Pray for Your Country

Godly Daniel, exiled to Babylon, prayed for Israel. He knew the time of exile for his country was nearing the end and fervently prayed for his country.

His prayer gives us a template for us to use in praying for our own country. This is a template for all of us, wherever we live.

Determine to seek Him

Daniel gave his attention to the Lord God, and sought Him with prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.  (Daniel 9:3)

We should likewise take prayer seriously.

Daniel prepared for prayer with fasting and dressed to show his repentance. What should we do?

Praise Him

Daniel started his prayer with praise for the great and awesome Yahweh and “reminded” God that He keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.  (Daniel 9:4)

We should regularly praise our God. How do you want to praise Him?

Confess

Daniel’s confessed that we have sinned. His confession was personal, including himself as part of his country’s sins.

Each of us can see unrighteousness and evil in our country. We, personally, have not directly participated in all those sins, but, we have sinned in other ways. Perhaps we have not prayed about it, perhaps we haven’t tried to intervene, perhaps… We have responsibility.

Daniel was specific. What specific sins of your country should you confess?

Praise in the midst of confession 

Daniel interposed praise throughout his confession, and contrasted God’s character and actions with Israel’s sins.

For example: Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord … Open shame belongs to us, O Lord … because we have sinned against You.  (Daniel 9:7–8)

Keep praising God.

Confess that God is righteous in His actions 

Daniel confessed that God was justified in bringing great calamity on Israel.

Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. (Daniel 9:14)

Do you believe your county deserves God’s judgment? What should you say to God about your country’s sins (using “we”) and what you believe is God’s righteous response?

Pray for mercy 

Daniel reminded God of His previous actions towards Israel, that He had brought them out of Egypt and made them a name for Himself. 

How can you thank God for His work in your country?

Daniel’s prayer:  O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away … listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine … O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations … for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay … (Daniel 9:16–19) 

Let’s pray

Give Thanks for God’s Love

God so loved the world … [But only those who believe in Jesus Christ] shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) 

We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.  (1 Timothy 4:10) 

God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  (Matthew 5:45) 

Common Grace

We all know unbelievers who prosper. They may have loving, wonderful families, ample resources, good health, sleep well, have adventures, have fun, help others, contribute to their communities.

This is “common grace.”

And God is compassionate and patient, not wanting any to perish. 

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9)

God loves the world and demonstrates this love through common grace, compassion, warning us of the consequences of sin, and inviting all to come to belief in Christ. 

Overwhelming love for believers

For those who believe and have received Christ as Lord and Savior, there is infinite, unqualified, limitless, complete, full, forever, permanent love. (Learning about God’s love for us is a great Bible study, and one to repeat!)

God, please help understand Your love for us, and help us walk in the assurance of Your love. 

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God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—I am so grateful that You are patient, not wanting any to perish, but for them to come to repentance. I am so grateful that You provide common grace to all. I tremble at Your incredible blessing to me and all believers, giving us eternal life. Help us, this Thanksgiving Day and every day, to give You thanks for Your great gift. 

Thanksgiving Day Series

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving

Whom Would You Invite?

Give us Grateful Hearts

Thanksgiving Day 2017

Thanksgiving Prayer

Praise the Trinity

Our God—our one God—is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

No, I don’t understand this either, but it is true. Why should I expect, as a human being, to comprehend the eternal, infinite God?

One God

Jesus: “The foremost [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.”  (Mark 12:29) 

Here is God, Jesus, who prayed to God the Father, who spoke of God the Holy Spirit, declaring God is one.

See Praise the One God.

Three Persons

There are many verses in the New Testament that refer to the Trinity. For example:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name [one name, singular] of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  (Matthew 28:19) 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.  (2 Corinthians 13:14) 

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.  (1 Peter 1:2) 

Paul’s prayer, and mine for myself and for you:

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14–21) 

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Almighty, Triune God, we praise You. You are beyond our understanding, and yet You have chosen to reveal some of Yourself to us. We praise You for showing Yourself to us in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, helping us grasp some of Your majesty. Please help us worship You in spirit and in truth.

It Can Happen to You

Job was blameless, upright, feared God, and turned away from evil.  (Job 1:1)

Job lost his children, his wealth and his health.

His “friends” condemned Job for hidden sins that caused his calamity.

His “friends” believed they themselves were righteous and that no ill would happen to them.

Job said to them: He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, as prepared for those whose feet slip.  (Job 12:5) 

Basically, Job said: “It can happen to you.”

A couple of examples: 

The rich can experience devastating reversals, losing their assets. Jesus spoke about the deceitfulness of wealth. (Matthew 13:22)

Jesus also told the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns and believed he would have ease for many years. But God said: “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20)

Those who are very physically fit, follow excellent nutrition, and exercise, can develop a terminal illness. 

Presumption

We can become presumptuous, believing our own actions guarantee the results we want.

We can look to ourselves rather than to God.  

Being rich is not wrong. The love of wealth is wrong. Believing your wealth assures comfort throughout life is confidence in yourself. 

Taking care of yourself physically is good. Believing this guarantees long- term good health is presumption.

This post isn’t meant to scare you, but to encourage you to look to God rather than to yourself.

Our God is all-powerful, loves His children, and has a glorious plan. His plan includes some degree of trouble for each of us, which results in our spiritual growth, making us more like Christ. His plan includes big-league trouble for some of us. 

What to do

Examine yourself. Are you relying on yourself in some area, rather than on God? If you are presumptuous, confess it and repent.

Remind yourself who God is; remind yourself that He is sovereign, and that He loves His children, those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior.

Trust Him.

Be grateful.

Press on.

Think of a pink elephant.

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Now … do not think about a pink elephant.

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Did your thoughts linger on the pink elephant even after told not to?

The “trick” is to substitute another thought for the pink elephant. Then you are thinking the new thought, rather than thinking about the pink elephant.

That tips helps when you are trying to change. Suppose you want to lose weight and keep thinking about some “treat.” It helps when you think instead about new clothes in a smaller size. 

Or suppose you are afraid about some (possible) event in the future. Consciously substitute thoughts about your loving sovereign God. Consciously determine to trust Him. 

The new thought should be consciously in line with who God is and your God-given goals.

Try it. 

All Paths Lead to God

It is frequently said: “All paths lead to God.”

That is true.

All humans die and then face judgment.

It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) 

But only one path leads to eternal life.

Whoever believes in [Christ Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:16) 

Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.  (John 8:24) 

We are surrounded by people on the path to destruction. Let’s demonstrate Christ by our behavior and speak to them as the Holy Spirit prompts.

Press on!

What do you want?

Do you want what God wants?

Do you say, like Jesus: Yet not as I will, but as You will. (Matthew 26:39)

I certainly don’t, at least all the time. But I want to. Or, sometimes, I want to want to…

I am relieved that God is working in me to will (to desire, to want) to do His bidding, and that He is working in me to actually do what He asks.

God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.   (Philippians 2:13)

When I fail

When I fail, there are at least three reasons: 

• Sometimes I don’t know what He wants me to do; 
• Sometimes I don’t want to do what He wants me to do;
• Sometimes my knowledge and motives are (mostly) right, but I make some sort of mistake.

Desire

God is working in me to desire to do His bidding.

It is God who is working, but I have responsibility too. I need to know His word, which equips me with knowledge of Him and His will. The more I know the Bible, the more I desire to please Him. 

This is conviction in my mind.

Action

God is also working in me to actually do what He wants me to do. This is conviction in my actions.

I have responsibility here as well. God is working in me. I have to humbly accept His direction and not launch out on my own. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  (Proverbs 3:5)

Sometimes when I believe I know His will, and want to do His will, I still mess up. There are more underlying reasons than I know about, but one reason is that I boldly go forward without stopping to pray, leaning on myself rather than on God.

What I need to do:

#1. Be intentional about regular Bible study, equipping me to know God more and more.

#2. Purposefully determine that I will want what God wants. Regularly ask God to strengthen my desire.

#3. When I feel God’s direction, humbly say “yes” to God. But also pause and ask for the understanding or specific directions I need to fulfill His purpose. 

#4. Thank Him for working in me.

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Thank You, God, for working in me to want to please You and to actually do Your will. I am so grateful that I am Your child, and that You are making me into the image of Your Son.