National Day of Prayer - 2005

Leslie Basham: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, on the National Day of Prayer, Thursday, May 5th.

Our nation is facing a lot of tough issues - grappling with Social Security and Medicare, watching as a new government is formed in Iraq. And you probably have issues in your own home that feel even more pressing. The best thing we can possibly do is pray . Here's Nancy.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: As many of you know, we're in the middle of a series on Hannah, a woman in the Old Testament who was desperate to see God move. She cried out to God in prayer, and as she prayed, God responded to her prayers. Wonder of wonders, God not only granted her the longing that she had for a son, a son she named Samuel, but God also did more than she had asked for. God gave a prophet who would have a great spiritual impact on the nation.

I thought it would be appropriate for us to take today, the National Day of Prayer, and spend some time praying together for our nation. We'll make this a special edition of Revive Our Hearts. I'm being joined to today by three guests, women who are intercessors and have a passion for Christ and for prayer. They have been greatly used of God in a prayer movement in this nation.

Two of our guests are actually in Washington D.C. for the activities surrounding the National Day of Prayer. Shirley (Mrs. James) Dobson is with us today. Shirley, thank you so much. Since 1991 you have headed up the National Day of Prayer efforts as the Chairman of the National Day of Prayer task force. I'm so thrilled that you could take time today to share with us.

I know the theme for this year's National Day of Prayer is "God shed His grace on thee." That's really something that is the heart of our prayers on this National Day of Prayer, isn't it?

Shirley Dobson: It really is, Nancy, and it's a privilege to be on your broadcast today. Our nation has made a lot of decisions on right and wrong that don't line up with God's truth or His moral principles. We're at a point in our culture where we're now calling good evil and evil good.

Yet our heavenly Father continues to bless with prosperity and peace in our homeland. This blessing is God showing His grace on this country, even though we don't deserve it. We have turned our back on Him in many ways.

I trust that on this National Day of Prayer, people will come before Him in a posture of humility and in a spirit of repentance, repenting not only for their own individual sins but also for the sins of our nation, that we truly once more would be one nation under God.

Nancy: What a great word of encouragement and challenge to my own heart, and I know to many of our listeners. Thanks so much for sharing that. Our prayers are with you today, that God will give you much grace and strength. Thank you so much for all that you have given of yourself to provide leadership and motivation to people across this nation to be involved in praying today. We're grateful for you, and we'll be lifting you up in prayer.

Another woman that God has used in a significant way is Mrs. Vonette Bright, the widow of the former Campus Crusade for Christ President and founder, Dr. Bill Bright. Thank you for joining us today on the broadcast.

Vonette Bright: It's a great privilege, dear Nancy, and I'm so proud of you for calling us to prayer. I do encourage everyone to take time today to really thank God for our country, and to pray specifically for issues of concern, and to pray for our leaders. They are under tremendous stress and pressure and fire from all angles, and they need great, great wisdom.

Nancy: Thank you, Vonette, so much, for your leadership in this area, and for the influence you've had on my life, as a woman of prayer. Now I want to introduce our third guest, who is known to many of our listeners. Evelyn Christenson, you have written many books on prayer, and for over 50 years you have faithfully and earnestly been praying for revival in the church and for spiritual awakening in our land. You're joining us today from your home in Minneapolis. Thanks so much, Evelyn, for being with us. Please share with us what God has put on your heart as we come to this National Day of Prayer.

Evelyn Christenson: Oh, Nancy, I just want to say how much I appreciate the privilege of being with you and with my dearest friends, Vonette and Shirley. Having been with both of them on the National Prayer Committee, it's just incredible to see what God has done and what He is doing; but it's more exciting to see what He's going to do.

Nancy: Thank you, Evelyn. We want to continue in prayer now over these next moments and just cry out to the Lord on behalf of our nation, asking Him to have mercy and to shed His grace on us. Then we'll close our time by focusing on our burden for revival in the church, because we know that the church is really where the change has to take place, since the nation is really a reflection of the church.

But first let's focus on our nation, lifting up our nation's leaders, and we'll invite our listeners to join in with us.

Shirley: O Lord, we know that grace is defined as receiving something that we don't deserve. Lord, we know that we as a nation have rebelled against You. Our culture is steeped in immorality and self-sufficiency, and I know that must grieve Your heart. Yet Lord, You continue to shed Your grace upon us. We praise You and thank You for Your immeasurable grace that we don't deserve. We pray, Lord, on this National Day of Prayer, that You would turn the hearts of the people back to You; that You would turn the hearts of our leaders and of our judges back to You, that they would realize they can't do this job without You, that they have to have Your divine intervention.

So Lord, we humble ourselves before You today. I ask You to forgive us for the sins of our nation. Forgive us, Lord, for the broken homes, for the aborted babies, for trying to change Your definition of marriage. And there are so many other ways that we have violated Your laws. I ask you to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I ask this prayer in the name of Jesus.

Evelyn: Father, thank You for the promise that You've given, "If we confess our sins, [You are] faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" [1 John 1:9]. That applies to us as individuals, and it applies to us as a nation.

God, we all realize that we have slipped so far from the biblical principles that our nation was established on, and we have let ourselves be robbed of some of these things that have been the basic tenets of our country, the things that have made us strong. Lord, we want to say that we are sorry that we've been complacent and that we have let these things happen.

We pray that You would give us great wisdom as we confess our sins, Lord, that You would show us to a greater degree how we can honor You most. Show us the areas of our lives that are not pleasing to You. Don't let us look to other people and see their quality of life and think that ours is not any worse, or compare ourselves with others. Lord, what is it that You want us as individuals to do? How do You want us to live, to bring honor and glory to You to the greatest advantage?

So Father, I pray in my own life that You would reveal to me that which You are wanting to be changed. Thank You for Your forgiveness and for Your grace, upon us individually, upon the church, upon our nation. O God, You have been so faithful and so patient with us! How we thank You for that.

Shirley: Heavenly Father, we pray for our President today, for those in his cabinet, for members of Congress and the Senate. Lord, we lift them up to You today. We know that there are incredible pressures upon them. We know that they work long hours and that their families suffer. Lord, we pray for them today.

We pray first of all, Lord, that they would seek Your righteousness, that they would seek Your wisdom, that they would be upon their knees, and that they would realize that the government is upon Your shoulders, not upon their shoulders. You hold the king's heart in Your hand, and You turn it as You will like a river [from Proverbs 21:1]. So we pray for them today. We pray that You would bring circumstances into each of their lives that would point them to You and to Your Word and to Your righteousness.

So Lord, from the humble home to the White House, we ask that You would move on our people in this land. We know that "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" [from Psalm 33:11]. You said in Your Word that You would honor those who honor You. So Lord, on this day we humbly come before You, and we ask You to do a great work in our land.

Nancy: Lord, we want to lift up to You today the men and women in our Armed Forces. Thank You for those who are serving this country and serving us, at points willing to lay down their lives. We pray for Your protection over them this day. We pray for their families, that You would strengthen and encourage them. We pray that our troops would be honorable men and women, and that You would bless them in a special way this day as we lift them up to You and thank You for them.

Evelyn: God, it's always so surprising to us that revival is not for "them," it's for "us." Lord, there is no way that the word "revival" works unless we have been made alive, "vived," as it were, made alive first in Christ Jesus. It is after that that we need revival.

That's what seems to have happened in so many of our churches, in our personal lives, and in our homes and families. Lord, it's fearful to go from church to church and see how little is said about personal sin and how we need to change if we're going to change the world or expect God to change our nation. It's our fault, not their fault.

It's so easy to point our fingers at those producing pornography and all the stuff that's going out through our computers these days that is so filthy and leading so many of our children astray. It's so easy to point at all of those things, but You are saying that You want us. You want revival to begin in Your church first. O holy God, show us!

Vonette: Father, we recognize that many people live and act as they do because they do not really know God. They don't know Your attributes. They don't know how good and wonderful life is when You are guiding our lives. O God, the quality of life that You can give us as we give ourselves in abandonment!

Thank You, thank You, Father, that You've made Yourself so available to us! It's so simple to know and follow You, if we will but trust You. Of course we need to know Your Word and how to do that. I pray that You would draw more and more people to Yourself, to that personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to know that joy.

Nancy: Lord, thank You for the privilege, on this National Day of Prayer and every day, of seeking Your face. Thank You, Lord, that You're a God who hears prayer. You answer prayer according to Your will. So we turn our faces toward You this day, thanking You for the privilege of joining with millions of others of Your people across this country and around the world. We pray that You would have Your way in Your church and in Your people and in this nation and around the world.

So Lord, for Your glory, and for the sake of Your great Kingdom, we lift up these prayers in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Leslie Basham: That's Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and our guests Shirley Dobson, Vonette Bright, and Evelyn Christenson, leading us on this National Day of Prayer. We don't have time to air all that these godly women have to share with us, but you can hear the complete conversation and prayers when you visit ReviveOurHearts.com. You'll enjoy about 20 additional minutes with these ladies, including some thoughts and Scriptures they have to share on this special day.

You can also hear the complete audio by ordering it on CD. You can order online at ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

Tomorrow we'll continue in our series on Hannah. She showed peace even when everything was in turmoil around her. You can, too. Find out more tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a ministry outreach of Life Action Ministries.

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