How to Preserve the Freedom We Enjoy

A few months ago, my pastor asked our church to join together to pray for our nation at 7:14 every day. Twice a day, we were to spend one minute in prayer. The 7:14, of course, comes from the passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14. You probably know this verse by heart. 

If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

Two minutes a day didn't seem like many prayer minutes to me, but God didn't say He would move based on the length of the prayer. What He requires is humility, seeking His face, and repentance of sin to accompany our prayers, not lots of minutes.

We pulled out our phones and set alarms. It was obvious we were praying by the number of alarms that went off at 7:14 during the Wednesday evening Bible study each week.

I set my alarms, too. One evening at church, my phone was in my purse when the alarm sounded. I fumbled to silence it, but it took long enough that it drew attention from those around me. After that, I turned the alarm off when I went into Bible study.

A few days ago, I realized I'd turned it off, but forgotten to turn it back on. Without the alarm, I'd forgotten to pray. Somehow, I'd turned off the morning alarm, too. I've prayed some for our nation since then, but I have to admit that it hasn't been with the fervor of those 7:14 alarm prayers.

I've turned the 7:14 alarms back on.

Our country is in a terrible mess. From our leaders to our churches to our individual hearts, we are far from God, and it frightens me. 

America needs the prayers of God's people more than ever, and, as a nation, we don't even realize it. Corporately, we have removed God from the public eye, just as we have removed Him from our hearts. It's a wonder He continues to bless us.

The hearing, forgiving, and healing God promised Israel had nothing to do with the hearts and prayers of those who were not His people. That same principle holds true today. 

If God's people will humble themselves, seek His face, and pray, He will hear, forgive, and heal.

People of God, we must do what we can. The time for delay is long past. 

Today, we celebrate the freedom we've enjoyed for the last 240 years. This has been a great country, but I fear the direction in which we are headed. On this day of joy, let's join together to do what it takes to preserve our freedom. 

Saving a nation is hard work, and it cannot be done with elections, or guns, or protests. Saving a nation begins, just as starting a nation did, on our knees. More may be required of us as citizens, but the prayer work must be done first. 

Let's begin by humbling our own hearts, turning from our own sin, and seeking God's face. With that job underway, let's also join together, twice a day, one minute at a time, to pray for God to hear, forgive, and heal this great land we love.

Let's start today. The future of a nation depends on the prayers of God's people. 

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In honor of Independence Day, I've chosen several blogs from the archives for today. They'll post throughout the day, so be sure to check back.

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Lessons from Lou: A Life Well-Lived

#ifmypeople #IndependenceDay #prayer #linesfromleanna

The Left-Hander, The Fat Man, and the Woman in the Tent

Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. It was, as God had said, a land of milk and honey, richness and comfort. They had vineyards they didn't plant, houses they didn't build.

After Joshua died, the people lacked a strong, readily identifiable leader. They drifted away from God again and began to worship false gods. As had happened in the past, when they wandered into sin, God sent discipline, usually in the form of an oppressor, to draw them back to Himself.

Once the people grew weary of their oppression, they cried out to God and He sent a deliverer in the form of a judge. These judges were sometimes the most unlikely of individuals.

Ehud was one such judge. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord (Judges 3:12) and Eglon, the king of Moab, moved against them. He defeated Israel and occupied the City of Palm Trees. 

For eighteen years, Israel served Eglon. Finally, the people cried out to God for deliverance and He raised up an unlikely deliverer. 

Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the smallest tribes and, therefore, one of the weakest. It is an example of God's grace and power being "perfected in weakness". (2 Corinthians 12:9) He was also a left-handed man with a mission. (Matthew Henry suggests he had a weak or damaged right arm, so that he was especially unlikely as a deliverer.)

Ehud made a two-edged sword that may have been more like a long dagger than the sword with which we are familiar. He bound it on his right thigh under his cloak before he headed to Eglon to pay the tribute due from Israel. 

Eglon was an incredibly fat man, and clearly a pampered man, as well.

Only God could have worked this next part out. Ehud met Eglon in his roof-top cool room, presented the tribute, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O King." 

Eglon looked at this strong young man and decided he wanted to hear the secret. It wasn't a sensible move, but this king sent everyone out of the room except Ehud, his sworn enemy. 

Ehud stepped up close to Eglon. "I have a secret message from God." He pulled the sword out of its scabbard and stabbed the wicked king in the belly. He was so large that the fat closed in around the weapon and Eglon died instantly. 

Thus, Ehud, the unlikely left-handed man, delivered Israel.

After Ehud died, Israel did evil again. Finally God sent Deborah, a prophetess, to judge Israel. She called Barak and told him God had commanded that he lead an army to deliver Israel from Sisera. Barak wouldn't go without Deborah. 

"Okay, I'll go, but you will not be able to claim this victory because God is going to give the victory to a woman." (Judges 4:9 Leanna Paraphrase)

They went. Sisera escaped Barak and went to the tent of Heber the Kenite and his wife, Jael. The woman invited Sisera inside, covered him with a blanket, and gave him some milk to drink. Sisera was so comfortable that he went sound asleep.

Jael saw her opportunity and took it. She grabbed up a hammer and a tent peg and hammered the wooden spike through Sisera's temple and into the ground. He died instantly.

Thus Jael, the unlikely woman with a tent-peg, delivered Israel.

These unlikely warriors did one daring thing for God and single-handedly delivered Israel. They were able to succeed because God sent them, God empowered them, and God equipped them.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about either of these deliverers. 

They weren't especially strong. They didn't have military might or power. They hadn't done numerous other brave and daring deeds. They didn't even have a great army to help them.

What Ehud and Jael had in common was their availability to God. 

He said go, and Ehud went. He said to shelter Sisera, and Jael sheltered him. He said hammer, and she hammered.

We, too, are ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God. We, too, can do incredible deeds for God, if we will.

It's easy to think that someone as common as cornbread can't make a dramatic difference for the Lord, but that's not true. Look at Jael. She never left her tent or her cooking fire, yet she delivered an entire nation.

I grew up reading stories of  unlikely heroes. Maybe you did, too. I've always longed to do something brave and good. My reality, though, is that I'm no longer a young woman. I live in a town of less than 500 people. I'm not a warrior. I don't have any of the skills or attributes that we expect in a deliverer.

There's good news. God delights in using the unlikely to do the incredible.

We don't begin to do a mighty work by grabbing a sword or a tent peg. We begin, right where we are, by drawing close to the Lord and sharpening our figurative sword, The Word of God. We begin by saying yes to God in the small things. 

One simple act of obedience at a time prepares us for that one-more-act-of-obedience that can change a nation.

The most amazing thing of all is that no sword or hammer is required. Only our availability to God. We can change our nation on our knees. Humility. Repentance. Prayer. Those are the only weapons required to make a difference, and we can all wield them.

Today, let's bend our knees, pick up the Sword of the Word of God, and begin to change the world through our prayers. 

"If My people which are called by My name..." 2 Chronicles 7:14

One man or woman, wholly available to God, can make a greater difference than we can imagine. Let's be that one.

#Godsword #ifmypeople #prayer #linesfromleanna

The 7:14 Prayers

Our pastor introduced a new series at the Wednesday night service last night. We'll be studying the book of Hosea for the next few weeks. 

In case you don't remember, Hosea was one of the minor prophets. (Minor because the book he wrote is short, not because his message was less important.) 

Poor Hosea lived his message in a way most of hope we never do. 

God called him to marry a prostitute. Gomer was a faithless wife who took multiple lovers. Two of their three children were fathered by other men. 

Hosea's job was to love her anyway, just as God continues to love His people who are faithless. His life, in a way, was a living allegory for all to see.

Unless you've had a faithless spouse, one who repeatedly sought other lovers, you can't imagine how painful this must have been to Hosea. Let me tell you. 

It was like a slow and agonizing death of a part of him every single day. 

Whenever Gomer was out of his sight, Hosea was likely afraid she had found yet another lover. When she diverted her eyes while talking to him, he feared she was lying. Every day, there was a question in his mind. Was she faithful? Was she unfaithful? Was she telling the truth? Was she lying again?

When he looked at the children who looked nothing like him, it was a constant reminder. They are not my own. Yet he loved them. He loved Gomer. Despite one betrayal after another.

The knowledge that the people around him knew was terrible, too. Humiliating. 

He probably hated to be seen in public because he knew people would talk. "There goes Hosea. Has a wife but can't keep her." People likely said, "It takes two for trouble like this," as if it was Hosea's failure as a man that had caused her immorality. Because that's what people do.

The talk was terrible, the uncertainty was agonizing, but Hosea had a horrid certainty, too. Deep in his soul. He knew Gomer was unfaithful to him and it broke his heart over and over again.

God wanted His people to understand that Hosea's pain was His own.

At the time of Hosea, Israel was still a wealthy nation, but they were immoral. The leadership was spiritually bankrupt. The people followed false gods. They did whatever they wanted to do. They were still outwardly spiritual, but their hearts were far from God.

The nation of Israel was a lot like our own nation. Teetering on the edge of self-destruction. 

Hosea's job was to show the people how their actions looked to God (the actions of Gomer's harlotry) and how much He wanted them to repent and return to Him. Hosea loved Gomer. He continued to seek her and redeem her.

The teaching ended at 7:14 pm. Our pastor recommended that we begin a season of prayer for our nation based on 2 Chronicles 7:14. 

If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

For the duration of the study of Hosea, 6-8 weeks, the people in our church will be joining together to pray for our nation twice a day (at 7:14 am and 7:14 pm) for one minute each time. 

Two minutes a day do not seem like many prayer minutes to me, but God didn't say He would move based on the length of the prayer. What He requires is for humility, seeking His face, and repentance of sin to accompany our prayers, not lots of minutes.

Our country is in a terrible mess. From our leaders to our churches to our individual hearts, we are far from God, and it frightens me. 

America needs the prayers of God's people more than ever, and, as a nation, we don't even realize it. Corporately, we have removed God from the public eye, just as we have removed Him from our hearts. It's a wonder He continues to bless us.

The hearing, forgiving, and healing God promised Israel had nothing to do with the hearts and prayers of those who were not His people. That same principle holds true today. 

If God's people will humble themselves, seek His face, and pray, He will hear, forgive, and heal.

People of God, we must do what we can. The time for delay is long past. 

Let's begin by humbling our own hearts, turning from our own sin, and seeking God's face. With that job underway, let's also join together, twice a day, one minute at a time, to pray for God to hear, forgive, and heal this great land we love.

Will you join with me? I pray you do, for the future of a nation depends on the prayers of God's people. 

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#ifmypeople #Godsword #prayer #linesfromleanna