Pray for France. Pray for America. Pray that ISIS is wiped
from this earth. Pray for God’s blessing on us.
Aren’t we arrogant? I know I can be. I don’t think of it
that way, but it’s true. I expect God’s blessing when I ask for it without any
change of heart or direction. I have no problem praying for France, or America.
But shouldn’t they be expressing mourning and repentance to God? The cruel
Assyrians did. Shouldn’t America repent of abortion, Planned Parenthood, LGBT
rights etcetera, etcetera, etcetera?
Once we have our hearts right, shouldn’t we be praying for
ISIS to repent and turn to Jesus? Shouldn’t we be praying that our President
humble himself before God and trust Jesus? Shouldn’t we be praying that people
turn to God to take care of our enemies? Shouldn’t we repent before we pray?
Jonah’s message was only that God would destroy them in
forty days. He gave them no hope and no way out. But God had prepared their
hearts and they believed the message and showed mourning and repentance. They
didn’t continue in their sin and expect God to not destroy them simply because
they prayed.
Pointing fingers is easy. However, a revival – or great
awakening for most – begins at the personal level. It’s time I take time to
pray humbly before God. Not rattle through my prayer list, but ask God to move in
my heart because, “Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from
his fierce anger, that we perish not?”
“Who can tell if God
will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”
Jonah 3:9.
© copyright Kevin T Boekhoff
https://tugsandnudges.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/pray/
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