Praying for Our Children and Nations in Crisis
As you probably know by now, my calling is primarily to America. As you also know by now, this does not mean I am indifferent to what happens elsewhere or that we should limit our prayers to only this nation. Therefore, in today’s post, we will pray for America, but we will also remember our friends in Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Our Children Are Targets
In the 60s, 70s, and 80s the American church had no vision for keeping God in the public arena. Some of this was simply a lack of good teaching in this area, but another reason was much teaching that Jesus was coming so soon that none of this would matter. We are told in Scripture to believe in and love the coming of the Lord to earth once again. But we are never told to stop discipling nations because we believe it is imminent. In the early 70s, I was actually counseled by spiritual leaders to not even waste my time with college. “Jesus is coming soon,” I was told, “none of that will matter.” He didn’t…and the church in America lost its voice and influence in our society.
When the government told us we had no right to inject God and morality into education and we obeyed, a generation was then discipled in secularism (keep God and religion out of the public arena); humanism (man is his own god); relativism (there are no absolutes, truth is defined relative to the present situation); and even atheism. That generation is now ruling our nation. And we find ourselves desperately trying to bring a course correction, a correction that, if not successfully accomplished, will destroy America.
In order to propagate their progress, the left is intensely continuing its work on discipling our children. We must fight against this with every weapon we have: righteous leaders, truth, and parental involvement. And we must continue to intercede for the great awakening/revival I speak of so often in these posts. Without the strength and momentum provided by a great outpouring of Holy Spirit, no amount of hard work will succeed. We are simply too far down the road of spiritual death and confusion. In short, it is not either/or, it is both/and - spiritual and civil forces working together to turn our nation around.
An example of the left’s attempt to indoctrinate our children and promote their agenda is Governor DeSantis’ current opposition in Florida. The Washington Times shares:
“Governor Ron DeSantis, who has made banishing the ‘woke’ agenda a top priority of his administration, is battling gay rights groups and one of Florida’s largest employers in his latest effort: banning sex education from early elementary classrooms.
“Mr. DeSantis plans to sign the Parental Rights in Education bill which cleared Florida’s Republican-led Legislature last week in party-line votes after emotional debates in both chambers.
“The legislation would prohibit schools from teaching about sexual orientation or sexual identity in kindergarten through third grade, or any other grade ‘in a manner not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate in accordance with state standards.’
“The legislation responds to parents’ complaints that schools are teaching children as young as 5 about transgenderism, homosexuality, and other matters related to sex and gender.
“Critics of the bill have hijacked the narrative in mainstream media. They have relabeled the legislation the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill…
“Mr. DeSantis is not bowing to public pressure.
“He has vowed to sign the bill despite efforts from liberal groups and even Disney. Under pressure from employees and others, Disney executives protested the bill in a phone call with Mr. DeSantis.
“‘The chance that I am going to back down from my commitment to students and back down from my commitment to parents’ rights simply because of fraudulent media narratives or pressure from woke corporations, the chances of that are zero,’ Mr. DeSantis told a crowd in Boca Raton on Thursday.
“‘You have companies like Disney that are going to criticize parents’ rights, they’re going to criticize the fact that we don’t want transgenderism in kindergarten or in first-grade classrooms,’ Mr. DeSantis told the Boca Raton crowd. ‘If that’s the hill that they’re going to die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationships with the Communist Party of China?’”(1)
Amen! As we pray regarding these issues, we must also remember to pray for Ukraine and Afghanistan. As we have done recently, we are using the good information from our friends John Robb and Intercessors For America to help us pray:
Regarding Ukraine - “Nadine Maenza, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), suggests Russia’s recent track record is troubling.
“‘Russia is one of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. Narratives that Putin supports Christian values are completely false,’ she tweeted on March 10.
“One case in point for Maenza is Russia’s practices in the Crimea and Donbas regions that are occupied by Russia and its agents. In an interview on March 3 with FOX News, she said Russia uses ‘violations to suppress dissent and terrorize the population’ in those places.
“The European Evangelical Alliance reports that many evangelical Christians and other groups are labeled as illegal extremists in Donbas — an area of eastern Ukraine overtaken by Russia-backed rebels. Churches have been seized and a Christian university is now occupied by soldiers. Thomas Bucher, general secretary of the Alliance, called Donbas ‘the area of Europe where the church suffers the most.’
“Of course, you need not look that far. In Russia itself, religious groups (except — for now anyway — the Russian Orthodox Church) are at risk. Rounds of purported anti-extremism measures have made life difficult for them. In fact, Russian authorities have been using anti-missionary laws to crack down on several minorities, particularly Protestant Christians and Muslims. They have faced fines and targeted harassment.
“Ukraine has been a different story. Mindy Belz recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, ‘In Ukraine, non-Orthodox Christians, along with Jews and Muslims, hold equal legal standing to the Orthodox majority.’ She notes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, and high-ranking government officials come from a variety of faith backgrounds.
“However, that could change if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest aggression is successful. Belz points to comments by a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine suggesting that the invasion could well extend the reach of policies already being executed in Donbas and Crimea.”(2)
Our friend John Robb with Transformation Prayer Foundation updates us regarding Afghanistan :
“Regarding Afghanistan - one humanitarian group involved in the desperately-needed food distributions there writes: ‘More than 60% of the population don't have enough to eat. Many children, in particular, are malnourished - up to three million according to the UN children's agency UNICEF. There are hardly any jobs, the economy has virtually collapsed, and the country is also suffering from drought. If more help from the outside doesn't arrive soon, it will have terrible repercussions for many in Afghanistan.’ Let’s continue to pray for rescue from the dire food situation and that further much needed help will arrive and be distributed smoothly and safely by humanitarian workers; for the replacement of radical government leaders with moderate ones; and for the protection of brothers and sisters in Christ still in the country.”
Pray with me:
Father, in the past we relinquished our influence in government, education, and our society in general. Rather than influencing, occupying, and discipling until You come, we neglected all of the above. We repent of this. We ask You to give us a supernatural reversal. Please give us righteous leaders with a biblical worldview in government. Give us the same in education and media.
We thank You for the stand Governor DeSantis is making. Give him strength to endure, keep him strong. Help us remove these evil teachings from our classrooms. Send such a strong revival that our kids, parents, and educators alike have Your laws and ways written on their hearts. Cause truth to be so embedded in their hearts that it influences their reasoning and common sense.
And give us spiritual leaders who will stand for truth. Awaken the church. Give backbones of steel to those who lead Your people, men and women emboldened to speak truth. Break passivity off of them, and beliefs that cause them to acquiesce. May they be ablaze with truth and holy fire.
We pray also for our friends in Ukraine and Afghanistan. Work miracles to protect them. Comfort the hearts of families that are now separated, and that have lost loved ones. Enable relief organizations to get to those who need food, clothing, and shelter. Empower the believers there to boldly preach the gospel. Confirm Your word with signs and wonders. Use these evils to bring millions to Yourself - make satan pay! Release Your righteous judgments against evil and evildoers. We ask You for these things in the all-powerful name of Christ. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that revival is coming to the nations of the earth and will NOT be stopped.
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