Down and Out?

"For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, 

‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." 

(Jeremiah 29:11-12 AMP)

Yesterday was Epiphany - a day of new spiritual understandings.

Yesterday was the anniversary of a group of people who broke into the US Capitol Building causing disruption and damage to property and people.

Today is a new day - a day to take our spiritual understandings and move forward into a new prayer life for our nation. 

Every election cycle politicians and pundits proclaim that "this is the most important election of our lifetimes." While the results of elections are important, our nation is more than just its politics. It is the living people, her institutions and systems, her history, her future, her children, and so much more. And if you are at all aware of her state at the moment, you may be as dismayed as I am at the division, strife, disruption, anger, frustration, and hopelessness our nation is experiencing. For 245+ years she has endured through conflicts and struggles of many types. But, now it seems like we are watching a boxer who has received an intended knockout punch. It's as if our nation lies on the proverbial mat, teeth broken, eyes blackened, blood oozing from the face and mouth, awaiting the "1!" "2!" "3!" of the referee to signal the end of the match. Will she make it to her 250th birthday intact?

The "punches" coming at her are from forces that are demonic at their root. The enemy of our souls is also the enemy of a nation that has historically enshrined the right to peaceably assemble, to speak, and to practice religions as we see fit. Our nation has been a "beacon of light" for generations upon generations of people seeking freedoms, economic advancement, and hope. The Church in the US has been a beacon of light in sending the Gospel message out to all parts of the world through missionaries and mission work. And the US has been a beacon of light for the marginalized, oppressed, and downtrodden in many cultures in our world. If the US goes down, the hope of many people in this world will be crushed. As it looks today, our enemy is gleefully destroying hope all over the world.

As it looks today, the nation is surrounded - under siege - by an evil-infused army of bad ideas, arrogant, power-hungry people, and challenging (even dangerous) circumstances. We are like the city of Jerusalem in the nation of Judah in 2 Kings 18-20 which was surrounded in siege by the most ruthless army of that era - the Assyrians with King Sennacherib as the leader. I won't go into the cruelties of his reign, but I will say the loss of hope of the Israelites and other nearby ancient peoples was because they saw the carnage of their conquerors-to-be. However, when Judah's King Hezekiah cried out to God, he received a message from God via the prophet Isaiah for King Sennacherib:

‘But I [the Lord] know your sitting down [O Sennacherib],

Your going out, your coming in,

And your raging against Me.

‘Because of your raging against Me,

And because your arrogance and complacency have come up to My ears,

I will put My hook in your nose,

And My bridle in your lips,

And I will turn you back [to Assyria] by the way that you came. (2 Kings 19:27-28 AMP)

Is God aware of our enemy and his intentions? YES! Is he aware of the ways the enemy's forces are raging against God's good plans, God's good people, and the glory of his good name? YES! Can God put a hook and bridle on the arrogance and rage of our enemy and send him away from us?  YES!  Is the enemy of our souls more powerful than God? NO! The enemy of our souls is a created being who has rank and power no greater or stronger than Gabriel, Michael, and others who serve in God's army. Do we believe in a God who has power to create the universe, seek out people to love, and then break the power of death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ? YES! We have no reason to live in fear, despair, or hopelessness - our God is infinitely more powerful than our enemy.

But we do have work to do.

Our work is to pray.

Our work is to toil diligently in the fields of prayer, joining our spirits with that of other believers led by Holy Spirit and to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for this nation. No matter how despairing our circumstances seem, our God is bigger, more powerful, and more active than we can always understand. And, he invites us - even expects us - to do our part in bringing about his plans. Do you think that God's will for his children is a world filled with the "punches" of hopelessness, despair, chaos, fear, and grief? NO! So, let's work with God as we pray for our nation. We must believe that our nation is not down for the count and then pray for her rebirth into the fullness of who God created her to be.

Join me in praying for the rebirth of our nation. 

Almighty, Most Holy and Strong God,

We thank you that the enemy of our souls was defeated at the Cross by the Blood of Jesus Christ and that in these times Holy Spirit is teaching the Church to pray. We thank you that you have created the US as a nation for your honor and glory and that none of her circumstances have ever caught you by surprise. We thank you that you have a purpose and plan for her future - a future with peace, hope, and well-being. We pray that the fear of you would come upon this nation so that she can grow in wisdom and knowledge of you, the One True God whose Name is above all other names. Give your children - your true Church - a fire to pray for your will to be done in this nation. We do not believe that you would abandon a nation you started for your glory, so we press on in prayer for that nation. We pray you would pour out Holy Spirit on receptive hearts and that this nation would be brought from a state of darkness into your Light. We pray that the power of the wicked would be broken completely in all areas of our nation. We pray that your righteous children would be upheld as they dwell in the shelter of the Most High God and abide in the shadow of the Almighty, our refuge and fortress, the God in whom we trust. Rescue this nation from the evil forces in siege against her from without and within and rebirth her so she can be a Beacon of Light and Hope. In Christ's name we believe and ask this. AMEN.



"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." (Proverbs 9:10 ESV)

"The power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous." (Psalm 37:17 NIV)

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" 

(Psalm 91:1-2 NIV)