Do you know that God established government? God handed down the law (the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:1-17, and Deuteronomy 5:6-21) and intended that we live under it. Many of our federal and state laws are based on the Ten Commandments.

Get involved in state-level prayer with IFA.

View Comments (4)

In the first form of government that God established, God guided Moses to appoint judges to administer the law (Exodus 18:13-27).

God gave the people a king – and a warning.

It wasn’t long before the people clamored for a king to replace the judges, not only had the judges failed the people and led them contrary to God’s law, but also the people of Israel wanted to have a king – they wanted to be like the surrounding nations, who had kings and whose people did not follow God.

So, Samuel, God’s priest, followed God’s instruction to appoint the first King of Israel, King Saul (1 Samuel 8:4-6).

When God told Samuel to appoint the new king, He also told Samuel that this was because the God’s people, the Israelites, had rejected God as their king, “forsaking me and serving other gods.” (vs. 8). God told Samuel to warn the people how a solitary king would have complete control over them and claim their children and their property (vs. 11-17).

Throughout the Old Testament, stories show that when the people of Israel turned away from what “seems right to a man” (Proverbs 14:12), tragedy resulted.

It is apparent that many people in the United States think of our government as a provider and ruler. They don’t recognize that God is the source of all we need. Many voters have, over the years, voted for their representatives (or “leaders”) who promise to provide unearned benefits from the pockets of others (taxes) (2 Thessalonians 3:10, Genesis 2:15, Ephesians 4:28, Proverbs 10:4).

In the Old Testament, we can see that God allowed calamity to befall His people. But when they repented and turned to Him, He forgave them and restored them.

King Solomon, the third King of Israel, after King David, anticipated that the Israelites would turn from God again. So, at the dedication of the Temple Solomon prayed for God to forgive them in the future, asking God to “hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants.” (2 Chronicles 6:27).

Responding to Solomon, God said:

…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 and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

As Christians in the United States, we need to be able to apply that Scripture to our present-day situation. We know that God has forgiven us for the sin debt we cannot pay through the sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. We’re compelled, by our gratitude and as much as humanly possible, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to live our lives within God’s guidelines.

So, how can we “turn from our wicked ways”? First, we must acknowledge that we do have evil intent. Unlike the people in the Old Testament, we have the advantage of having the Bible to learn from and the “helper,” the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-4).

We can “own” our part in the sins of our country.

But we can apply 2 Chronicles 7:14: We must own the current circumstances—we must take responsibility for things that have occurred here. We can then plead for God’s mercy over all. We need to have the same brokenness of heart as God does when he sees the sin abounding in the United States.

Did you know that our land was dedicated to Christ and the advancement of the Gospel? In 1607, upon landing in Virginia, Rev. Robert Hunt and the new settlers dedicated the land to God and covenanted with God. They agreed that the land would be dedicated first to reaching the people already present in the New World with the Gospel and furthermore, that the land would serve as “Evangelist to the World.”

Soon thereafter, the Pilgrims and the Puritans came to New England. These settlers were Christians dedicated to God and came with religious liberty.

Unfortunately, today, these facts of our history are seldom, if ever, taught during American history in most government-funded schools, and also are not taught in many private schools. (See https://1607covenant.com/ for more information about the 1607 Covenant.)

Begin to pray and repent as God directed in Chronicles.

Many people in our country today, including Christians, are faced with adversity, and the hardships are tragic. But we can live in God’s promise for us—He WILL be here for us like he was for the Israelites in the Old Testament.

The problems we face today in the United States are not the fault of any one of us personally.

Nevertheless, as Christians, we must take on responsibility and repent, collectively and individually. As instructed in 2 Chronicles 7:14, we should bear responsibility for not keeping the Covenant that Rev. Hunt and the settlers with him made with God for our country.

We have legal standing under the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14: we are “His people,” called by “His name:” CHRISTian.

To fulfill the promise God made in 2 Chronicles 7:14, we are obliged to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and “turn from our wicked ways.”

We must be united and contend in prayer for God’s mercy on the United States. We must confess the sins afflicting our country today, as if we have been direct participants. We need to have our hearts broken about these sins, as God’s heart is broken (Jeremiah 8:18, 9:10).

Prayer points to use to contend in prayer according to 2 Chronicles 7:14:

• Abortion: Confess and repent for the murder of millions of babies, through our inaction or failure to act more assertively in the many ways available to us (Exodus 20:13, Psalm 139:13-16).
• Having a callous heart: Confess and repent for having callous hearts toward people who don’t see things (faith, politics, etc.) the way we do (Matthew 5:44).
• Indifference to others’ needs: Confess and repent that we have been indifferent to the plight of others who have not been as blessed as we have been (Matthew 13:15, Psalm 119:70).
• Pride in our achievements: Confess and repent for grumbling about, and/or having pride in all we have, thinking we either need more, or that we have achieved all this prosperity on our own or because we are superior to others (1 John 2:16-17, Proverbs 11:2).
• Failing to appreciate God’s blessings: Confess and repent that we have failed to appreciate that our affluence and comfort are blessings from God. We have, like the Israelites, forgotten that all this is God’s blessing (Jeremiah 29:11).
• Acknowledge our liberty came at great cost: Confess and repent that we have failed to appreciate that the liberty we have as Citizens of the United States was bought with the blood of others (John 8:31-36).
• Unfaithfulness to serving God: Confess and repent that we have failed to be faithful in our service and worship of God, and not truly being the “church” where God has planted us – that we are not fulfilling the Great Commission, and don’t demonstrate to our world that we are the ones called by His name, CHRIST(ians) (Matthew 28:16-20, Corinthians 15:58).
• Failing our children in their schooling: Confess and repent for not obeying God in educating our children – that God did not create the universe and world – permitting them to be taught by individuals with anti-Christian worldviews (Deuteronomy 6:7-9).
• Not bringing up Godly children: Confess and repent that we have failed to bring up our children in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4b, Deuteronomy 11:19, Proverbs 22:6).
• Acceptance of worldly attitudes: Confess and repent of our acquiescence to and acceptance of modern sinful cultural norms, including but not limited to — divorce, homosexuality, prostitution, witchcraft, feminist demands, and fornication (James 4:4, Ephesians 5:11, Galatians 6:1).
• Not taking note of or acting on our true role as a citizen: Confess and repent that we have been enjoying the comfort of the prosperity of our nation and have ignored the political actions of our governments (local, state, and federal) to our detriment.
  • We have failed to elect people to represent us, who should be serving us, the people, with integrity and wisdom.
  • We have forgotten that in our representative form of government, we are the “employer” of our elected representatives. As their “employers” we have failed to take action to hold them accountable when they act with impropriety, dishonesty, or worse. In our system of government, that is, a representative republic (not a democracy), we citizens truly are the “kings.”
  • We have not acted responsibly as citizen “kings,” as we have elected representatives who act without integrity, enriching themselves while ostensibly serving us (Romans 13:1, Proverbs 21:1, Jeremiah 29:7).
• Not praying for our elected officials: Confess and repent that we have not faithfully prayed for our elected representatives (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
• Accepting less than the best from our Christian leaders: Confess and repent that we have failed to hold our pastors, teachers, and Christian leaders to the high standards required of them, not only in terms of moral behavior but also not requiring that they adhere to sound doctrine and teaching. We have permitted many of them to teach under God’s authority to suit their and our passions (2 Timothy 4:2-4).

Today, take this scripture, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and ask that God heal our land. Ask that your heart be broken like His as you pray for the above and more.

How are you praying according to this verse? Add your own prayer points and prayers in the comments.

(Heather Thyne is an IFA intercessor. Photo Credit: Jon Tyson on Unsplash)