Proverbs 13:20 “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
Proverbs 1:10 “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
Mark 15:15 “And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.”
There is a flip side of the peer pressure coin that is described concisely in Proverbs 13:20. While we are influenced to be wise by the wise around us, we are also influenced to be foolish by the fools around us. Sometimes, this negative impact even comes from other Christians who are less faithful, less trusting in the Lord, or less confident in God’s influence in our lives than we are. These types of negative peer pressure may have even influenced us against praying daily for the United States. Consider the following thoughts that may have been generated by negative peer pressure:
- Have you given up on our nation?
- Have you given up on the Lord and His willingness or power to prompt a widespread revival in our nation?
- Have you come to believe that you can do more personally to impact our nation than the Lord can do to impact our nation?
- Are you plagued by such busyness in your life that you cannot break away for a short period to pray daily for our nation?
We must first recognize the forces that entice us away from the Lord, and then consent not to them. Indeed, these forces can be so powerful that they prompted Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus. They may also be acting on you in a way that draws you away from recognizing the importance, relevance, and necessity of daily prayer for our nation.
PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD BE INFLUENCED BY THE WISE AND GODLY AROUND US, AND NOT BY THE FOOLISH AND UNGODLY AROUND US. By being a companion of the fools in our midst, American Christians have allowed our nation to slip towards destruction.