Called to Pray - National Day of Prayer by the Staff of On The Go and the Presidential Prayer Team
The Staff at On The Go Ministries, the Presidential Prayer Team, and the National Day of Prayer Task Force would like to invite you to join us in celebrating the "National Day of Prayer"!
"O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God..." Daniel 9:19
"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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14
Today is the day set aside as the National Day of Prayer across America. Prayer is a powerful weapon. Prayer can break through strongholds, which have stood firm for years. God wants His Children to become mighty, active prayer warriors!
The National Day of Prayer has a rich history, dating from the first declaration of a day of prayer and fasting that was implemented by George Washington to President Lincoln's call for prayer and fasting during the Civil War to the modern-day declaration signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1952.
Prayer is an opportunity to humbly come before God and confess all sins and to praise God for His mighty works, His gift of freedom, His mercy, and His boundless love. Through prayer, we recognize the limits of earthly power and acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Prayer leads to humility and a grateful heart, and it turns our minds to the needs of others.
As our nation looks to the future, the need for prayer remains high. This year the National Day of Prayer Task Force has chosen Seven Centers of Influence to help us stay focused and intentional as we pray for America.
Select Prayer Focus:
Use this list to guide and direct your prayer time. As you pray for the individuals listed, pray that they will be given godly wisdom and guidance, great strength and divine protection in the key positions they hold. Remember, especially, our troops who safeguard freedom overseas.
1. Pray for Government. Pray for our local, state, and national leaders asking God to grant them wisdom, discernment, and hearts that are open to His Leading. Pray for your elected officials, their spouses, and their children.
2. Pray for our Military and its leaders. Pray for God to grant courage, dependence on God, divine protection, strength, perseverance, confidence, and vision for our service men and women, and their families as they serve our country.
3. Pray for Media. Pray for Christian Influence in the media industry, from movies, television, and radio stations, to newspaper and magazine publishers. Ask the Lord to provide Godly men and women to work in, and influence the media throughout our nation, your state, and your city.
4. Pray for Business. Pray for Divine Intervention in our national, state, and local economies. Ask God to raise up godly business leaders and create industry to provide honest employment and generous provision for our individuals and families in each community.
5. Pray for Education. Pray for God's presence in our schools, colleges, and universities. Ask Him to select teachers and administrators who honor His statutes and protect our children, and inspire them to discover their God-given calling. Pray for a return to Judeo-Christian ethics, safe atmosphere for learning, and equal opportunities for each student to achieve their full potential.
6. Pray for the Churches and Church Leaders throughout our nation and in your community. Ask God to preserve and protect them as He inspires and empowers them to equip His "Saints" for the work of ministry, for the building up of the Church, and the spreading of the Gospel. Pray that the church would find a renewed zeal and commit to the purpose of Christ, unity among churches, and a return to the absolutes of God's Word.
7. Pray for Families in our nation, your state, and your community. God's model for the family is being challenged, and we are seeing families fall apart before our very eyes. Pray with passion for the Lord to protect and to strengthen marriages, encourage parents toward His priorities, heal relationships, and secure His values in their homes.
Suggested Prayer for The National Day of Prayer
We worship You, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the living God of our nation's founding fathers: George Washington, John Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and many others. When we pledge our allegiance, it's as one nation under You. Every time we use American money to buy or sell, we make the statement that in You we have placed our trust.
We acknowledge that You are the One who has set us high above all the nations on the earth. You have made us the head and not the tail. We have led the free world. The whole world has known that we are identified with You, and they have respected us.
Again and again, You have given us victory over our enemies. You have blessed us when we have gone out and when we have come in. You have blessed us in our bustling cities and in our beautiful countryside. You have blessed our "fruited plain" so that we have had an abundance for ourselves and for others. You have opened up the storehouse of Your bounty, and have blessed the work of our hands. You have given us unprecedented prosperity so that in the past we have lent to many nations but been debtor to none.
We now turn to You as the God of Our Fathers. You alone are our Hope for the future. If we as a nation do not get right with You, no one in Washington or in our state capitols can reverse the downward moral and spiritual spiral that has become a free fall and is provoking Your judgment. We approach You now with fear and trembling, as we confess our national sins:
We confess national addiction to sex. To money. To pleasure. To entertainment. To pornography. To technology. To drugs. To alcohol. To food. To television. To popularity. To ourselves.
We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess.
We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning.
We confess our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt.
We confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
We confess to believing that the prosperity of our nation has been great because we are great while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from Your hand.
We confess that we depend upon our military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger, while denying, defying, and ignoring You.
We confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don't need You.
We confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness.
We confess that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies.
We confess choices that reveal we would rather live in bitterness, resentment, and anger, rather than forgive those who have hurt us or acknowledge our own wrongdoing.
We confess that we have become one nation under many gods, divided and polarized, with license to sin and justice that no longer follows the rule of law.
Therefore, we turn to You with tears of shame and a heart of fear for the judgment we are provoking. We repent of our sin. Please, God of Our Fathers, do not back away from us. Do not remove Your hand of blessing on us. As we return to You with humility...With sincerity...Out of necessity...With a desperate sense of urgency. Please! Return to us! Hear our prayer. Forgive our sin. Heal our land.
For the Glory of Your Great Name...JESUS.
- 2017 National Prayer by Anne Graham Lotz National Day of Prayer Task Force Chairman
Suggested Prayer Scriptures:
Use these scripture verses to set the tone for your observance of The National Day of Prayer.
"O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God..." Daniel 9:19
"I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving, be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives, in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior." I Timothy 2:1-3a
"Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray--not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God." 1 Timothy 2:8
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4:8
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." Colossians 4:2,3
"if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:3-6
"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him" Nahum 1:7
"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart." Job 22:21, 22
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," Ephesians 3:20
Important Websites
National Day of Prayer: www.nationaldayofprayer.net
The Presidential Prayer Team: www.presidentialprayerteam.org,
How to Know God: www.needhim.org
Decision America Tour with Franklin Graham: decisionamericatour.com
Every Home for Christ: https://www.ehc.org/free-prayer-maps
Today's devotion was compiled in accompaniment with The Presidential Prayer Team and the National Day of Prayer Task Force. This resource may be copied and distributed without further permission. Prepared by The National Day of Prayer Task Force. In order to visit the article in entirety or join an online prayer group today, visit www.ndptf.org.
Thank you for taking the time to pray for America. Prayer is our most powerful weapon. For more information on any our ministries here at On The Go, you may send your questions to info@onthego.org.
On The Go Daily Devotion for May 4, 2017
Brought to you each day by On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Team
Copyright (c) 2017 On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Team
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