Join us in today’s devotion and prayer-
Read the Psalm in your favorite version or in the following KJV and then join us in praying below:
44 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
2 How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them.
4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever.
Selah.
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake. (KJV)
Our Father,
We have read the stories of your great deeds and salvation among the nations in the past. Our own history is filled with accounts of how you were at the foundation of our nation guiding events and bringing forth leaders and the people rejoiced and praised your name.
Now our nation is falling away and many are saying that the stories of old are but ancient legends and the miracles of our beginning are nothing but coincidences. They claim that your word and vision that brought forth our nation was nothing but the vain delusions of immoral slave owners.
Now your words are being ridiculed and your teaching is called passé by some who say that believers in you are ‘on the wrong side of history.’ We have become a ‘byword’ among the so-called progressives in our nation, a laughingstock among the academics who consider themselves to be ‘wise’ and knowledgeable.
But the followers of your Son Jesus continue to praise your name and lift up your teaching before a scoffing nation. Your Holy Spirit continues to dwell in our midst and bring joy and confidence into our lives. We continue to proclaim that you are the author of history, the creator of all things including the very laws that science observes and records as ‘the truth.’
We live in a world where thousands that bear the name of your Son are being killed ‘like sheep for slaughter and have scattered among the nations’ by those who claim to know you by another name and follow a false account of your teaching. But nevertheless, thousands continue to come to Christ out of the darkness and sing songs of joy for finding the truth. There is world revival and world slaughter at the same time.
Do not forget us in this land, O Lord. Bring forth your revival once more among our people. Let the healing and miracles of your Kingdom come down in our midst and transform our families, our neighborhoods, our cities and nation. Let the unbelievers be in the minority once more and let them be afraid to open their mouths as they were in former years and let the plans of the enemy be turned back once more.
Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! Let your Word be proclaimed in power across this land and let the truth be confirmed by works and miracles which cannot be explained away. Bring revival and light to a nation falling into darkness and living water to a thirsty people seeking the truth. Let there be new stories of your salvation and wonderful deeds in this generation.
In Jesus name, Amen.