Success and Failure Blog

When I wake up in the morning and see the sun is again shining;  and when I walk along the seashore and notice the wonder of nature:  there I remember my Maker’s awesome power (Genesis 1:1-31).

When I look at the sky and witness the birds fly; and when I gaze at the ground and view the beautiful flowers around: there I remember my heavenly Father’s loving care (Matthew 6:25-34).

When I listen to somebody teaching and preaching in a rally; and when I watch someone seeking and evangelizing for the lost one: there I remember my Lord and Savior’s mission order (Matthew 28:19-20).

When I come across a couple whose love to each other is truly noble; and when I chance on children who obey their parents in great passion: there I remember Paul’s letter (Ephesians 5:21-33, Ephesians 6:1-3).

When I commit a mistake and repent for my soul’s sake; and when I forgive a fellow and forget the peccadillo: there I remember the “Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13).

When I am given a blessing and to my neighbors share the good thing; and when I really have nothing and still never go wanting: there I remember my God is a great provider (Philippians 4:19).

When the day’s work is over and the sunshine is nowhere; and when the evening sets and it’s already time to rest: then I remember to go to the Lord and whisper a prayer (Matthew 6:5-8).

Some may have heard a famous recording by Red Skelton about the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s very powerful to hear each word or phrase covered. I don’t have quite the skill he did with that, but I wanted to briefly touch on a very important prayer, found in Mathew 6:9-13 and again in Luke 12. There is a subtle difference which is logical when you see the context, because they come at different times. For a full Harmony of the Gospels this is an excellent one.

The Lord’s Prayer - also called the “Our Father” by some – in Matthew 6:9-13 comes very early in His ministry. It is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Right before the Lord’s Prayer, He tells the people never to pray in vain repetitions. Why? Just repeating something over and over has no effect because it it leads to making one thing he or she will be heard “for their much speaking.” Instead, Jesus wants us to pray in the way He does His Word has power to help, heal, comfort, etc.

Later in His ministry, Jesus’ disciples ask Him to teach them to pray. He recites part of it, but leaves out the part of about “Thine is the Kingdom…”. Why? The discples have already heard that part. Jesus is just reminding them, “Remember when I taught you this? It has special meaning.” He reminded them of just enough so they would understand and remember, from His other teaching, what was important. And, what they didn’t understand would be revealed in time, just as with His sacrifice.

What was that deeper meaning which they were to understand when praying? Let’s go through the Lord’s Prayer, also called the “Our Father,” and see.

“Our…” Any of us. He hears the prayers of all who call on Him by faith alone in Christ alone. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Romans 10:13)

“Father…” The true mark of a leader. Not the selfishness of sinful man. God is perfect, a Father who will always love, cherish, comfort, and guide His children in His perfect plan. And, He always has the best interests of each of His children at heart. “For all things work together for good to them that love God.” (Romans 8:28)

“Which art…” God is real, and no amount of pain, hatred, or ignoring can make Him go away. He is the great I AM, who always was and always will be.

“In heaven…” That perfect place, where there is no pain, no suffering, and no tears. Where a loving God calls out to sinful man to come to Him and be rescued from a world of sin, and let Him guide them. “To as many as received Him, gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

“Hallowed be Thy name.” For His is a name above all names, full of majesty and wonder, inspiring awe for His great power and might. Each of us is as helpless as an ant would be next to the strongest human. And yet, He is so loving that we may “go boldly before the throne of grace for help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

“Thy kingdom come.” Jesus – God the Son – and God the Father are one (John 10:30), and He is the Creator and sustainer of all; for by Him were all things made and by Him all things consist. (John 1:1, 14; Col. 1:16-17; etc.) And He will one day rule the earth, and it will be perfect, just as it was meant to be before sin entered into the world. (Gen. 1-2, Revelation 20-22, etc.) And those who truly believe wait for Him to come make this world new.

“Thy will…” And because God is the creator, He may do as He pleases. His will is perfect, for he knows the past, present, and future.

“Be done…” And we ask that His will be done, no matter what our will might be, because He knows what is best for us. People have become sick and avoided deadly accidents. People have been stuck somewhere and been able to help a stranger because of it. It is up to us seek His will in each situation.

“On earth…” This sin-stained world which hosts so much evil. “For by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed unto all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) Yet God can still work in this world, and will, once we let go of our own desires and seek Him as the writer of that great hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” commands. “Did we in our own strength abide, the battle would be losing. Were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord Sabaoth (Lord of Hosts) His name, from age to age the same!”

“As it is in heaven…” For God rules in Heaven. Yet from that throne of grace, He came down and became flesh (John 1:14, Col. 2:9, etc.), born to die as the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world. He then rose victoriously from the grave, having defeated death, and going to prepare a place for us in Heaven, that where He is, there we who have received Him as Savior might be also.

“Give us” Provide for we who so need You, for You oh Lord know we are but dust…

“this day” For we are not promised tomorrow, but we know that whatever we need You will provide it in Your perfect time, when You know it is best.

“Our daily bread” Anything we need for that day, be it food, money, shelter, or whatever else we are lacking. He promises us wisdom whenever we need, peace that passes understanding, He is the God of all comfort, and so many more good things, as He helps us through the problems of this wicked world. It is not our wants, but that which we must have and which, if we do not receive, we know God has something better ins tore. For Solomon in all His glory was not clothed like one of the fabulous lilies of the field.

“And forgive us our debts” Oh, for we are but sinful people, so filled burdens. For as hard as we try, we cannot do as You command, we cannot be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) So we call on you to rescue us from that debt we cannot pay, washing our sins away with Your perfect blood, which was shed once for all for such a wretch as me.

“Aas we forgive our debtors.” Oh, we have so many who have wronged us, too, but the terrible pain of hell was meant only for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41) So we ask, Lord, that you would soften their hearts, and forgive them, so they may become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) who can then grow in your love and become more and more like you.

“And lead us not into temptation” Oh, but while we who believe in you want so badly to be freed from the power of sin, we cannot do it on our own. So please, protect us from the terrible temptations of this world, and instead do as you promise in your world and provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13) so we can withstand in that evil day. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

“But deliver us from evil:” Not only the evil that we might do through lying, backbiting, bitterness, malice, and so on, but also the evil that might be done to us. Because, Lord, this is a sinful place, filled with those who fall short of your perfect glory like I. And we long for the day when we are not only saved from the penalty of sin – which we were at the cross. Not only saved from the power of sin – which we must seek each day. But when, in Heaven we stand complete in you, and are saved from the very presence of sin!

“For thine is the kingdom” For there, in Your perfect Kingdom, the redeemed will stand in You complete, as the hymnist writes, and truly “Jesus died, my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat.”

“And the power” For You, oh, Lord, have the power to save, to guide, to protect, to heal, to work modern day miracles if it be your will. Your power is limitless, your works wondrous, your ways perfectly righteous, your death all sufficient, and your resurrection power enough to defeat sin and death and the grave! Halleluah!”

“And the glory.’ Because God is perfect glory. He is the one who created the light, and who then was the Light which came into this dark world. He came to save sinners from this lost and dying world, so we who fell so short of His perfection could rule and reign with Him, but nobody can share His perfect, matchless glory. And here, it’s best just to include this awesome video of message by S.M. Lockridge, “That’s My King!”

“For ever” And He will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords forever, in a perfect place where we will have no more sin, no more pain, no more bad stuff. Where we can celebrate and where nobody has seen, heard, or even imagined how awesome it will be. Because we as people can’t even imagine a heaven where there is is so much beauty, goodness, and diversity, with so many different personalities all with the testimony that they were saved by the grace of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

“Amen.” So be it. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus, and work the work you want in my life, so you may be glorified.

When I see S.M. Lockridge’s powerful message, I know neither I, nor some of the commentaries at www.blueletterbible.org (where I found the Harmony), can do justice to God’s amazing love. However, that is, in essence, what the Lord’s Prayer really is saying.

It closes with a reminder from Jesus. His Word is powerful – and praying it like you believe it can help bring peace because it is the Word of God. And, His Word will never return voice. (Isaiah 55:11) But, His Kingdom will endure forever. And, He wants us to know one thing above all other. Yes, the Lord’s prayer is very good – it is the model that Jesus tells us to pray. However, those verses mentioned above, and many others in Scripture, point to one fact. Jesus came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. He calls all to repentance.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Not only I, but every person alive, have sinned. The waves of sin is death – that’s what we e4arn for our sin. But, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

As you can see, part of that Lord prayer is asking for forgiveness. It involves accepting that we have a debt – a debt we cannot pay. So we are asking God to forgive it. It is the heavy, infinite debt of sin, which causes us to miss the mark of perfection which Jesus notes just before this part of the Sermon on the Mount.

Thankfully, we know that Jesus Christ can and will forgive us of our sins when we call on Him. But we can’t just pray a single prayer over and over. Remember, it is not by vain repetitions. It must come from the heart, as the Lord’s prayer must, which we saw above. It is a call fromt eh heart that is as simple as ABC. Admit you’re a sinner. Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for your sins and rose from the dead, and Choose to call on Jesus to forgive you and to come into your heart and make you new on the inside. It is a turning from your sin by faith, and letting Jesus work in your heart to make you new.

Then, you will have received the judgment as a sinner. You will have accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross was the only thing need – that He took your punishment.

Then, once you have received Him by faith, God will work with you as a Son. He is Father to the fatherless, and will guide you through everything.

Then, in Heaven, He will judge you as a servant. You will have that place in heaven secured through what Christ did for you on the cross; but the blessings and rewards will be through what you did for Him.

So, I hope now you have more appreciation for the Lord’s Prayer, that it is not just repeating something. But, most importantly, I pray you have Him s your Savior. Because you don’t have to be in a church; you can call on Him anytime. We are not promised tomorrow, though – He says in His Word Today is the day of salvation. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But, He will provide for you your “daily bread” that which you need most. And, what we all need most is His salvation.

Be careful what you pray for!  If we pray for patience, God may grant us challenges so we can learn patience.

 It’s funny how we forget that we asked God for something after we get it.  If it isn’t given in the form we expected, we will often ask God why.  Yet He specifically states in the Bible to ask and ye shall receive.

God listens to us.  He often will give us exactly what we want, so if we don’t examine our prayers carefully, we may get “exactly” what we prayed for.  Is it right to pray for rain, then gripe because of the storm?  Is it right to pray for healing when it isn’t God’s will for healing?  God doesn’t grant us a perfect life because He granted us Free Will.  He allows us to go through trials and valleys because it is where we learn.

A few months ago, my mother passed away after battling cancer.  I knew she would eventually die.  It is not God’s will for our physical bodies to live forever.  These bodies are only vessels that carry us through this life on earth.  They are not meant to last forever.  I didn’t ask God to heal my mother from her cancer.  I only asked that His will be done.  I didn’t ask that He take her pain away.  The body is going to experience pain.  I asked Him to help her through her pain.  I didn’t ask that He remove my pain of going through the cancer with her.  It would have made me an unfeeling, cold wall.  If she had to suffer, was it right for her to have to do it alone?  After all, she had been through pain and suffering with me when I had trials in my life.

What is the pain on this earth anyway?  We are selfish to ask God to remove our pain.  What pain did our Jesus suffer when He gave Himself for our sins?  We cry out to our Lord for much simpler things than any Jesus suffered for us.  To honor the Lord is to bear our pain with grace.  God deserves better from us than to hear us whine about something so fleeting as the pain we suffer on this earth.  These bodies and our suffering here are nothing compared to the joys we shall have in eternity.

Our prayers should honor our Lord.  He expects us to be honest with Him, and that honesty extends to our emotions and our needs and desires.  He is more receiving of our prayers when we are honest with ourselves and respectful that He is the one in control and knows much more about our situations than we ever can.

Too Often I find a recurrent theme in my prayers. From beginning to end sometimes….I ask God for His help over and over-again and again-and many different ways. Of course I usually always begin by asking for God’s forgiveness-knowing full well we all need that. Then I ask for various things and kinds of help. In effect I am asking God, “What can you do for me?” constantly and persistently. Sometimes I do this subconsciously and other times I do it knowingly. In the same kind of annoying (yet endearing), and repetitive (I-Want-My-Way) manner in which a child pleads with adults, I find myself uplifting prayers of desires and needs without any regard to God!
It is easy to get into a pattern of groveling and whining instead of approaching God BOLDLY with prayers that He will not tune out! I am not suggesting God does not hear your request or receive them lovingly. But I am suggesting that after nagging God many many times, we are indeed wasting our prayer time. We could utilize our prayer time more effectively by asking different questions and thinking of more than our own needs and wants. God knows what we need. He knows our hearts desires. God knows what is best for us. Sometimes, if we were allowed to have everything we asked for right when we asked for it, we would only be short-changing ourselves. He has the very best prepared for us-every time-only in His time, not ours!
I am taking a new challenge. I am challenging myself to trust God completely with my own needs and desires. Instead of repeating myself, over and over again-I have decided to simply thank God for all of His wonderful provision, and for always meeting my every need. Furthermore, I have decided to pray more for others (my family, Friends, Strangers, and anyone God puts a burden on me to pray for). Lastly, I plan to start asking God what He wants me to do for Him! I think this is the best new desire God has given me. I have a strong desire to please Him and be a blessing to others and fulfill His purpose in my life. I want to work to do God’s will-not work against it. I hope each and every one of you that reads this will take on this same challenge in your own prayer lives. Ask not ONLY what your God can do for you, but ALSO what can you do for your God?
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9 21-24 (Ask God for help and believe in God to help!)
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 (Seek after God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness and you will be blessed with many other gifts also!)
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (If you delight in the LORD you will receive your hearts desires!)
May you be blessed and be a blessing in Christ Jesus,
Pam Shekailo

Prayer brings life to our relationship with God.Gods word says that “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.Jeremiah 29:11

I pray and plead the Blood of Jesus Christ for all the homeless people, for all broken families, for all unemployed, for all the women and children who are alone without any help, for all the animals who are homeless and sick, for all the sick people who are suffering, for all the old people, for all the people who are affected by wars, natural disasters, for all the broken marriages,the victims of various circumstances, for all the poor people, for all the Job operating Companies/Industries for which their business have hurt due to bad economy.

May the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse my sins as well as their sins so that they might be healed and their prayers will be answered without any hindrances. May the precious Blood of Jesus Christ protect them from all evils and guide them and give them strength, hope, comfort, healing, peace, prosperity and Good health. I call forth, in the Name of Jesus, all of God’s plans and purposes for their lives and their families. Lord Jesus Christ I pray that you will have mercy on them and deliver each one of them in their times of trouble. I surrender all the above people to you, knowing that they will be very safe in your hands.

Lord Jesus, I ask you to bless me and every person I have prayed for today and everyday and send Your mighty angels to protect all of us in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!

I have been tormented lately with the inability to forgive my husband. It is not just one thing or something huge in which he has done to me. It starts with one comment or action that makes me feel less of a person than the bitterness sets in with other things he has done in the past for which I had previously (or at least thought I did) forgive him.

Sometimes it is as if I do not want to forgive him. Then I feel the Lord quietly telling me who am I to judge him according to whether he should be forgiven or not. As I will be judged as I judge others. Boy, oh boy, I do not want that, Lord.

I feel the Lord asking me to see him through His eyes. Sometimes it is easy then his mouth opens and something ungodlike comes out. Help me, Lord.

So the Lord reminds me, Mary, have you done everything perfectly today? Have you not done something today that may have irritated me, annoyed me, or angered me? Yes, Lord, I probably did. Did I forgive you, Mary? Yes, Lord, you always do! Then why should he not be forgiven? You are always right, Lord. Forgive me for being unable to forgive.

Unforgiveness leads to bitterness, anger, deception, depression, and most importantly a huge wall between God and yourself. This is not what you need or want in your life.

So, Lord, how do I rid myself of this anger and bitterness? Deliver me, Father, from my unforgiveness.
*acknowledge aloud the sin of unforgiveness in your life.
*acknowledge aloud the person who has committed this pain to you.
*acknowledge aloud the hurt which they inflicted upon you.
*Ask Father God, to rid you of these inflictions and iniquities and to take back this ground which Satan has stolen from you.

Staying free from your bitterness of a person, especially someone you need to deal with daily, is a daily process of
*asking the Lord to break down the wall that is separating us from Him.
*asking the Holy Spirit to help us forgive this person for all the wrongs against us.
*asking the Lord to allow us to see this person through His eyes.
*asking the Lord to help us love that person as He loves them – compassionately, with mercy, kindness, and without judgement.
*Father God, wipe the hurt and pain from heart, mind, and body that has been caused.

My husband wonders at times why I stare at him with a smile on my face. Those are the times that I am asking, Father God, to show me what He sees in him. All the good.

We are all born into evilness. And if someone wants to they can all look at us and only see the bad if they are not waliking steadily with the Lord. But if we are allowing God’s glorious light to shine upon us through daily prayer, dedication, and meditation. If we allow, God to control our lives instead of ourselves, we will see everyone the way H sees them – beautiful.

Amen, Father God, may all glory and honor be Yours, Almighty Father.

Matthew 18:19-20 — “Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

My Lord, my God… no one can ever tell me that prayer does not work! Not after what I’ve seen, No, Lord, no. You see, I was working with this faithful group of growing prayer warriors at my church, praying, fellowshipping, interceding and seeking. So much of prayer is an exercise of faith as you pray for your family, your church, your neighborhood, your city and state, the country and for Israel. you don’t see immediate results that you attribute to your voice being heard in the heavenly realm. But every once in a while (for some even faster) an answer comes along that quickens your faith, strengthens your resolve and drives your spirit to pray even harder.

Such was the result of two prayers this past month. We were gathered in the small prayer room just before service, just finishing up morning prayer, when one of the prayer warriors, Shameccah, brought her daughter into the room. It seems she was very burdened over her uncle, who was caught up in drugs and was not attending any church. Indeed, she was in tears.

We were fresh from praying for the coming service for today, and our spirits were warmed and ready. “What is your uncle’s name?” I asked.

“Sam,” she said tearfully.

We gathered ourselves together in a circle and with a few words of focus and instructions, we offered up a “Prayer Bomb” for Sam: everyone praying out loud, bombarding Heaven, calling on the same of Jesus, claiming Sam’s soul for the kingdom, rebuking the spirit of sorcery, binding the hands of the enemy, releasing the angelic hosts of God to do intense warfare for Sam. Five minutes later, we wound down and the prayer ended. The atmosphere of the room was very charged. I turned to the young girl, who was also in the circle. “Now you continue to pray for him this week and expect the best,” I said. Then we left the room to prepare for the service.

The very next Sunday I was standing at the altar, preparing to pray for those who came forth for various reasons. A tall, somber-looking man walked up to receive the call to rededicate his life to the Lord Jesus. By the look of his face and eyes, I could tell that he was living a rough life. As I prepared to pray for him, both the young girl from last week and her mother stood behind this man and caught my attention. Their eyes were glossy with tears and they had smiles on their faces. They pointed to the man and mouthed something to me. “This is Sam,” they whispered. I was absolutely stunned.

It turns out that Sam suddenly decided that he needed to go to church to get right with the Lord. Something was drawing him so strongly and he was so determined to get there that he was in the process of walking to church that morning when someone gave him a ride the rest of the way. When we received the full report, the next night of intercession we were truly ON FIRE.

“Who shall we prayer for next?” we asked eagerly, gathered in our end-of-the-meeting prayer circle. Cynthia, one of the prayer leaders, volunteered her son, Booker. “He hasn’t been to church in ages and I’m always worried about him,” she said. “He truly needs the Lord.” We gathered in our prayer circle, bowed our heads and began to fervently bombard Heaven on Booker’s behalf: binding, claiming, declaring, renouncing, rebuking, thanking. It was ten minutes of intense, faith-filled prayer, fueled by last week’s victory for Sam. At the end of ten minutes we finally ended. You could tell by the look on everyone’s face that we had prayed out of ourselves and into the spirit realm.

I don’t know what I expected – I am careful not to put God in the box of my expectations – but I was expecting something, I don’t know what. After two weeks there was no report, no mysterious visitors dragging themselves in and falling on the altar, and no one mentioned the prayer request.

I received a call from Cynthia on Wednesday, April 26. “Pastor, I just wanted you to know that I just finished talking to my son to see how he was doing,” she said, and I could hear the joy bubbling in her voice. My heart began to pound. “He told me that he has visited two different churches in the past few weeks, looking for a place to fellowship. He wants to get right with God!” I could have screamed, not so much because I was invested in this person’s being drawn to the Lord, but even more so because, once again, I knew, I just KNEW, that his sudden seeking of the Lord was due in large part because we had bombarded Heaven on his behalf. Once again the Lord moved in response to an intense, heartfelt prayer of saints in agreement, just as He had promised.

There is nothing so faith-building, nothing so encouraging, as answered prayer, to see our communication with the God of Heaven followed by His visible, measurable response on the earth, to experience the divine connection between our requests and His responses. Truly, truly, as the Bible has said repeatedly, this is the key to all revivals, conversions, outreaches, ministries, warfares, breakthroughs and blessings. PRAYER WORKS!!

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, I will forgive their sins and heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:14

We all go through these times in which we wake up and have other things on our mind except that which we should be thinking about.

I know just as well as the next person that the first and only thing on my mind should be the Lord. Not just a passing thought of His greatness but totally and emphatically the Lord and His almightiness.

So why do we cast aside our Heavenly Father when we know how unhealthy it is for us? Why do we say Father can I get to that later? Or Father God won’t mind if I just skip one day of reading His Holy Word as long as I pray?

Wrong! It is just like excercising physically or watching what we eat. What happens when we say well I excerised so intense yesterday what is one day to miss. Or that little piece of chocolate cake did not hurt my calories yesterday so what if I have one more piece. Well we skip one day then the next…we eat one more piece then another….we skip one day of devotion then another…

We do this because we are human and think we can get away with it without anyone knowing our downfalls.  We do this because we are human and believe we are immortal.  We do this because we believe our last efforts will give us everlasting effects.

Then we realize that not everything lasts forever and we start to feel the need to go back to our rightful ways of living, exercising, eating.

Staying in sync with the Lord is an everyday exercise. It is a commitment not to be taken lightly. It takes time, effort, and devotion. It is the biggest and best commitment to make in our lives.

We need to wake up knowing that we need Him.  That in light of our best efforts we will never have as successful of a day if we skip Him.  That the few moments of our day that it takes to devote to Father God are little in comparison to what we receive back from Him.

I want to stop taking my relationship with Him for granted.  I want to continue to devote my time to Him everyday not just some days.  I pray to you, Oh Heavenly Father, that I will stop taking you for granted.  That I will remember you need for me to be prepared as much as I need for you to be here with me.  Thank you, Father God, for your forgiveness and understanding to my human tendencies.  I love you always and forever.  Mary

Importunity is a new word to my vocabulary. I learned that this word means wearisome persistence or of persistent demand. The word itself sounds like two words combined and I will probably remember it this way. It sounds like the word important and word opportunity combined. To me and through God the word importunity means an important opportunity. That is what we have right now in prayer for our nation. We have an important opportunity to pray for our nation and seek God on behalf of our country. We have an important opportunity and responsibility through prayer to see our land healed, to see the sins of our land forgiven and have the mercy, loving-kindness, peace, joy, revival and complete salvation and restoration of God in America.

However, before we can see these blessed results and favorable consequences, we must apply the true meaning of importunity to our prayers and our need for God and His presence in our country. You see before we can be blessed as a nation our prayers must go up to God with wearisome persistence. We must continually pray for God’s healing in our nation. I have heard this verse many times. I have seen it on t-shirts and such. But up until now, with God’s revelation, I have never understood it the way I do now.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
It is all here. God’s people, the church and body of Jesus Christ must humble themselves and pray with the importunity of prayer in their hearts. We must pray with wearisome persistence and unrelenting urgency. We must seek God with all our hearts in harmony with one another, in perfect unison, and in combined strength of faith. We must crave and need God’s presence in America in the same manner, with wearisome persistence, and with all our hearts and souls, together as one giant cry unto the Father in heaven. We must turn from our wicked ways and stop putting other gods before Him. Then and only then will God hear from heaven and forgive America and heal America.
Our country, the United States of America was founded as one Nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Our money is printed and stamped “In God We Trust.” Today, America is a nation of many people of from many different nations, beliefs, races, religions and creeds that all call America their home land. We all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God. In our land there are many sins, too numerous to list. Common things and seemingly simple and harmless things have taken precedence in the American way of life. One such example is the use of technology and the use of cellular phones. In reality these are examples of things that we have become dependent on, and in need of here in the USA. It may seem harmless but any time anything takes prevalence over God- it is idolatry. There are many other critical issues of concern and sin. The main issue of importance, dire need and in great demand right now is a great turning away from sin and a true repentance of sin. If one person prays this prayer of repentance and turns away from sin it is great for that person because they when they search for God with all their heart and soul they will find Him and they will be saved. But if a group of a hundred or a thousand or a million pray in repentance and turn away from sin to God, it is beautiful beyond words. We must come together in the importunity of prayer! Please take a few moments to pray this prayer along with me and pass this prayer on to as many as you will.

Dear Heavenly Father,
We acknowledge that our nation has turned away from you. In our greed and independence we have become financially, spiritually, physically and morally bankrupt. In our need to be self-sufficient and powerful and famous as individuals and as a nation, we have failed miserably and come to the end of all our own resources. In our desire to be free and powerful we have become enslaved and weakened in our sins against you. Our nation is falling apart. We have tried to replace you and put other gods of money, material possessions, and ease of life style above you and the precious sacrifice provided for us at the cross. In doing so, we have fallen away from you and the all sufficient grace that comes only from you. Now with humble, weary, and persistent hearts and souls we turn to you for forgiveness of all our sins. Forgive us for putting other gods before you and for turning to other things and other ways of life instead of turning to you. Right now we, as individuals and as the brothers and sisters and family in Christ Jesus, and as believers all join together, united in one accord and with one voice. As one voice we turn away from everything that would stand between us and you. As one people serving as one nation under God, we pray LORD that you will hear our prayer. We need your presence now more than ever. Please come and make your wonderful holy presence known to America in new and profound ways. We pray, seek, crave and require of necessity your face. As we submit ourselves to you, we pray that you will hear our nation, heal our nation, and make us your nation. We pray for a great restoration in America and a huge revival in America and all across the globe. As one nation and one voice we cry out for deliverance and we claim all of the indisputable promises found in the word of God. In these times of darkness, O LORD you are our only light. You LORD are the only hope of our nation. We pledge allegiance to you LORD God. We pray this prayer in the wonderful matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

May your life be blessed and a blessing in Christ Jesus.