THANKFUL

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Good morning, Jesus.

On this day, our National Day of Prayer, help us set aside whatever differences we may have, and come together to acknowledge You as sovereign God, and as the Creator of us all. Let us confess our sins and place ourselves under Your Lordship.

There are many in our land who reject this day of solemn soul-searching, calling this event “un-Constitutional” and declaring that the National Day of Prayer has no place in our society. They deny the truths of our nation’s spiritual roots. Lord, we say to these mockers, “Look, we tried that! Look at the results! When we kicked God out of our schools and thus out of our society, we were left with divisions, hatred, bigotry, human trafficking, oppression, depravity, prideful self-righteousness—all the sins the arrogance of man unleashes when man sets himself up as the “supreme being” and rejects the Lord God.” In biblical times, when the ruling authorities threw our tidbits of recognition to God just to show people how “spiritually and morally intellectual” they were, Jesus called out their hypocrisy. These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me (Matthew 15:8).

Our nation desperately needs to return to You, Lord God. Your Word cannot be clearer describing our nation’s dilemma and Your solution: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to their prayers offered in this place (2 Chronicles 7:14–15).

May this be our heartfelt prayer today, Lord God. With contrite hearts, we humble ourselves to confess our sins, seek Your forgiveness, as a nation and as individuals. We ask that You begin a spiritual renewal in each of us. Only You, Lord God, can bring unity to our nation and our people, and heal our broken relationship with You. So be it, Lord Jesus.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.