My prayer for this nation
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I hate to sound like a chicken little, but I think the country is on the brink of some real sorrows. (I know, what was my first clue?)
I think that since we were given much, much will be required, and we as a nation have dropped our end of the contract.
My prayer would be that God sends us men such as Elijah, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, who would be able to preach a national repentance to those who have ears to hear. When the king asks "Are you the one who troubles our country?", the man of God can reply as had been done before. I want us to follow the example shown by Nineveh.
I think we have a storm coming and believe that this is our only national hope this side of eternity.
This feels awkwardly worded to me but I think many will understand my intent. Thank God that He does. Was a precedent set when He agreed to with hold destruction if there are 10 righteous men left nationally? I still think He agreed to that with Abraham only because He knew there weren't even 10 at that time.
We are to pray without ceasing. Sounds impossible, but who better to talk to than God?
I surely agree with you that we are all to be about our Father's business, but being part of the body means we may be in different locations performing different functions all to keep the entire body moving forward. Not to be a slacker, I believe the men I mentioned were preordained prior to their birth to do the things that they did. The prophet Samuel was dedicated before he was even born, I believe. Jeremiah and John the Baptist certainly were. I hadn't studied about Elijah's formative years because his adult life was so spectacular its hard to stray from that. Elijah will be coming back at the end of this age to warn and call to repentence. I say Enoch and Elijah, some believe Moses and Elijah, I say whoever it is is well with me. Now, consider Jonah. A man of God but refusing to do as God ordered him to do. Jonah resisted as much as he could, but God told Jonah to do it and that is the way He wanted it done. Balaam was aslightly different situation, but not just a common every day guy. God annointed all of these men. Without God's annointing and commission, none of them would be known to us today.
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In the past I tended to ignore emotions in myself as they are a primary method by which the enemy seeks to influence us. Now I better understand that God created them and that they can be used for good as well as bad. Something specific happened that changed forever the way I consider emotions; I don’t talk about it much because it is so subjective, but here goes:
Our family attended a large multi day outdoor Christian music festival in early August 2001 and it was marked by low emotions. Even some of the performers of national and international note mentioned while on stage that they were "down lately". There was a kind of fog over the whole place, even though it was supposed to be a big party. I seemed to be filled with frustration or dull anger, which made me kind of self focused in hindsight. I saw a lot of self focus in others there as well, which may have explained my frustration since it was supposed to be a “Christian environment”. Anyone reading this knows what happened the next month on Sep 11, 2001.
I don't mean to be spooky, but those are the facts; a large and at least outwardly Christian group seemed to be experiencing the same thing at the same time. I think it was a call to prayer, and most of us missed it. I realize that I should not have been self focused, but should have been praying. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to a Christian identifying and doing the will of God is self focus. The personal shock of the above example will help make sure I won’t be fooled by that again.
The book of James is one of my favorite books because of its plain talk and strong exhortations that I specifically need to hear. I believe chapter 5 says a couple things that apply here: that prayer is crucial, and that there was nothing special about the prophets other than their priority and perspective, which is available to all of us if we get the right focus.
James 5:13-20: 13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Thanks once more, Kenny, for speaking from your heart and especially for reminding us of the prophets and the correct perspective we should have. I think it is encouraging to remember that James says "Elijah was a man like us" while we are praying.