I received permission from Jon Graf to post the daily Connection! prayer devotions on Pray.Network. These devotions are available as a free e-mail subscription from the Harvest Prayer Ministries website at http://connection.harvestprayer.com/.
I have found these devotionals to be not only inspirational but also great equipping for my own prayer life. There aren't many devotionals that are actually about prayer - most have a quick prayer at the end and that's about it. But this one has prayer as its focus. I thought others on the Network might be interested in it. I will attempt to post each one daily - although I'll inevitably miss here and there.
I have previously written a Spotlight blog post on the Connection! devotional; if you're interested, check it out here: http://www.pray.network/profiles/blogs/praynetwork-spotlight-connection-devotional.
I hope you enjoy and benefit from this devotional as much as I have.
--Andrew
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THANK YOU Andrew for making this request and, you Jon, for always teaming with us!
October 21: Prayer for America - 18 days to Election Day
Prayer for America – 18 Days to Election Day
Posted: 20 Oct 2016 10:00 PM PDT
What is troubling your heart today? When the disciples first heard those words, they were worried because Jesus told them He was leaving. That really caused them great anxiety. But Jesus wanted them to trust Him.
So, is there something about our nation that has you worried today? The economy, racial tension, decisions (or indecisions) in Washington, D.C., the terrorist threats? The list could get long. How can we not have troubled hearts?
Jesus gets really practical here with His Word to us: Don’t have a troubled heart; instead, trust Me. He doesn’t just tell us not to be worried, which doesn’t work unless there is something that can replace the worry. And that’s right where Jesus places Himself. “Trust Me,” He says. Such trust will be lived out in us as we pray. Are you anxious and troubled about our nation? Take your concerns to Jesus. Trust Him. Worrying isn’t trust; it’s foolishness. Intercession is trust in action. So, take the issues of this nation that are troubling you and you bring them to Jesus. Let Him deal with them. He can! Do you believe that?
Prayer Points
Lord, it is very easy to have a troubled heart as I look at my nation. We are so divided, and it looks like nothing can bridge the growing divide. It seems like daily there are news stories which indicate that we are moving farther and farther away from the standards of Your Word and Your righteousness. No one seems to have the answers we need.
So, Lord Jesus, I turn to You. I trust You. What no political party or individual can do, I believe You can do. Would You step into this situation and bring about Your righteous purposes? I trust You. I choose not to have a troubled heart, but will instead entrust my nation to You.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 22: Prayer for America – 17 Days to Election Day
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” –Ephesians 5:11
It seems that most of the serious political scandals have involved cover ups. It wasn’t always the misdeed that was the worst, so much as the lying and manipulation of trying to hide it from the public. Cover ups always try to keep things in darkness, away from the light where people can really see what has happened.
Followers of Jesus ought to really hate cover ups. We are called to be children of the light, avoiding the deeds of darkness. I think we have often misunderstood what it means to be light. Light by its nature shines. Darkness simply flees. It disappears when light appears. If our nation is in darkness, why? What has happened to the light?
Darkness doesn’t push back light. It is simply the absence of light. It’s time to shine, church. It’s time for the light of Christ to be lived out in our neighborhoods, schools, and cities. We don’t need to rail against the darkness; we just need to shine. The Light of the world lives within us, and our nation desperately needs His light to shine in every dark corner.
Prayer Points
My Prayer
Thank You, Light of the World, for coming to live in me. Shine brightly in me today. Forgive me for hiding Your light. Forgive me for the times when I preferred the shadows to the brilliance of Your presence. Shine through Your church in America. Help us to live and to love as You did, so that the darkness in our land will flee and Your light will shine.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 23: Prayer for America – 16 Days to Election Day
“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” –Isaiah 50:10
The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning place for wisdom. That just might qualify us for being one of the least wise places ever. We don’t talk much about the fear of the Lord, even in our churches. Worse than that, we don’t live in the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah helps us understand what it means to be someone who fears the Lord. It is the person who obeys what God says. Such a person understands that God knows what is best and will endeavor to do what the Lord commands. He or she fears what happens when the Word of the Lord is ignored.
We live in a day when even something as basic as the Ten Commandments is being removed from public places. This is simply foolish. Perhaps it is time once again to begin to teach and preach about the fear of the Lord.
Prayer Points
My Prayer
Father, I come before You with fear and trembling. It is because of Your great mercy and love that I fear You. I know You are always right in Your judgments. Help me to be one who obeys Your Word. Enable me through Your Spirit to do what I hear. Help me not to be just a hearer of the Word, but a doer. Lord, our nation needs the moral and spiritual backbone of a people who fear You and obey Your Word. May the fear of the Lord fall upon Your people in our day!
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 24: Prayer for America – 15 Days to Election Day
“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” –Isaiah 1:17
I love the church, so, it isn’t easy for me to say this: Church, our reputation stinks! We are thought of as hypocrites, haters, critics, and irrelevant. Unfortunately, all those descriptive words are accurate. Of course, there are other words I could use to describe what I have seen in the church: love, sacrifice, giving, and compassion, for example.
You see, the church is so large that there are millions of us in different stages of growth and maturity. So, it’s not surprising, really, to see such a vast difference in the ways we act and are perceived. Yet, God has given us an important mandate that few of us are fulfilling. We are the body of Christ on earth. How can we overcome our poor reputation?
Here’s a simple suggestion: Learn to do right! Especially when it comes to those who are hurting and helpless. The church must emulate Jesus who always sought out the least and the lowest. If we listen to Isaiah and seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow, we would be thought of in a much better way in our society. We might not have such nice buildings or such fancy programs, but our reputation would surely be better. And our nation would be changed!
Prayer Points
My Prayer
Lord, forgive us. We have so often made church about us and our needs and wants. In the process we have ignored those who were hurting right down the street from our buildings. Please help us to see people, really see them, as You do. Help us to learn to do right as Isaiah told us. Remake us in Your image, Lord Jesus. You went to those who desperately needed You. May Your compassion well up within us to meet the needs of those around us.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 25: Prayer for America – 14 Days to Election Day
“Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’” –Joshua 3:5
Who of us would not like to see the Lord do amazing things in our midst? We certainly need that supernatural work of God in our nation today. Israel received that promise; yet, it was a conditional promise. God would do miraculous things if His people consecrated themselves.
Consecration is one of those “church words” that sometimes confuses us. To consecrate is to set apart for a particular purpose. It is closely tied to the idea of being made holy. In the tabernacle and later the temple, certain items were consecrated for a special purpose. They could no longer be used in an ordinary way. That was God’s Word to the Israelites in Joshua’s day. It is also God’s Word to us today.
Our nation desperately needs a consecrated church, a people set aside for the Lord’s purposes. We are the way God has chosen to communicate His will to nations. But if we are not a consecrated, holy people, the communication becomes garbled and mixed with our unholiness.
Note that the Lord said that they (and we) were to consecrate themselves. This was not a passive thing, but actively required them to set themselves apart for the purposes of God. As you pray today, would you consecrate yourself, so that we might see the Lord do amazing things in our midst?
Prayer Points
My Prayer
Father, I am so grieved over my lack of consecration. I have believed and loved You, but I’ve been trying to do Your work in my own strength, and so often for my own purposes. In the name of Jesus, I consecrate myself unto Your purposes. Here I am, Lord. Use me as You will. And what I pray for myself, I pray for Your church. Lord, help us to be holy. Our nation desperately needs a holy people to speak Your Word in these days. Pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us that we might be empowered to be used by You. Lord, we need You to do amazing things in our midst.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 26: Prayer for America – 13 Days to Election Day
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” –Galatians 5:1
Freedom has a high value in the kingdom of God—not a freedom to do as you please, but, rather, a freedom to please God. That’s important for us to understand as we pray for our nation.
In handling Scripture accurately, we must point out that the freedom Paul spoke of to the Galatians was freedom from laws and traditions that kept people bound spiritually. This principle of freedom has been used across the centuries to set people free from other kinds of bondage and slavery. Freedom is a gift of God and is to be treasured.
As you pray for the United States, pray that the spirit of freedom would be rekindled. Paul encouraged the Galatians to “stand firm” against any attempt to take away their freedom. There are certainly many today who fear that our freedom to live lives pleasing to God is being eroded by growing governmental control over many aspects of our lives. Praying for freedom is praying a kingdom value into our nation.
Prayer Points
My Prayer
I thank You, Lord, that You have set us free from bondage. I’m so grateful for the freedom we have in Christ. I thank You for the Founders of our nation who built that love and respect for freedom into the core of who we are. Help us, Lord, to be vigilant against the erosion of freedom. Build a love of freedom into our churches and schools and other formative institutions. Give us the courage and boldness to stand firm against those who would take away freedom. May we always be the land of the free.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 27: Prayer for America – 12 Days to Election Day
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” –John 8:32
There is nothing more powerful than a well-told lie. Individuals can find their lives spinning out of control because they believe something untrue about themselves or someone close to them. We’re all aware of how that can happen to a nation when we look back at the propaganda ministry of Nazi Germany and the deception that filled a country. It doesn’t surprise us that Jesus called Satan a liar.
The one thing that is more powerful than the lie, though, is the truth, clearly and forcefully stated. It is truth that sets us free and keeps us free. That is true spiritually, and is certainly true for a nation. When we receive the truth, both about our own sinfulness as well as God’s great love for us expressed through Jesus Christ, we are set free. We must continue to hold to this great truth all of our lives.
A nation must believe truth as well. The authors of our Declaration of Independence appealed to certain self-evident truths. A love of truth is seen as essential to our rights and liberty. In these days, it seems that truth often takes a backseat to partisan bickering and positioning. Those who pray for the nation must learn to love truth and pray for it to come forth in power.
Prayer Points
My Prayer
I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are the Truth! And it is You, the Truth, that sets men free. Thank You for the freedom we have in You. I thank You that so many of our founding fathers in this nation understood that freedom ultimately is a gift from You and therefore is dependent upon Your truth. Please restore truth to our nation. Help us to quit believing lies. Lord, expose lies! Bring a fresh love for truth to those who report the news. Give discernment to those who watch, listen, or read the news, so that truth might always prevail.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 28: Prayer for America – 11 Days to Election Day
“‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.” –Jeremiah 33:6
There is a real wave of discouragement and despondency sweeping through the United States these days. For many, it seems as though our nation is on the path of no return. There is a real concern that we have drifted too far from God and that we might never again see a nationwide spiritual awakening. It certainly is possible for a people to go too far in their rebellion.
But I do not believe the United States is yet at that point. The Lord has many who are crying out to Him. There is a growing movement of prayer that is focusing on repentance and turning back to God. Check out this website: OneCry.com for an encouraging viewpoint.
God’s Word to Judah many years ago was both bad news and good news. The people were going to suffer for their rebellion against God. But in the midst of those tough times, God made a promise showing that He wasn’t done with Judah. He promised health, peace, and security to a people who didn’t deserve it. But such is His mercy and love—both then and today!
Prayer Points
My Prayer
Lord, we certainly deserve Your judgment. As a nation, we have sinned against You in virtually every way. We have deliberately tried to remove You from public life. We have squandered wealth, chosen convenience over life, abused the weak, dishonored the poor, and allowed our prejudices and hatreds to divide us. Forgive us! Instead of judgment, pour out Your mercy. We need the healing that only You can provide. Bring again to our nation Your health, Your peace, and Your security.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
October 29: Prayer for America – 10 Days to Election Day
“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” –Galatians 5:13
When Christ set men free from the law, not everyone knew what to do with their freedom. Some literally taught that freedom in Christ meant everything was permissible, even those things that were morally wrong. Paul, who understood freedom perhaps better than anyone, had to step in and provide some corrective teaching.
Freedom is a great thing. Knowing how to use our freedom is even better. History is replete with examples of those who failed to understand the purposes and restraints of freedom. The violence and despotism associated with the French Revolution is a good example of freedom gone bad. Their rejection of the Christian faith prevented the tempering effect that faith should have had on passions that were given new-found freedom.
Over the past few decades there has been a growing movement in the United States desiring to remove any restraints that faith might provide. There is a world of difference between freedom of religion and freedom from religion. Though the latter uses the word “freedom,” it nonetheless is a path that leads away from freedom and toward tyranny and intolerance.
Prayer Points
My Prayer
I thank You, Lord, for the freedom we have in Jesus. Help us to use that freedom with the wisdom that comes from above. Protect freedom in our nation. Lord, step in and prevent those who oppose You from gaining power or influence in this nation. Help our schools and universities to teach and model what it means to be responsible with the freedom that has been given us.
–Adapted from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
2016 ELECTION PRAYER: Like, share and follow our 2016 Election Prayer page on Facebook! Every day there is a new prayer as we move through this election season! You can also download a free election prayer guide! Let’s press in together for this crucial election!
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2016 is published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.
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