November 3, 2020
I’m hoping that this election will be much like this post—short and victorious!
Probably like many of you today, I woke up with an urge to pray, but as I stumbled around in the pre-dawn darkness getting coffee and breakfast, I wasn’t satisfied with what I was feeling. The sensation pulling on my heart felt anxious and inadequate, like I somehow had to find the right coins to put into the heavenly slot-machine in order to get the results I wanted. And while I’ve certainly been praying boldly for the results that I believe are right, I wanted something more for today.
I didn’t want to count down the hours worrying or trapped in some fatalistic notion of sovereignty. I also didn’t want to embrace an arrogant sense of confidence.
I wanted the wisdom of heaven to guide my prayers.
So, I asked for it, believing the Holy Spirit would inform my petitions, direct my mind to His Will, and ignite hearts all across the nation in the same way!
It took several hours, but somewhere between Psalm 118 and a chapter of Lisa Bevere’s new book, it started to wash over me. The words of Psalm 91 stood out from the page of Lisa’s book and I heard the Truth I was listening for plain as day.
It’s not about you!
- It’s not our righteousness that will bring about the Will of God.
- It’s not a perfectly-holy president or a sinless nation.
- It’s not even our votes or our petitions that force His Hand, though both are vitally important.
God will accomplish His Will because of His great Mercy and His Desire to prosper those who fear His Name and bring Heaven on this Earth.
Let me be clear: this does not absolve us of responsibility. Far from it!
Instead, I saw the Church as a bunch of racehorses stamping in our stalls, waiting to be released from the gates. If you’ve ever seen horses set free from those stalls, they break away as though they’ve been waiting all their lives to charge the finish line. Nothing can stop them. They were born for the win!
It is the same with the people of God.
We were created for God’s purposes—in this hour!
While repentance is key, we were never meant to continually recount our nations’ sins over and over, piling them at the feet of the president, and bemoaning the lack of a perfect leader.
We were made for action! Holy Spirit-led divine action! The kind of action David took when he showed up on the battlefield full of God and recognized immediately that God wanted to take Goliath down. His victory came because he knew God’s heart for Israel and got involved.
As this Truth washed over me, I knelt in wonder.
We don’t deserve mercy. We can’t earn it. We can’t force God to give it to us with magic words and formulaic prayers.
But we can ask.
We can declare the words of Psalm 91 over our nation, standing in the gap for her as people who know and love the Lord.
So, I did. And I pray you will join me, all you who are named by the Name of the Lord.
I declared that because I fear God and have made the Lord my shelter and refuge, I now appropriate the promises of God for me over my country. Yes, this is not my forever home. I seek a lasting city, the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14)! But God has given the Earth to the children of man and God forbid that I should waste that mandate (Psalm 115:16).
I refuse to get to heaven tired and depressed, having simply waited out my days complaining about the current president or current laws. I want to get to heaven “out of breath,” as Jennie Allen says, joyfully weary from running my race. I want to meet my King in the winner’s circle, where He’ll put a crown on my head—a crown that’s really for Him!
This morning, I repented on behalf of the Church for the way we’ve cursed the nation with our negativity instead of declaring the promises of God on her behalf.
I declared that it’s not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit that His Will is accomplished (Zechariah 4:6).
And I’m determined to get busy and be a part of it—no matter what!
So, what do I think will happen?
Here’s what I know for sure.
First, we cannot go back to the old ways.
The Church needs to wake up, fix their eyes on their Savior, and RUN THEIR RACE!
And second, I believe God has preserved a remnant of loved ones in this nation, people who fear His Name and walk in His Ways and desire His Will, and He WILL act on our behalf.
This is the reason for my confident rejoicing today. I have a race to run and a merciful, powerful King who makes it possible—no matter what!
“I love the Lord because He has heard my cry and my pleas for mercy. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 116 and 118)!
For the sake of the Harvest…join me!
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