James 4:10 (NKJV) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
The devil loves to keep people in a place where they are not listening to the Lord. When God’s people are OK with rebellion, joyous with perversion, when God’s people are comfortable with half-hearted religion, the enemy shouts for joy.
But when God’s people hear the true voice of the Living God, and understand how pure and holy and righteous He is, and yet also how good and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love He is, the only response can be one of daily humbling oneself before God.
We need to understand that true faith begins with a repentant heart, and an understanding of the truth begins with humility before God. In these days when the nations are shaking, and when the powers that be are wondering how do we stop the powers that are? What God is saying is, “Come back to Me, and let Me deal with the most important issues of the heart and soul, so that the heart and soul of the nation may be changed and transformed.” Because the path we go on as human beings, rebellious against our creator, is a path that leads to destruction, but the path of faith and repentance and trust in the Living God is a path that leads to renewal, and forgiveness, and hope, and life, and joy.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, lead us back to You that the heart and soul of America might be changed and transformed. We are in a rebellious time, Lord, and we need what only You can give. Bring renewal, forgiveness, hope, life and joy to the heart of each one of us in Jesus’ name. Amen
”The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NIV)
“You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 (NIV)
Tomorrow we begin 40 days of intentional prayer for America. We hope you will join us over the next 40 days as together we humbly come before the Lord on behalf of America.
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14. Now think about that for just a second. Jesus says in the gospel of John, “I am the light of the world.” But as His followers, and every one of us who call on His name, Jesus, the Light of the world, says to us, “You are also the light of the world, because My light has shown into your life.” You and I have been brought out of darkness into His marvelous light. We’ve come to understand that we are not better than others, that we are all beggars who need what only the living God can give. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone of us cannot stand in the presence of a Holy God on the basis of our own accomplishments. We understand that God is good, that God forgives, that God did not spare his only Son but gave Him up for us all. We understand that in Jesus, by faith in Him, receiving Him as Savior and Lord, God changes everything in our lives. And because of that Jesus says to us that we are the light of the world if we know Him as our Savior, if we understand His incredible love for us, if we understand that we’re sinners and that we need Him as our Savior.
Jesus gave His life for me. He gave His life for you. Because He did, because He is risen from the grave, we believe what He says. We believe His words are true because every part of the Scriptures are the true word of God. And that word of God says that you and I, by faith in the Lord Jesus, are the light of world!
Now let us go forth into the world with the Light of Jesus shining. Let us testify to His love with everyone we interact with today. Let His Light shine bright in the darkness.
Today, we prepare our hearts to come before the Father in faith and hope, secure in His love and knowing that ”The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NIV)
Prayer: With our whole hearts let us truly seek His face and on bended knees, come in humble repentance for ourselves, our families, our churches, our cities, our states, our leaders and our country. From the depths of our hearts let us cry out in sincere remorse for the sins of America and ask God, by the blood of Christ, His Son, to cleanse America and to turn us back to Him.
Our prayers over the next 40 days will be asking God to: Heal our land, turn hearts back to Himself, restore families, rebuild homes, remake marriages, restore communities, break down hostility between groups, and that He would bring revival to each of us, then the church and then to America. Our prayers will be for a wave of revival to break out across America and beyond. Lord, hear the prayers of our hearts!
By Pastor Chris Dodge
PS:
During these 40 days, we will offer an evening to gather together online. Our gathering is planned for Tuesday, November 1st at 6:30pm CT, Day 33 of our 40 days.
I am extending a personal invitation to each of you to join us as we gather for the Lord’s Supper, prayer and worship via an online Zoom gathering.
For 40 days, we at Awake Us Now are going to be focusing on prayer for our country leading up to Election Day. We invite you to join us as we bring America before the Lord beginning Friday, September 30 through Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
Each day we will provide a new topic, Bible text, devotional and prayer points as we focus on our personal relationship with God, the church’s relationship with God and our country’s relationship with God.
We serve a God who hears and answers prayer! He says, “You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:12. It is with this verse and the truth it declares that we will seek God’s face, pray for our country and pray for revival.
During these 40 days, we will also offer an evening to gather together online. Our gathering is planned for Tuesday, November 1st at 6:30pm CT, Day 33 of our 40 days.
I am extending a personal invitation to join us as we gather for the Lord’s Supper, prayer and worship via an online Zoom gathering.
Pre-registration is required.
When: Nov 1, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
As our soul anchor, Jesus is to be the most important person in our lives. It is He we want to be following, and this study will encourage us to place Him first before anything else in our lives.
In a world dominated by moral relativism, does anyone have real authority? Shortly before His ascension, Jesus made it clear that He does: “All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me.”
The devil loves the facade of religion without the foundation of faith. He encourages an outward show of allegiance, as long as we avoid the inward commitment of our hearts. Meanwhile, God offers us something much more precious and desirable — an intimate relationship with Himself!
As our soul anchor, Jesus is to be the most important person in our lives. It is He we want to be following, and this study will encourage us to place Him first before anything else in our lives.
In a world that seems filled with hopelessness, where can hope be found? The Lord Jesus Christ brings us an answer to that question — we will not be disappointed if our hope is found in Him!
The Bible describes the Church as “the bride of Christ.” Has the Church today remained faithful and devoted to her Bridegroom? How are we to pray for the Church in America and other lands?
Awake Us Now 