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.
Author: Awake Us Now
Rekindle… Strength
Our God calls us to stand strong in Him against the attacks of the world and the Devil!
Hebrews: Soul Anchor – Week 6
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.
Rekindle… Reform
True reformation takes place when we allow the Holy Spirit to change our beliefs and behavior. It shows itself in humility, repentance, trust, obedience, and praise.
Day 25 of 40 Days of Prayer for America
Bible verse:
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.” Isaiah 45:22-24
I was on the sidewalk in front of our house in the early ’50’s. I was trying out my neighbor Bill’s old rusty coaster wagon. While barefooted, I was kneeling with my right leg in the wagon while pushing with my left leg as I held on to the tongue of the wagon for steering. I was moving briskly. Suddenly, I was unable to move my left foot. This mystified me, so I pulled hard a couple of times trying to see why my foot was stuck and was horrified by what I saw. Bill’s wagon didn’t have a cotter key holding the wheel on the axle, but a big bent-over nail. The sharp end of the nail was stuck in the back of my heel so my foot couldn’t move. I had felt no discomfort until I saw it, then, suddenly, there was excruciating pain! I screamed, “MOM! Help me!” Followed by a series of, “Ouch, ouch, ouch – ouches!” My Mom rescued me, got my foot loose, cleansed the area and applied a band aid. A doctor visit followed. I healed.
Some 60 years later, this story has interesting parallels with the state of our country:
Front Year Early 1950s > USA Today
• Unsafe equipment > Walking without the Lord God
• No Safety Gear (shoes) > Risk of losing the Lord’s protection
• Nail in my heel, but no pain > Spiritually blind, but we don’t know it
• I’m stuck / I can’t move – why > Grid lock – wrong values; wrong actions
• Saw it for what it was – then pain! > Pray for eyes to be opened – repentance
• I screamed for help: “MOM!” > Pray, “Lord Jesus: Save Us!”
• She pulled my foot away from the nail. > Pray, “Turn us (USA) back to you, Lord!”
• Doctor visit (Wound cleaned/bandaged) > Pray, “Lord, cleanse us! Heal us!”
• Healing followed. It’s only a memory. > Pray, “Holy Spirit, Heal this land!”
• I didn’t use Bill’s wagon ever again. > Lord, may we be filled with your Spirit, not other spirits or ideas
• My wagon had cotter keys and hub caps. >. May we hold on to the Gospel of Jesus. He forgives us. He saves us. He makes us new.
Prayer: Pray for our eyes to be opened to see Jesus as the Savior, that there might be a heart-yearning to turn back to Him. Pray for a cleansing of our waywardness and for repentance to happen in the hearts of us all. Pray for the lost to be saved and that the Lord would bring an infilling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Pray that Jesus’ love would be evidenced in our lives and actions. Pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit our land would return to God and be healed. In Jesus’ name!
By Care Minister Bob Johnson
Day 24 of 40 Days of Prayer for America
Bible verse:
“His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Isaiah 9:7 (NLT)
Governments are supposed to guard their citizens and protect them. But they are often flawed and limited. Jesus is neither. His government and Kingdom offer complete fairness and justice. And peace! King David represented God’s purposes during his lifetime, but God promised “a child is born to you”, who would usher in God’s Kingdom now, and lasting into eternity. This is so key. We all long for the fulfillment of this promise in eternity, but Jesus kept saying, “the kingdom of God has arrived among you” (Luke 11:20), referring to himself.
Jesus, in his final moments before his trial and crucifixion, prays to his Father for you and me, saying, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world” (John 17:15-18).
You and I, through faith in Jesus Christ, are already citizens of God’s Kingdom. For a short time now, we have a role to play, first to step into God’s way of thinking and God’s way of loving others. And to continue expanding his Kingdom by the way we conduct our lives for him. He promises that “the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” God has placed his full resources behind you and WILL accomplish this! Will you align yourself with the Lord Jesus and let him work through you to bring others into his Kingdom? If so, just watch him do just that!
Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for adopting me and claiming me as a citizen of your Kingdom. I give you my will, to accomplish this in my circle of people as well. May I live your truth and share your Truth (the Lord Jesus) with the people I love and interact with today. In Jesus’ name.
By Pastor Kevin Schuessler
Hebrews: Soul Anchor – Week 5
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.
Rekindle… Truth
Many today believe that everything is relative and that they can successfully live “their own truth.” But what if your “truth” is a lie? From Scripture, we learn that all truth actually begins with God!
Day 18 of 40 Days of Prayer for America
Bible Text John 15:13 (KJV)
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
More than 240 years ago the “Stars and Stripes” flag was adopted as our American flag by the Continental Congress. Since then our freedom has been bought by a price by those who sacrificed their lives to defend the freedoms we have today. But even before that, almost 2000 years ago, Jesus sacrificed His life. He went to the cross for our freedom, too. So let’s join in prayer for America. Let’s give thanks for our freedoms and pray for their preservation. Those freedoms secured by the many who gave their lives for America and let’s celebrate and share the freedom secured on the cross by the one and only Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Some great ideas:
• Pray for America
• Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and include “One nation, under God.”
• Sing the National Anthem, “Star Spangled Banner”
• Sing-a-long with Pastor Kevin’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” https://youtu.be/yTrx92wCWao
• Sing or listen to other great patriotic songs like, “My Country ’Tis of Thee”, “God Bless America”, “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless the USA,” “God of Our Fathers,” “Home on the Range,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “This Land is Your Land,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” They can all be found on Youtube.
• Watch – LIVE FREE by Pastor Dodge – https://youtu.be/4tTe-PKUuks
Prayer: Pray for the veterans and their families. Thank God for the freedoms we have in America. Ask for His protection of those freedoms. Thank Him for the ultimate gift of love we received through Jesus Christ.
By Ann Goehner
Day 17 of 40 Days of Prayer for America
Bible Texts:
Matthew 8:24-26 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Proverbs 15:1 (NLT) A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.
So much dissension, arguing and anger it’s like a raging sea. That storm is not just causing ripples, but waves that are divisive and destructive to the core of what America stands for.
The waves cause some of us to be fearful and afraid, others of us jump right in and join in the storm. However, we are called to trust in God when fear comes and we are called to be peacemakers. So if our reaction to the storm is to be afraid, God commands us, “Fear not!” His promises are true and we can trust that when He says He will strengthen us, help us, and be with us, that is exactly what He means. We are also called to be peacemakers. This doesn’t mean we water down the truth or don’t speak it. It means we speak Jesus’ truths in love, with a heart filled with kindness and gentleness and with a desire to be part of calming the storm. We sow peace when we act peacefully.
Prayer: Cry out to the Lord today on behalf of America and her people. Ask the Lord to quiet the storm and the waves. Ask Him to bring peace into our hearts that we might walk fearlessly into our day knowing He is always with us. Ask Him to give us the strength to be peacemakers when our reaction is to join the storm or make it bigger.
By Ann Goehner
Awake Us Now 