Author: John Page 123 of 166

Joel 2:12-13 “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”

Are American Christians really concerned about the direction of our nation or do we just enjoy complaining about our nation’s drift from Christ within the safety of our social circles? The former would be accompanied by the rending of our hearts. The latter would be accompanied by a public pose akin to the rending of our garments. The former follows the Lord’s commands. The latter reinforces our public piety. The former will bring about revival. The latter will foster conditions that will further our continued drift from Christ.

Our God wants us to invest ourselves in His work in our land. He wants our hearts to pay a modest down payment before He pays off the balance. He wants us to turn to Him with all our hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. If we do so, then He will demonstrate His amazing grace, mercy, patience, and kindness that will change our direction.

IF… THEN. IF we are really concerned, THEN we will act accordingly. IF we act accordingly, THEN the Lord will respond. The formula for nationwide revival is simple. Only one question remains, do we care enough to fulfill the modest conditions contained in His contingent promises? For our nation’s sake, I certainly hope so.

AS A RESPONSE TO OUR NATIONAL CONDITION, PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD REND OUR HEARTS. In a time like this, the rending our garments will simply not do.

Jeremiah 29:7 “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

As I close out the two-month PLUS posting series on the truths contained in the contingent promises of II Chronicles 7:14, it is worthwhile to reinforce the Lord’s desire for us to pray for our land.

We may consider current day America a foreign land to us that is unrecognizable from its originating Christian principles. We may consider ourselves captives in a culture war that has carried us away from our Biblical foundation. We may consider our national situation a lost cause that has negated our responsibility to seek nationwide revival. For these reasons, we may be pessimistic about our future. What does God think we should do in such a situation?

Such a condition is nothing new. God has previously seen His people carried away as captives into a foreign land. His command to them then is His command to us today – “pray unto the LORD for it.” Our loyalty and obedience to this command may cause God to respond the same way now as he did then – “And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity.” (Jeremiah 29:14)

PLEASE PRAY FOR A HEART AMONG AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FAITHFULLY PRAY FOR OUR LAND. Our situation should not negate our responsibility to pray for America. If anything, it should reinforce this responsibility.

Romans 8:37-39 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As God’s people, we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us. When we face challenges in our lives, we can conquer them through Him that loves us. When we face challenges in our nation, we can conquer them through Him that loves us. When our leaders face challenges in their spheres of influence, they can conquer them through Him that loves us. We can be conquerors, but not through our own power. We can only be conquerors through Him.

Two years ago today was the kickoff of the PLUS ministry. Yet, this day has additional significance in my life. Six years ago today my organization faced tragedy in the loss of Dave “Cools” Cooley during an F-22 flight test accident. At around 10 am on that Wednesday morning, Cools passed into eternity while performing a difficult maneuver in order to increase the Raptor’s combat capabilities. Fortunately, Cools had a strong salvation testimony.

After medical authorities had confirmed his death and my boss had notified the new widow of her loss, I was left with the responsibility of notifying our 600-person organization that Cools was dead. As I walked several hundred yards across the ramp to a hangar where the anxious crowd was gathered, I walked with several subordinate leaders with whom I had already shared the sad news. Yet, I felt as if I walked alone, deep in my thoughts and prayers about how to share the horrific news. On that walk, I was poignantly aware of the burden and the loneliness of leadership.

God carried our organization through that trial. He helped us conquer the challenges contained therein. On that day, I closed my tragic announcement by leading our organization in a prayer in Jesus’ name. Indeed, even a horrible tragedy could not separate us from His love. He was the One who would allow us to be conquerors in spite of the challenges. A week later, I read from Romans 8 at a base-wide memorial service. These verses punctuated the important thought that as we face challenges in our lives, we can conquer them through Him that loves us.

As individuals and as a nation we must fully rely upon God to conquer the challenges that we face. As leaders face the lonely burdens of leadership, they too must fully rely upon the Lord to conquer the challenges that they face. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Why then should we try to overcome life’s challenges separated from Him? Why then should we try to overcome our nation’s challenges in the same way?

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICA AND AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD CONQUER OUR CHALLENGES BY CLINGING TO THE LOVE OF GOD. After all, we were never intended nor equipped to conquer the trials of life alone.

John 1:11-12 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”

The past several posts have be written to remind us of our weighty responsibilities as God’s people. While revival is God’s, the responsibility to create the conditions for revival is ours. It is easy to stumble under such weight. Fortunately, we don’t have to carry that weight alone; indeed, we never could nor were we intended to.

God offers Himself to us to carry that weight. We have been given His power. If we are to carry out our Christian responsibilities successfully, we must not try to carry the weight alone. Instead, we must totally rely upon Him to carry that weight and to carry us along the way.

Our American forefathers recognized this important truth. Time and again they would pray for the strength to thrive through the trials of their lives. Their trust in the Lord’s strength pervaded their lives so much that they recorded it in the final sentence of the Declaration of Independence: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” They recognized that they alone could not carry the weight of Christian citizenship. They also recognized that they need not try to do so, instead relying upon God’s power. American Christians today must recognize the same.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TURN TO THE LORD TO CARRY THE WEIGHT OF OUR CITIZENSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES. He stands ready, offering us His power. We must trust in it, and not in ourselves, to change this land.

Ephesians 4:1-3 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

As the previous post reminds us, Christians continuously carry the name of Christ around with us by the virtue of our demographic label (https://prayatlunch.us/what-we-are-called/). This artifact of our heritage, stemming from first century Antioch, carries with it a massive responsibility. By wearing the title Christian, the world expects us to be Christ-like. The Lord expects the same.

We are to walk worthy of that calling. It is especially important for us to do so, because many do not. We are to do so with lowliness, meekness, and longsuffering. We are to do so with forbearance, unity and peace. We are to do so because the Lord has bestowed upon us a critical calling based our Christian title. Followers of Christ are to walk worthy of His name.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD WALK WORTHY OF OUR CALLING. II Chronicles 7:14 is directed towards us, and we can only receive God’s promises if we have demonstrated ourselves worthy.