God IS NOT concerned about the condition of our nation
...we are.
God IS concerned about the condition of His people
...we are not.
While into a protracted time of prayer recently God gave me the above ideas and I shared them on my Facebook page. I do not think I have ever had the kind of positive response from anything I ever posted before. I am not sure why.
I have written a lot lately about the need to better understand the importance of prayer. Much of that has been motivated by a heightened awareness of how far our nation has drifted from our original Christian inspired foundation. The most obvious newsworthy event involving an important Supreme Court decision about gay marriage stands as a powerful indicator of just how far we have drifted.
So, as you might expect, there is now an urgent call to prayer for our country—and rightfully so. I want to say up front that I not only believe we must be in prayer but am one who is actively calling for it, especially among men in America. Having said that, I do believe we have a much deeper problem demonstrated by the very idea that we are making this call to prayer now.
I want to say up front that I not only believe we must be in prayer but am one who is actively calling for it, especially among men in America.
Let me ask you a question. Do you really believe God is wringing His hands about this Supreme Court decision? I hope you said NO. I believe God is more concerned about the deterioration of an intimate relationship with His people, you and I, and if that relationship were right we might not have a Supreme Court taking up the question at all.
Our tendency has been to go to a call to prayer only when significant issues pop up and it becomes a band aid approach to something that could have been prevented with on-going prayer and taking our relationship with our God seriously in the first place. We have lost our way as a nation because we have lost our way with God. When viewed in this context we should not be surprised or shocked.
This brings me to some ideas on how we should be thinking about our future. We need to stop whining about our circumstances and take a thoughtful look at how we got here. We need to examine why God’s chosen instrument for transforming culture, (His church) has failed. Then we need to go back to Him with a genuine spirit of repentance and seek His guidance on how to turn it around. Dear one—I do not think this is complicated. It does not take a very mature Christian to ascertain what we need to do to get back on track.
In recent months I have been sensing three things that I believe are weighing heavily upon our Lord. First, I do believe He is concerned about the condition of you and I, His followers. He is desperate for an intimate relationship with us and we are either unwilling or unable to develop one. Next, I am sensing His heartache over the lack of unity in the Body of Christ. It seems we spend more time disagreeing on nonsense issues and theological positions than seeking Jesus’ directive to become one.
And finally, I am sensing He really does want to see a concerted effort on our part to go to Him in prayer. He is not looking for us to click on a checkbox and promise to pray as much as making sure we understand what prayer really looks like. Last month I wrote to you breaking down perhaps the best scripture verses on prayer found in 2 Chronicles. If you did not read that you can find it on our site or click here.
So what is the take-away here? It is simply this—all of us who consider ourselves Christians have to up our game. We must get serious about our relationship with God if we ever expect His life and power to flow through us and make a difference. For those of us in church leadership—we must have the courage to face the facts—look at what we have been doing—and make the necessary adjustments in order to produce what God is looking for. This is not a time for self-abasement—it is a time for seeking Him for supernatural wisdom and discernment.
This is not a time for self-abasement - it is a time for seeking Him for supernatural wisdom and discernment.
Dear ones please hear me—in our nation today Christianity is being shaken to its very core and maybe that’s a good thing. The day is quickly coming when many of our churches and Christian institutions may be forced to close their doors. Often throughout history those are the times when the real church emerges with power and glory.
Our focus and subsequent battle must not be centered on these probabilities but rather on what God is calling US to do. We must remember that He is still on the throne and in the end we have nothing to fear.
If we fail to understand these things and continue in the direction we are going - well - someone once said, if you keep on doing what you’re doing...you will end up with more of what you got. I don’t know about you but I do not think we can afford more of what we got.
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.Joshua 1:8 NIV
If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.Deuteronomy 28:1