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Welcome to season 2 of the Determined to Dance podcast. I pray that you’ll be uplifted, encouraged, and will move forward each and every day. Today’s episode, Intercession for Our Nation, looks at prayer when it comes to the nation in which we live.
Show Notes: Praying Like Jesus: Intercession for Our Nation
In 2021, there were 694, 050 violent crimes and over 800,000 offenses in the United States alone. Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa boast the highest crime rates in the world. What can we do for our nations in the face of such evil?
“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.” II Chronicles 7: 14-15 NKJV
When praying for our nation, this is a scripture often turned to and taught. What is God saying?
If my people…
- Humble themselves
- Pray
- Seek God’s face
- Turn from wickedness
Then God…
- Hears
- Forgives
- Heals
Many people miss the next verse 15 which states that God will be attentive to their prayers. I want Him to have open eyes and attentive ears to my prayers. If I repent, pray, and seek, He is there and hears me. What a peace-giving thought.
Our nation needs God. We need to be heard, forgiven, and healed. But we all have gone astray like lost sheep, looking for fresh grass in the wrong pasture. How can we pray for a nation when so many people say they don’t need or want God?
Billy Graham said, “Spiritually, we have wandered far from the faith in our fathers… no nation which relegates the Bible to the background, which disregards the love of God, and flouts the claims of the Man of Galilee, can long survive.”
The nations of the world are reaching a breaking point. But we can still pray. You and I have been strategically placed in our nation to make a difference. Peter said in I Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” NKJV
We have a testimony of how we left the darkness of sin and shame and moved into the light of God’s glorious grace. Hallelujah! Father God took us by the hand and led us onto His great dance floor and we can call others to follow Him too.
How? We can:
- Testify to others of God’s salvation and continued provision.
- Pray for God to send others to the ones we cannot reach in our nation.
- Live as children of the light; following the example Jesus set before us.
- Encourage, love, bring hope, heal, and forgive those around us.
In other words, live like Jesus. As we read and study the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we learn about His life, the way He treated others, and the way he communicated with His Father. Jesus is our greatest example. Luke 13: 34-35 shows his intensity in prayer: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!“(NKJV)
Our nations need God and prayer. Will we answer the call?
Let’s pray: Father God, we stand before You, entreating You on behalf of our nation. It is no longer godly and people no longer look to You. We repent and pray and mourn and cry for these people. Bring them back to You; to their senses like the prodigal son. You left the ninety-nine to save the one. Do this again. We praise You for who You are and all You do. We love you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
No matter what nation we reside in, prayer is needed and we can pray today.
Today’s featured author is Hope Bolinger, author of Curtain Call, a sweet romance Christmas novel. A playwright and an actress who must pull together a Christmas play in three weeks. But a meddling, jealous stage manager and an arranged marriage plot may not only tear the play apart, but the couple as well.
Learn more at hopebolinger.com
Next week, we’ll focus on intercession for our world. Until then, stay determined to dance…
Links:
My debut novel, Jessie’s Hope
Remember: Intercession for Our Nation
Video of the week:
I absolutely love music and each week I’d like to share a relevant song we can enjoy together.
