The United States is clearly a nation in trouble. A battered economy, political divisiveness, the culture wars, racial uneasiness, and a sidelined church, provide the dry tinder for an inflammatory national election in November of 2016. Many stake their hopes or fears on the outcome.

While believing in and encouraging the importance of exercising our right to vote, we also call the Christian Church in America to do that which is even more critical in these days…to pray! The seriousness of our day requires an intensity of prayer that is unprecedented. Accordingly, we call for 40 days and nights of unrelenting intercession on behalf of our nation from September 30 through Election Day, November 8th.

We need to do what Israel did in Joel’s day!

“Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing–grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God” (Joel 2:12-17)?

Our focus in prayer is simple. We are praying for:

1. 1. 1.   Revival in the Church-that another Great Awakening would sweep across America as the Lord’s people humble themselves in repentance and prayer: “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” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
      2. A standard of righteousness to be raised over this nation: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
      3. The elections- that God would intervene. This is not a partisan or political effort but a plea to bring God into a process that desperately needs His wisdom and direction: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17).

      This is a call, not from one ministry or organization, but from diverse leaders from across the spectrum of the U.S. Church. It is also not a call to a particular event. It is a pleading for all Christians to do something proactive and powerful in prayer for the 40 days leading up to our fall elections. Prayer walking our neighborhoods using the prayer points above makes this a personal activity that allows us to impact our nation together.

      As leaders in the Body of Christ, we commit ourselves to prayer during these days of decision regarding the future of our nation. Even more, we commit ourselves to mobilize prayer in our spheres of influence, that every part of the Lord’s Church would join together in day and night prayer for the intervention of God on behalf of our nation.

      As in Joel’s day, the call is for everyone…all the Lord’s people from the oldest to the youngest. It’s for everyone to humble themselves and pray. How will you respond? How will you pray? 

What is it we are asking for as we pray for revival? Ultimately, it is for the people of God to begin to experience the presence of Christ in a fresh new way. All other results flow from that. Changed lives in the Church as well as transformation in a culture come not from human effort, but the power of God made manifest in the lives of His people.

This isn’t about praying for a better life or that things would go smoothly for us. It is about God and His purposes being accomplished. The acknowledged leader of the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards, was fired by his congregation in the midst of the revival. On a much larger scale, as the Third Great Awakening was taking place in the United States, the nation was dividing into North and South and war then tore the nation into pieces.

Some look to another great awakening in this nation as the solution to all of our problems. That would be wonderful but unlikely. It is more likely to take place in the midst of great difficulties and even persecution. If it is widespread and lasting, it may well slow or delay the judgment of God against our sinful nation.

More importantly, another great awakening can empower the Church to finish the task of world evangelization. All past revivals have had tremendous evangelistic outreach, and I believe the one to come will as well. In addition, the repentance and humility that will be occurring in the Body of Christ will be a key element in preparing the Bride for the Bridegroom. Revival in the Church can bring a restoration of New Testament purity, passion, and holiness.

How do we pray for revival? Certainly Psalm 85:4-7 gives us a clear picture and we would do well to use this in our own prayers.

“Restore us again, God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
and grant us your salvation.”

One of my personal favorites in revival praying is found in Isaiah 63-64. It is a long passage of Scripture that speaks of Israel’s realization that they were missing the presence of God. They remember days in the past when that was not the case and cry out for God to come back to them. Taking this Old Testament passage and bringing it into New Testament realities is a powerful way of praying for revival. You will find yourself praying with Isaiah, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!”

Excerpted from With One Cry: A Renewed Challenge to Pray for America by David Butts, PrayerShop Publishing 2016. Used with permission.

Every election season brings a certain degree of anxiety or uneasiness. It’s a big change when one leader steps down and another takes his or her place. Recently, national elections are bringing out, what seems to me, to be a greater level of anxiety and even anger than most election cycles. Social media is a reflection of that. Try expressing an opinion on social media without someone slamming you.

Today, Christians are faced with some tough choices, and I don’t just mean which candidate to vote for. How do we handle the high level of animosity and tension that is so prevalent in our nation today? How do we live out the lifestyle of Jesus in our politically charged season?

I’m seeing a number of choices being made. Some develop a posture of being above it all. “Jesus is my King and I’m not lowering myself into the fray.” Certainly we need to have a Christian worldview that recognizes the temporary nature of nations, elections, and culture itself in the light of eternity. But I would suggest to those taking this path that Jesus himself did not withdraw from the culture or even the politics of his day. He waded into some of the most controversial issues that divided Israel in his day, while at the same time, insisting that His Kingdom was not of this world.

There’s another extreme that is also very prevalent. It happens when Christians forget that the advance of the Kingdom of Christ is not dependent upon who the president of the United States is. Ignoring that can cause us to become combative, angry, and over-emphasize the importance of this or any election. In this posture we forget that those in another political party or backing a different candidate are not our enemies. We can find ourselves demonizing others and forgetting the law of love.

May I suggest a broad middle ground that allows for many degrees of involvement or non-involvement? It recognizes that that in our nation we have been given as astonishing gift of selecting our own leaders. Yes, yes, I know they often fail us. But then, who of us doesn’t fail in our best attempts at times. The truth of the matter is that we still get the opportunity to choose, even if the choices aren’t always what I would want.

The Apostle Paul commands us in I Timothy 2, to pray for those in authority so that we might live quiet and peaceful lives. He sums up that thought in verse 4, relating it to God’s desire for everyone to be saved. Paul really was interested in who government leaders were, but not so he could have a nice, comfortable life, but so that the atmosphere of the nation would be conducive to evangelism. It seems to me that Paul demonstrates a beautiful balance for us regarding our involvement in selecting leadership and voting.

Of course, Paul could not even imagine the option of selecting his own governmental leaders. But as I hear his command to pray for those leaders in order to prepare the way for evangelism, I have no doubt that Paul today would add to his command to pray, the command to vote. Pray and vote, so that the purposes of God might be accomplished.

So in the midst of a divisive, tense, and angry time, how should we live in this political world? Again, I look to Paul for instruction. To the Philippians, and to us, Paul gives a most contemporary instruction: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:5-6).

What a contrast this is to what is currently taking place! Gentleness . . . peace . . . prayer! That’s how we approach an election season. And I believe Paul even shows us how to do that. In the midst of his commands he says, “The Lord is near.” We often immediately rush to the Second Coming when we read this, but I’m not sure that’s what Paul is saying. The Lord is near . . .  he is close . . . he is right beside you.

With Jesus right next to you . . .  near . . . you can live out his gentleness, his peace, and you will find yourself praying not only for your leaders, but for all that the Lord places on your heart. Eventually the nearness of Jesus breaks through the clouds with the physical return of Jesus to Planet Earth. But until then, we draw near to him in prayer and he draws near to us and we demonstrate to those around us the life of Jesus

I love nativity scenes. The one I have at my office was made in Bethlehem, carved out of Olive wood. It’s a full-service scene including Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, donkeys, sheep, and even three wise men and their camels, although biblically they weren’t actually on the scene at that time!

But there is something missing from my scene, and most others as well.  It’s a Dragon.  If you really want to be biblical, lose the wise men and find a Dragon. The Bible talks about a Dragon, or rather, The Dragon, being present at the birth of Jesus. This most unusual nativity story is found in The Book of Revelation, chapter 12.

Revelation 12:1-6, 17 says, “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,  and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days….Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

The Lord gives us in His Word, a heavenly perspective of the birth of Jesus that doesn’t fit most of our nice, neat nativity scenes. Satan, the great Dragon was present in the events of Bethlehem and using the human instrument of Herod, attempted to end the earthly ministry of Jesus before it could begin. But Joseph, being warned in a dream, took Mary and the baby to Egypt (the wilderness described in Revelation 12) until the danger had passed.

This is an amazing story that continues through our day.  I included Rev.12:17 in the text because it shows that the great Dragon is still making war on the woman and her children; in this case, “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”  As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this year, can we remember that we have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are being pursued by the Dragon. It’s a long story and it’s not over yet.

You and I, along with all followers of Jesus are still in the story. Pray for those on the front lines, whose very lives are threatened by our common enemy, the Dragon of the nativity story. Our current part of the story however, is not the end.  That comes later, though perhaps not much later. The Bible tells us about what happens to the Dragon. In Revelation 20:2 we read, “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:10 says, “…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The victory is complete, but that doesn’t make the current battle less real. Our prayers today connect us with the victory of the Cross in the past and the vanquishing of the dragon in the future.

Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for the victory that is ours because of who You are and all You have accomplished. We pray especially today for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted by the same evil one who desired to kill You. Grant them strength and victory in their struggle. Show us how to pray in a way that expands Your Kingdom and defeats the enemy. In this special time of year in which we celebrate Your Coming as a baby to bring life, we also cry out for Your return as Conquering King!

I have a confession.  Sometimes I still get anxious before the Lord.  And when I do, my words to him are a bit like a baby’s cry.  I don’t typically know why I’m anxious or upset, so I can’t always articulate it. It’s just a cry.  It’s always uncomfortable and troubling. The psalmist speaks powerfully of the solution to this in Psalm 131:2-4: “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.”

One night a few years ago, our less-than-4-month-old grandson came for a visit while his mommy went on some errands. For most of the visit he was a delightful, smiling, playful little baby.  But then, something happened to change this scenario. None of us knew what exactly was wrong and baby Jack certainly couldn’t tell us. Although he had been fed and changed, he was still angry and upset and he had no way of telling us what the matter was. We hugged him, talked to him, bounced him, sang to him, walked him and did all we could do to calm him down but he was inconsolable until his mommy came home a few minutes later–thankfully! He needed what only she could give him.

I realized how the psalmist pictured me as baby Jack when I am anxious before the Lord.  An unweaned child, still dependent upon his mother’s milk, has no real way of telling you what’s wrong.  Often, there are just tears and/or anger until we receive the peace that only a loving Father can give us. God calls me (and you) to still and quiet ourselves before Him. The example Scripture gives us for dealing with our discomfort or unrest is of a child that is now older–still a child, but now old enough to communicate the problem or issue that is troubling them.

Jack has an older sister, Luci, who is about 3 1/2 years older.  She is like the weaned child of Psalm 131.  Still a child with tears and issues, she can usually communicate what is wrong.  One day she dissolved in a fit of anger. Her mother had talked to her earlier about such things and just watched her.  Suddenly, in the midst of the tears, Luci sobbed, “I’m . . . so . . . out . . . of . . . control!” Her mother calmly replied, “Yes, you are. Would you like to talk about it?”

What a picture of how real God is with us!  He will listen to us even when we cry and can’t explain it. But His desire is for us to “still and quiet” ourselves before Him so that He can begin to clearly deal with the issues in our lives. More and more I find myself coming to the Lord in prayer and simply saying, “Today Lord, I choose to still and quiet myself before you.” And, He is there, waiting to bring comfort and hope into my soul.

(c) Harvest Prayer Ministries