Adding a new discussion to feature 40 days of prayer using the Grace for America prayer guide promoted by Fast Forward America and Pray as One. This guide was produced by Dick Eastman and Every Home for America and is used by permission, with the following credit:
Grace for America © 2016 by Dick Eastman,
International President, Every Home for Christ
(www.ehc.org) and is reprinted by permission of the
author and Every Home for Christ International.
I will publish each day's brief prayer from the guide in this discussion and invite responses and prayers from the community. I agree with so many who have said that America is in desperate need of revival and that the current election cycle may be a tipping point - not just in terms of who is elected and the ramifications of that, but also in terms of the divisiveness that seems to be growing in our country. May God gain glory for himself in our country in this time of prayer! May he forgive and cleanse our sins, and may he turn our hearts back to him!
--Andrew
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Day 40: Restoration
Acts 15:16-18 (NLT)
“Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David.
I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity
might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles— all those I have
called to be mine. The Lord has spoken— he who made these
things known so long ago.”
PRAY: God, I rejoice that your Kingdom has come to earth
through your Son. I know we are in an age of “now-and-not yet”—
your Kingdom is here, but it is still to come. Today, I
pray that you would make our nation part of your restorative
work on earth. I pray that the results of this election would
usher America into an age of joyful participation in the
ultimate restoration of your Kingdom on earth.
For further reading: Psalm 23
Day 39: Involvement
Hebrews 5:7-8 (MSG)
“While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out
in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to
God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though
he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he
suffered, just as we do.”
PRAY: Jesus, I humbly thank you today for the way you
involved yourself in humanity, that you might understand
our pains, our sorrows and our sufferings. I pray that you
would show me how to become involved in the lives of my
neighbors, that I might see them through your eyes of grace
because I understand their sorrows and sufferings. May my
votes bring relief because of my involvement in the plight of
those around me.
For further reading: John 1
Day 38: Sensitivity
Hosea 6:2-3 (NLT)
“In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in
his presence. Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press
on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival
of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”
PRAY: Today, I pray for the leaders we will elect in the coming
days. Father God, I pray that the men and women we choose
would have sensitive hearts. Make them especially sensitive
to you, Lord. May they “press on to know” you so that you
will respond and heal our nation. Make them sensitive, also,
to the needs of the people they are elected to represent.
For further reading: Jeremiah 29
Day 37: Concern
Deuteronomy 30:3-4 (MSG)
“Here’s what will happen. While you’re out among the
nations where God has dispersed you and the blessings and
curses come in just the way I have set them before you, and
you and your children take them seriously and come back to
God, your God, and obey him with your whole heart and soul
according to everything that I command you today, God, your
God, will restore everything you lost; he’ll have compassion
on you; he’ll come back and pick up the pieces from all the
places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you
end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring
you back to the land your ancestors once possessed.”
PRAY: Lord, I pray today that you would give me your heart of
gracious concern for my neighbors as I approach the election
in my nation this November. I pray that you would use my
vote to minister your restoration and your compassion to your
people and to the lost in America. I pray that you would nudge
the hearts of your people to remember, God, that when we
respond to you and obey you, you will restore us.
For further reading: Romans 15
Day 36: Support
Romans 15:5-6 (AMP)
“Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance
(steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you
to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with
one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, That together you
may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise
and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the
Messiah).”
PRAY: God, I pray that you would show me where your
support falls in this election. Direct my support to issues and
candidates that have your support. I pray, also, that you would
support your Church in America in your grace—make us live
in “mutual harmony” and “full sympathy with one another, in
accord with Christ Jesus,” that we would demonstrate your
love to the world around us through our participation in this
election.
For further reading: Psalm 18
Day 35: Awareness
Psalm 139: 1-6 (MSG)
“God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an
open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m
thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m
never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to
say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and
you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your
reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too
wonderful— I can’t take it all in!”
PRAY: Your awareness of me, oh God, speaks to me of your
overwhelming love for me. You love me even as you search
and know me. You are always aware of what I am doing,
where I am going and what I am saying. I pray, Lord, that you
would make me aware of you—aware of your thoughts, your
desires and your will—as I consider the issues and candidates
on my ballot this November.
For further reading: John 15
Day 34: Understanding
Isaiah 11:1-3 (NIV)
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots
a Branch [Messiah] will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will
rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and
fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by
what he hears with his ears…”
PRAY: Father, I pray that you would equip me with your spirit
of wisdom and understanding during this election season. As
I research, participate, advocate and vote, I pray that I would
be filled with your counsel and knowledge. May my decisions
be motivated by “delight in the fear of the Lord.” I pray, also,
that your spirit of understanding would fall on all your people
in America today.
For further reading: Ephesians 1
Day 33: Availability
Psalm 34:17-19 (MSG)
“Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue
you. If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if
you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.
Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every
time.”
PRAY: I praise you today, oh Lord, for your availability. I
thank you that every time I am in trouble, you are there, ready
to rescue me. I thank you for mending my broken heart and
responding every time I cry for help. I pray that you would
be available to your people in this nation during these days. I
pray that we would turn to you, remembering always that you
are always available to hear our cries.
For further reading: Psalm 91
Day 32: Acceptance
2 Corinthians 6:2 (AMP)
“For He says, In the time of favor (of an assured welcome) I
have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you
on the day of deliverance (the day of salvation). Behold, now
is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of
you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation!”
PRAY: Lord, I thank you for your acceptance—for your
gracious welcome and salvation. I pray today that you would
fill my heart with the acceptance you have extended to me.
Show me how to respond favorably to those around me and
especially how your spirit of acceptance might inform my
votes this November. May your gracious acceptance and
salvation spread across our land through your people this
election.
For further reading: Jeremiah 1
Day 31: Long-Suffering
1 Timothy 1:15-16 (AMP)
“The saying is sure and true and worthy of full and universal
acceptance, that Christ Jesus (the Messiah) came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost. But I obtained
mercy for the reason that in me, as the foremost [of sinners],
Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect
long-suffering and patience for an example to [encourage]
those who would thereafter believe on Him for [the gaining
of] eternal life.”
PRAY: God, you have been long-suffering with us, your
people in America. You have saved us, sinners, and you have
given us mercy. You have been patient with us, even when
we have complained against you. Today, I pray again for the
leaders we will elect this November. I pray that you would
give them a spirit of long-suffering. Give them patience as
they endure the scrutiny of our nation, and give them peace
as they suffer the offenses and hardships of their respective
offices.
For further reading: Isaiah 53
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