PLUS

Luke 18:1 “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”

One of the most despised acronyms in military flight training is S.I.E. – self-initiated elimination.  It is the official military phrase that describes the situation when someone decides to quit a formal training program.  Individuals S.I.E. for a variety of reasons:  the training is too difficult, they are not doing well, they are not willing to endure the decade-long commitment that will come with graduation, or they don’t enjoy the career field as much as they thought they would.

It is despised for several reasons, including the fact that it severs the camaraderie of trying to complete the year-long training program together as a class.  Yet, the primary reason it is abhorred is that an individual who S.I.E.s was given a great opportunity and failed to use it.  In fact, that individual took a spot in a competitive program that could have gone to someone else who would have appreciated the opportunity and seen it to its conclusion.

American Christians all around us are S.I.E.ing.  In this case, I am not talking about quitting the faith or the church, though that is happening as well.  I am talking about the privilege we have to live in this nation at this time – for such a time as this – and how we are failing to pray as we should.  Indeed, we are seeing fellow Christians faint all around us.  Maybe true prayer has become too difficult for them.  Maybe they are not doing well in their life of faith.  Maybe they are not willing to endure our God-given commitment to pray for “kings and for all that are in authority.”  Maybe they aren’t enjoying the Christian life as much as they thought they would.

Make no mistake, American Christians have been given a spot that others around the world would rejoice in.  Your spot in this country at this time could have gone to someone else.  When we S.I.E., we are failing to live up to that privilege and that responsibility.

PLEASE PRAY AS WE SHOULD FOR THIS NATION AT THIS TIME.  When we S.I.E., then we quit on our comrades and more severely quit on God.

Psalm 62:8 “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:  God is a refuge for us.  Selah.”

John Bunyan described prayer in the following way:

“Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.”

Do our prayers lack power?  If so, maybe we have fallen short of God’s intent for prayer:

• Are we praying in trust and faith?
• Are we praying with a pouring out of our heart before Him?
• Are we praying sincerely?
• Are we praying sensibly?
• Are we praying affectionately?
• Are we praying through Christ?
• Are we praying in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit?
• Are we praying according to the Word?
• Are we praying for the good of the church?
• Are we praying in submission?

America desperately needs Christians who are praying powerfully, with nothing lacking.  If there are areas that we are falling short in the above areas, it is time to refocus our prayer pattern and rededicate ourselves to the practice of prayer.

PLEASE HARNESS THE FULL POWER OF PRAYER FOR OUR NATION.  It is sensible to do so.

SET YOUR ALARM:  If you’re alarmed (that we are short on leaders who serve with selfless sacrifice), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Acts 6:10 “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.”

Nathan Hale volunteered to be a patriot spy for General Washington behind enemy lines in New York City in September 1776.  The 21-year-old graduate of Yale was determined to “reflect and do nothing but what duty demands.”  Indeed, he did.  Yet, following an aggressive purging campaign during the great fire in lower Manhattan, the British apprehended Hale and sentenced him to death as a spy.  The next day, on September 22^nd, Hale was led to an artillery park near General Howe’s headquarters to face the noose.

As a part of Hale’s last words, he gave a “sensible and spirited speech.”  Then, with the promise of a long life ahead extinguished, Hale shared the following famous words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”  Upon that phrase, he was executed.

Nathan Hale spoke wisely and powerfully. Then, he unhesitatingly followed his words with action.  Both had a large impact on the cause of freedom in this land.

We need Christians who will speak up, with sensible and spirited words.  We need those words to be filled with the spirit and wisdom.  We then need Christians to follow through on our words with action, willing to sacrifice our lives and our livelihoods for the greater good.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO BOLDLY SPEAK UP AND ACT OUT.  The cause of freedom depends upon us doing so.  We need to speak out with the power that our adversary cannot resist.

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

American patriot and hero, Nathan Hale, had signed a teaching contract before the Revolutionary War began and was conflicted as to whether he should break that contract to fight for the cause of freedom.  He received the following advice from his friend and classmate: “Was I in your condition, I think the more extensive service would be my choice.  Our holy Religion, the honor of our God, a glorious country, and a happy constitution is what we have to defend.”  Hale took this advice to heart and selected the more extensive service.

What happened to Christians in this nation who would select the more extensive service?  Instead of defending our holy religion, the honor of our God, our glorious country, and our happy constitution, we relent to lesser pursuits.  We decide to invest our time, our attention, our energy, our talents, and our resources in things that are far less important and far less noble.  All the while, the opponents of our holy religion, our honor-worthy God, our glorious country, and our happy constitution are investing their time, their attention, their energy, their talents, and their resources in order to diminish the things that we hold dear.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A RENEWED FOCUS BY AMERICAN CHRISTIANS ON THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST.  We must choose the more extensive service.

SET YOUR ALARM:  If you’re alarmed (more by the candidates’ spiritual and moral health than their physical health), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Isaiah 9:9-10 “And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones:  the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”

Isaiah 9:13 “For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.”

II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

In The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn compares America’s response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 to Israel’s response to the attack of the Assyrians.  Following the Assyrian attack, the Israelites were prideful; they were defiant; they were stout in their hearts; they were resolute; they were determined to rebuild in their own strength.  Yet, they failed to seek the Lord of hosts – the one thing that God had intended for them to learn from their circumstances.  Following the 9/11 attack, Americans were prideful; we were defiant; we were stout in our hearts; we were resolute; we were determined to rebuild in our own strength.  Yet, we failed to seek the Lord of hosts – the one thing that God may have intended for us to learn from our circumstances.

The formula for revival is not pride.  It is not defiance.  It is not stoutness of heart.  It is not resoluteness.  It is not determination.  Instead it is humility.  It is prayerfulness.  It is repentance.  It is an attitude that seeks the Lord of hosts.

Fifteen years removed from that horrible day, and far more in need of revival and repentance than we were in 2001, may we learn that lesson and embrace that truth without delay.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A SPIRIT THAT PROPERLY SEEKS REVIVAL IN THIS LAND.  Americans, like the Israelites, must learn the proper lesson from the attacks that we have had to endure.