Day 12
Saved with a Holy Calling
“And My People who are called by My name”
Who’s Responsible?
As I sit down to write this, I am mindful of the moral collapse that is plaguing our nation. Inner city crime has spread to small towns and communities all across America, drugs have become an epidemic problem that virtually every family in America is dealing with, and sexual perversions of every kind have become socially acceptable. We pick up video cameras and idly watch while people are murdered, raped, and beaten instead of lending a helping hand and then use the video as a form of entertainment. Just a few weeks ago in a neighboring community, the police averted a planned school shooting that could have ended in great tragedy just as so many already have.
When the tragedies come we ask, “Who is to blame?” and “Who’s responsible for this great tragedy?” We first start pointing our fingers at the parents saying they are to blame, then to the schools noting that they should have had better security or should have been more aware of their student’s activities. We even want to pass the blame on the guns themselves, desiring to sue the gun manufacturers. We say we need better laws or better politicians who will write better laws. Christians love to pass the blame onto the ACLU and those “liberal” activist judges. “They have kicked prayer out of school,” we say. But are we praying at home with our children? We fuss saying, “They have removed God’s Word from the schools.” But are we teaching our children God’s Word at home? We want to pass the buck, but to whom has God given the responsibility?
A passage of scripture I have often found intriguing is Mark 14:17-21. Jesus was having the last supper with His disciples when He said to them, “One of you will betray Me.” What I find so intriguing about this text of scripture is the fact that Peter didn’t say “I know it’s John; I never really trusted him all that much anyway.” Nor did John say, “no it has to be Matthew; you know he use to be a tax collector.” Instead, each one turned to Jesus asking, “Surly, not I.” They weren’t passing the blame; they just wanted to make sure they were staying in right relationship. One of the major downfalls of modern society is that we are unwilling to accept responsibility for our own actions. Instead, we want to find someone else to pin it on. It seems as though taking responsibility for your own actions has gone the way of the ancient word.
However, when it comes to the spiritual condition of this world, there is only one institution to which God has granted power and authority-the power and authority to overcome the spiritual forces of wickedness and tear down the gates of hell. It is the church. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” He then said in the next verse of the same chapter, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Out of the same breath that He said “I have all authority”, He said “Go”. In other words, we (the church) should go out into the world with the authority and the power of Jesus, making disciples who are followers of Jesus.
Jesus also told the church in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” If the power of God is not falling down upon this earth to change the heart of man and transform him into whom God so desires him to be, there is none other to blame than the church. The church is the only institution that God has chosen to work through. There is no other. Therefore, if the church is not fulfilling the callings that God has placed upon them, heaven will be bound. God did not say if the government, or if the school systems, or if the laws, or even if society gets right that He would heal the land. He said, “if my people who are called by My name.” God has given the call, He has given the authority, and He has given the power. We simply have to accept it and walk in it.
We are at a point today where the world has become hostile toward Christianity. We think that they simply don’t want to hear what we have to say, and that is the reasoning for their hostility. I submit to you the opposite. I believe the world today is hostile toward Christianity not because of our voice but because of our silence. Paul said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power unto salvation.” We fail to remember the most phenomenal growth the church has ever experienced was in the first century. We know as well that this was a time when the world was the most hostile toward the Church. Therefore, I am not saying that if the church regains its voice the world will no longer be hostile toward it. On the contrary, the world will most likely be all the more hostile. However, their hostility will be lost in the power of God moving to save the masses. In other words, God will redirect the attention of the lost to His power rather than to the idle arguments of man. The church must stand up and be the church, regardless of the roars of the wicked.
Day 12 Prayer Guide
- Ask God to reveal any sin or mindset that would prevent Him from hearing your prayers.
- Repent of any such hindrance and ask for God’s forgiveness.
- Ask God to remove any doubts and keep you focused on Him.
- Seek the Holy Spirit to consume you during this time to lead you. Be obedient to Him.
- Ask yourself why you serve God. If it’s not out of love, repent.
- Spend some time praising God for the fact that He is able. Quote some scriptures or some of His characteristics to Him in praise.
- Pray that the people of God will repent of sins and mindsets that dishonor and hinder Him.
- Pray that church will understand, and stand up to its calling.
- Pray that the people of God will stand in faith knowing God can reclaim this land.
- Pray that our churches would be devoted to, and peruse the things that honor God.
- Pray that our churches will be a shining light upon the hill.
- Pray that the people of God would see the need for revival and begin to seek God for it.
- Pray specifically for revival in your church. Pray for your pastor and church leaders.
- Pray that the people of God will be broken hearted over the lost.
- Pray that the church will be a gospel centered church with a heart to evangelize the world while starting in their own back yard.
- Pray that the church would stand up to their calling and loose heaven on this earth.
- Pray that the power of God would fall on the church moving them to prayer and sowing the gospel seed.
- Pray as a result that the plagues and pestilences in society will be reversed.
- Pray for a great awakening in your community. Name off streets and neighborhoods.
- Do not be judgmental in this, but pray that if there is any within the church who do not have a genuine relationship with Jesus that God would convict their heart and save them.
- Make a list of individuals who are not saved and begin petitioning God for their salvation.
- Pray for repentance of sin and a great awakening in our nation.
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