Skip to main content

March 29 Fifth Sunday of Lent A Prayer For Our Nation

When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish there are shouts of joy. ~Proverbs 11:10

For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure. ~Proverbs 11:14

When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood the wicked’s final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground. You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when You rise, O Lord, You will despise them as fantasies.” ~Psalm 73:16-20

Most of us waking up this morning are not going to be doing what we want to be doing. We want to be in worship and fellowship with others. It’s a poor substitute to just have a message from the pastor on our computer or phone screen. We long to be in community in God’s House.

Most of what is being addressed in today’s scripture has been said before. Besides, it’s hard to know, is the virus really wicked, or just a germ that is being very disruptive of all our lives at present? What I do know is that our national leaders are not all on the same page about how to deal with all that is going on. We will get through this and, when we do, I’m sure there will be rejoicing from all sectors.

Rather than belabor points that we have already covered, I thought that today, it would be good for us to use these verses as a guide to be in prayer that the leaders and advisers are wise with God’s wisdom and righteous in their goals for our nation. Let’s consider this time this morning as a kind of fast from gathering to be on our knees not just for this virus, but to pray about so many ills that are hurting our nation, from selfishness to poverty and all the social, moral, spiritual and physical maladies God brings to mind for us to lay before Him in our prayer this day.

Will you join me?

Prayer: Lord in Your word you have caused it to be written that if your people are suffering, and they repent from selfish idolatry, in whatever form that may take, and they turn to you and pray, then you will listen and heal our land. So, we are crying out to You now Lord! I also note that, in Bible history, and down through history after that, You have often let us see that any nation’s leader’s attitude toward you has a profound impact on the whole population for good or ill. So, we pray for our nation’s leaders, and all nations’ leaders, that they will seek Your face and pray with us. We pray for them to turn to You and be led by Your wisdom. May they hear and receive good and godly guidance from many believing advisers.

We thank You for the ones who already know You and are praying with us for healing in the land and praying for wisdom to lead through this difficult time. We pray, Lord, give them the wisdom that will save the day! We pray for the ones who are wicked, that they will have their eyes opened to see the truth, to see their sin and to repent before they are swept away in destruction, taking so many innocents along with them! May they hear and receive good and godly guidance from many believing advisers.

Father, hear our prayer, come quickly and help us! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: 
Heal Our Land

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

142. White Washed Tombstones!

Isaiah 29:9-16 , Matthew 15:1-20 , Mark 7:1-23 , Key Verse: "Nothing outside a man can make him "unclean," by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him "unclean." Mark 7:15 Approximately six hundred years before Jesus, the people of Judah had sinned so badly by ignoring the word of the Lord that God allowed them to be punished by being destroyed by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was completely ruined. Many of the citizens were killed and only a relatively few, referred to as "the remnant," were carried off to live in Babylon for 70 years before being allowed to return and begin again. This event proved to be a real wake up call for the people. The priests and Levites developed an extensive list of rules and regulations by which the people were to live that would outline very clearly how not to break the Ten Commandments again, or any of the whole Law, or "Torah," from Moses in the first five books of the

Spiritual Warfare

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw There’s a war on! And it’s not overseas. I am not talking about the war on terrorism. I am talking about the war in which your heart is the battle ground. It is a war between spiritual forces of good and evil. The victory is ours in Christ. The battle belongs to the Lord. But we are called to play our part. That is why Paul instructs believers like you and me to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”  The life of discipleship gives us no time to relax and live our lives ignoring the spiritual battle. We are ordered to fight. It’s not a pleasant metaphor these days. But Paul had no qualms about telling Christians to be good soldiers, prepared for battle. Even when we do take a Sabbath and rest in the Lord, it is only so that we made ready for the next battle. But this kind of battle won’t wear us out if we are strong in the lord. In fact, we will rejoice! This is not a gr

Advent Devotionals day 3 The Problem of Evil