Prayer For The Nation

Pray For America

Delivered on September 11, 2002

By Pastor Godfrey A. Catanus

Today, America remembers one of its unforgettable moments in history. Its symbols of money and might as the greatest power on earth has been brought low - down to "ground zero". The few Islamic extremists who have been deluded by their religion ended their own lives but unfortunately, also victimized the almost three thousand innocent lives. The messages from all the memorial services today seem unanimous. America needs prayers - and as we believe, it needs to pray to the True God of heaven, the very God of the Founding Fathers of this great land.

We need prayers because these are times of distress. This is true particularly to the victims of September 11. 2001. They were killed and their families have been wounded. They were wronged. They suffered needlessly because they were innocent. They were men, women, and children who simply lived their lives - enjoying the blessings of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Their sorrows became the sorrows of every citizen, as life in America seem to be uncertain. Anxiety and fear blanketed society, and this seem to be true even today, a year after the sad fact.

We need prayers because these are times of delusion- September 11 brought to consciousness the importance of truth. Particularly, it causes people to think about the significance of religion and the danger it can cause when it is not founded on truth, but on blind fanaticism. While we have the records of history, we have forgotten, or, we have simply ignored the damage and injury caused by false religion, worse still, the damage it causes not only to its adherents, but also on the thousands of its innocent victims.

We need prayers because these are times of darkness. Night is upon us. Philosophically, our time and age teach us that there are no absolutes such as right and wrong, truth and error. Moral standards are disdained and Scriptures are replaced by subjective moral codes. Religiously, some churches have lost or no longer have a message because they do not believe in Christ as the True Son of the Living God. They do not believe in the trustworthiness of the Bible and as such they do not have a real experience of the transforming power of God in their lives.

Tonight, therefore, we call our people and nation to pray.

It was almost within the context of our time that Solomon has heard the voice of God. Notice in II Chronicles 7:12-14.

God appeared to Solomon after he built and dedicated the temple in Jerusalem. His prayers were heard and his sacrifices were accepted by God. But God reminded him, or even encouraged him that if they sinned against the Lord and because of that, the heavens will be shut off and calamities will come to the land, then God will only bless them again if they fulfill these conditions as he told him in verse 14.

1. First, they need to HUMBLE THEMSELVES BEFORE GOD. Today, the same message is relevant and true. You see, God hates PRIDE. In I Peter 5:5-6, the Bible says, "he who exalts himself will be abased, and he who abases himself will be exalted". Pride goes before destruction. Today, we need to acknowledge before God that we have been so PROUD. We are proud about our MIND - OUR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. We have been proud of our MIGHT - OUR ARSENALS AND WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION. We are proud about our POLITICAL STRENGTH that can even be oppressive and exploitative to some nations of the world. We are proud about our MEANS - THAT WE CAN BUY EVERYTHING. We have so much money and resources THAT WE DO NOT NEED GOD! Today, we no longer pray, "give us this day our DAILY bread", because like the rich fool in the Gospels, we say, "eat, drink, and be merry, ... you have laid in store for yourself - in your barns and banks what we will need for MANY YEARS." We need to humble ourselves before God by recognizing that these blessings are because of the GRACE AND GIFTS OF God.
2. Next, we need to PRAY. America will be great - even greater -if we PRAY. God will bless, and keep on blessing America if we pray. You see, if America wants to be the leader of the world for PEACE, FREEDOM, LIBERTY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, it needs to pray. We need to pray. Jesus Christ said, "Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you" (Mat. 7:7). According to this verse, America can ask everything according to the will of God and it shall be given! This was what God told Solomon. "Pray, I am just a prayer away!' Unfortunately, however, we always think we know of something better than to pray!
3. The next condition that God told Solomon was TO SEEK GOD'S FACE. This means that the nation should put God first before their eyes, hearts, and lives. Jeremiah 29:13 says, "Ye shall seek me and find me if you seek me with all your heart." Notice that in this verse God says "Me" three times. Let us not therefore be sidetracked. Let us seek God first, seek the things that please and give Him glory.
4. Lastly, God says, TURN FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS. In a way He is saying, "If now you know that you have been sidetracked, now you know that you have become so proud that you no longer pray, and you do not seek my priorities - these are evil ways- therefore now, REPENT!

Repentance means, to turn around, to change direction, to change our mind, our understanding of God and His ways that has been darkened and deluded by sin - we need to change from the error of our ways. We need to change from error to truth!

One of the saddest statements I often hear from some people is this, "I AM CLOSED, I CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND. I AM TOO TIGHT AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME TO OPEN UP " - and to these people, they will not even allow God to open their minds! Oh what a pity!

When I hear a statement like this, I am reminded of a little frog that was caught in a little hole and upon looking up he can see the sky or heaven and then he says, "The sky or heaven is just 10 feet long. I see it. It's 10 feet long, this is it, I will not change my mind."

But you see, heaven is bigger than what we think. And truth is greater than our meager experience. And the knowledge about God and His will in our lives is so infinite that we can never exhaust knowing - only if we have an open mind! And when we are open to the truth and the truth hits us, we need to change - we need to repent!

Let me ask you this question, have you invited Jesus Christ into your life, or do you simply assume that you are already a Christian. If you have not invited him into your life, he is still waiting outside in your life. For notice what Revelations 3:20 says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears and opens the door, I will come in." He is waiting for you to open your heart. Will you, tonight?

Lastly, when all these conditions are met notice the PROMISES OF GOD:

"I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN, I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS, I WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.'

If America today also meet the conditions of God, then the same promise will apply o us as a nation: God will hear our prayers, He will forgive our sins, and He will heal our land.

Notice also the ripple effect: if there is healing in our own souls then we will touch the lives of others, we will bless our community, we will make a difference in our nation, and our nation will become the "light and salt' in the whole earth.

Please fill in the blanks with me. In _____* we Trust.   _____* bless America. Today, we need to put God first then will He truly bless America.  *(GOD)

One of the touching stories that came out at the wake of September 11 was that of Todd Beamer in that fatal United Airline flight 93. It was told that as soon as the passengers realized that there was hijacking, and that the pilots were already killed, they banded together- and it was heard that Todd Beamer called on the passengers with this now famous words, "Let's roll". I believe with the danger that faces America and the challenges in our lives as Christians, " LET US ROLL IN HUMILITY BEFORE GOD, LET US ROLL IN PRAYER, LET US ROLL IN SEEKING GOD FIRST IN OUR LIVES, LET US ROLL IN REPENTANCE - AND THEN IN OUR LIFETIME WE WILL SEE THAT GOD WILL BLESS AMERICA. GOD BLESS AMERICA.