Beginning with Aug. 11, the first day of the Jewish repentance season of Teshuvah, we have been praying through the 40 days of Teshuvah.
For the first 10 days, we prayed for personal repentance in keeping with literal meaning of Teshuvah: to return to the presence of God. For the next 10 days, Aug. 21 to 30, we prayed for church unity, in accordance with the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-23 that we be united in Him.
The unity Jesus prayed for was a purposeful unity, so that “The world may know that You have sent me” (John 17:23b). Yet there are five billion people in the world who do not know Christ. In America more and more people are adopting a secular hedonistic lifestyle leading to the rise of an anti-Christian culture. The result is a plague of fatherlessness, bringing poverty and crime, and our national shame of 60 million abortions. Christian values and Christian faith are under attack in the public square, and the nation is bitterly divided politically. Now is the time for God’s people to unite and pray for the healing of our land.
It is clear that only God’s people can humble themselves, pray, seek His face and repent to bring about healing of the land (2 Chron. 7:19). The church must repent of its division, coming into visible unity, so the world will know Christ. We must bless and not curse, turning on the light and partnering with God so we can fulfill our calling to be a blessing (1 Pet. 3: 9). Christians should transcend politics to bring Christian principles back into both parties. And we must get out of our four walls to reach the needy with care for both their physical and spiritual needs.
Beginning with Aug. 31 and continuing through Sept. 9, we are praying for the restraint of evil and the healing of our land.
- Aug. 31: Healing the land (2 Chron. 7:14)
- Sept. 1: Blessings and curses (Deut. 28)
- Sept. 2: Standing in the gap (Ezek. 22:30-31)
- Sept. 3: Humility (Matt. 23:12)
- Sept. 4: Bringing heaven to earth (Matt. 6:10)
- Sept. 5: Praying in confidence (1 John 5:14–15)
- Sept. 6: Protection in God’s presence (Ps.27)
- Sept. 7: Bless and curse not (1 Pet. 3:9)
- Sept. 8: Friends of God (John 15:14)
- Sept. 9: This is the Hebrew Feast of Trumpets, symbolic of the Second Coming and the day of the Lord, as He judges the nations. We pray repentance for the nation (Isa. 9:8–10; Scriptures about defiance against God, spoken rebelliously by United States leaders as they refused to repent after the 9/11 attack).
“Only a united church can heal a divided nation” —Lou Engle {eoa}
Ron Allen is a Christian businessman, CPA and author who serves in local, national and international ministries, spreading a message of reconciliation to God, to men and between believers. He is founder of the International Star Bible Society, telling how the heavens declare the glory of God; the Emancipation Network, which helps people escape from financial bondage; and co-founder with his wife, Pat, of Corporate Prayer Resources, dedicated to helping intercessors.
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