Rend Your Hearts - National Day of Prayer 2016

So, I woke up at 3:11 am again. It’s always the same time. Always the same divine appointment with God. Sometimes the appointment is to pray for a particular person, sometimes for those being persecuted for their faith, but today for my nation. Today is the National Day of Prayer, and if there was ever a year that my country needed prayer, it’s this year.

The economy is a mess. Don’t bother listening to the media and “powers that be” read you a fairy-tale that it’s all good. Talk to your friends and neighbors who are out of work. Drive down your street and see all the retail stores closing. See the increase in homelessness in your town. Be attentive to the increased crime rate in your neighborhood. So yeah, the economy is in trouble.

Our nation is divided - family, friends, and neighbors fighting one another.

Our moral compass has been shattered. East is now west. North is now south.

The political correctness vigilantes are marching down the streets doing their best to silence the masses.

The world is at war with an enemy we won’t name for fear of offending.

And some of our "best and brightest", well they can quote you the latest celebrity gossip statistics, but they can’t tell you who the current Vice President is, who won the Civil War, and what date America got her independence. When they are questioned about why socialism is better than capitalism, they yell curse words and turn over police cars to show the rest of us ignorant people what "tolerance" and "open-mindedness" look like. 

So yeah, I’ve been up since 3:11 am and I probably shouldn’t be writing about politics and religion in my sleep-deprived condition. But, I will.

Here is the scripture verse that kept running through my head while I prayed.

 “Rend your heart and not your garments…” Joel 2:13

Rend is defined as to tear as a sign of anger, grief, or despair.

God doesn’t want us to do outward displays, like tearing our clothes in a big pity party or tantrum because things seem to be spiraling faster and faster downward into the abyss of evil. Even though sometimes, I want to tell my Heavenly Dad, “Dad, do I have to adult today? Can’t I just stay under the covers and You can wake me up when it’s all over. Set my alarm clock to the exact time that Jesus is going to return to establish His kingdom. I don’t want to miss that.”

Nope. God was reminding me that He wants my heart torn over the state of our nation, praying for those who are perishing and lost, for those who have rejected Him. He wants my heart torn so that I will remember to pray. In the past, I have prayed that God will give me His heart for the lost, so sometimes at 3:11 am, He'll wake me up to tell me, ""Here's a little taste of my heart today." 

So the first thing I did after I crawled out of bed like the walking dead and got my coffee, was to look up the complete scripture verse Joel 2:13 in the Message Bible. Here is what God wants me to pray today for myself and for the nation I love:

Joel 2:13-14 (MSG)

[Yolanda] Change your life, not just your clothes.
[America] Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!

So God, thank you for waking me up. Really, thank you! Thank you for reminding me that it’s not over until it’s over. We keep praying. When times seem darkest, we pray in Your light. When times seem hopeless, we pray in Your hope. When Your people are struggling, we pray for Holy Spirit revival.  Because You are kind and merciful, extravagant in love, ready to cancel national catastrophe, and replace it with Your blessing. Forgive us that in our time of prosperity and abundance, we forgot who gave us our blessings. We replaced our worship of the One True God with made-made idols. Bring us to repentance. Rend our hearts. Wake up our Nation today in Jesus Name. Amen!

Love,

Yolanda