84:10-11)

"There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

     a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

     a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

     a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

     a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace." (Eccl. 3:1-8)

"The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9 AMP)

"Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,  for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."  (Psalm 42:5)