DON’T MISS WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO INTERCESSORS TODAY–FIRST THINGS FIRST
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DON’T MISS WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO INTERCESSORS TODAY–FIRST THINGS FIRST
Victory. We all want it. In our personal lives and in our nation.
If My people who are called by My name will 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 Chr 7:14).
I think we have all heard this familiar Scripture quoted more in the last few years than we have in our entire lives. I know I have.
This urgent call to prayer has gone across our great land like a mighty rushing wind. It’s awesome, really. I love the rebirth of passionate prayer for our country that has awakened in the body of Christ. Week after week I hear of yet another new group gathering to pray over our nation.
It seems every minister and prophet are shouting from the rooftops… “PRAY! PRAY!”
Rightly so. Prayer is vital. Prayer changes things. The Bible says prayer makes great power available, dynamic in its working.
While we fixate on prayer alone, are we forgetting something?
My friend, Karen Hardin, recently wrote the article, “It is the Hour to do Justice and Righteousness.” It was insightful. One powerful quote set me on a journey to seek the Lord for answers to a question.
She said, “In the midst of the tense relations with Iran right now, I sensed the Lord say, “There is a pride in America that they are untouchable. They are not.” Pride makes us touchable. We have to remove it.
Pride makes us touchable. That is a powerful truth.
I found myself thinking of her quote all through the night. The following morning, with her article still in my thoughts, the Lord began to speak to my heart.
I began to think about the Scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
If My people who are called by My name will 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.
The Lord began to talk to me about the importance of doing first things first.
The first thing this scripture says is to humble ourselves. Not to pray – not to fast – to humble ourselves.
The next thing I heard in my spirit was this, “What was the first thing Jesus did?”
My mind immediately went to Philippians 2:8; And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The first thing Jesus did before He could even begin the journey to obtain victory at the cross was to humble Himself. He had to empty Himself of everything He knew about Himself. This was the requirement before He could gain victory. The same is true for us today.
We will not have victory until we first humble ourselves.
With hundreds of ministers compelling us to pray and as we accept that challenge, I believe we have finally embraced the call to prayer for our nation. But, have we completed first things first? Have we humbled ourselves?
Without the first thing, humility, the second thing, prayer, will have no lasting power.
It was pride that brought the wrath of God on Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:25-26).
It was pride that brought destruction to Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:16).
Andrew Murray once said, “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”
The Bible is clear, only the humble will be exalted. It is also clear on the truth that pride goes before a fall. Pride comes first, then destruction (Prv 16:18).
Most born-again Christians do not want to see destruction for our country. Hence, the fervent prayers. We desire victory—for ourselves, our family and our nation. And we can have it. It is part of God’s plan for us. Yet, we must do it His way.
His way demands we must first humble ourselves and then, pray from a place of humility.
We can be proud of our nation, without being a prideful nation.
We must always remember…we were founded on God and His principles. We can’t allow pride to remain in us. If we do, make no mistake about it, God will humble us.
Proverbs 22:4 says; True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life.
Isn’t this what we desire for our family and our nation?
Abundance, honor and a fulfilled life? If so, then first things must come first. Humility, the desire for a humble heart, must be our first priority. Then we pray…with power.
Kim Potter is an ordained minister and founder of A New Thing Ministries, which sends a daily teaching to thousands of people all around the world. Her articles have appeared on The Elijah List, Charisma, Spirit Fuel and iBelieve.com. Kim’s message is one of hope. She speaks to the heart of those who have grown discouraged and disappointed by the circumstances of life and imparts the desire and ability to stand against all odds. She encourages people to press into God and discover that He is who He says He is. For additional information, go to anewthingministries.com.
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Comments
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, help us, wash and cleanse us, renew a right spirit in us. Remove the scales over our eyes, that we would repent of our sins and make a commitment to seek you to make You first in our lives to recognize You are Holy! To die to ourselves, that we decrease and You increase. When we read Your Word that it would take root in our Heart, Mind and Spirit. That we may worship You In Spirit and in Truth, Praying according to Your will. Recognizing the sacrifice that You made for us because You Love us. Help us LORD, for we are weak and we need our Shepard. Direct our paths in Prayer putting on the full Armor of God, that we may be able to withstand the darts of the enemy. We can do all things through Jesus, but apart from You we can do Nothing. We must encourage each other during this journey, not to be discouraged, remembering YOUR LOVE! Father thank You for Your Promises, We Love You Praise You,
Please read the following https://www.wnd.com/2012/06/obama-fulfills-isaiah-910-prophecy-again/. It explains another more (versus what stated in my previous/following comments) important defiant actions versus humbly asking God for help and intervention and giving God the Glory.
Dear God,
May we as your intercessors and prayer warriors always humble ourselves before you God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Help us to not forget this and also guide us into humbleness where we need it and do not realize it.
Love,
Mikayla
[…] hearing the same thing from the Lord. On the same day, we received and published this article–Don’t Miss What God is Saying to Intercessors Today: First Things First– and this prayer–Impeachment Trial Prayer, both of which call for repentance from pride. The […]
Almighty Heavenly Father, Loving Lord Jesus, Omniscient Holy Spirit:
1. THANK you for:
a. your vital refuge of: protection, safety, boundless love, forgiveness and wise and discreet guidance, and
b. each other, to: love, uplift, edify, lean on and learn from.
2. I’m SO SORRY for my distractedness, selfishness, conceit, pride, disobedience and other sins that have caused me to take my eyes off of You, Your will and Your way and focus, instead, on my own self-satisfaction, and EVEN under the guises of supposedly “doing good”!!! For all the “good things” I (or any of us) have done, they were NOT Your will for MY life, and, so, I’ve made QUITE a mess of your masterpiece. And yet, incredibly, amazingly, You lovingly forgive me. Oh my God, PLEASE take control of my life, as Your child, as a member of Your human race and as the American citizen You’ve blessed me as. Please control my focus, thoughts, words and actions. Please keep me grounded in Your Word, and help me to navigate the distracting necessities of this life YOUR way, all for Your ultimate glory.
3. Finally, O God, thank You for whatever Your perfect solutions are for our nation, amid the impeachment proceedings, various elections and all foreign and domestic strife. Please bless us with revival and return to You, rescue us from ourselves.
4. I just ask You these things in Jesus’ precious Name, I graciously (in accordance with Your will), but humbly, accept them and I THANK you for them. Amen.
Noel, I praise God for your courage to show your faith as you confess and repent of your sins as you have done! Also I pray you will be comforted and encouraged that you are not alone in confessing and repenting of the sins you mentioned! Let’s pray for the strength to show that faith in us and our nation as we continue to seek God for his help!
our god ur the one and the creator of the earth and all humanity of the world .bls all ur people
In the 1990s, the Lord revealed to me that we as a nation had violated the first commandment. We had allowed ourselves to be made a god in the eyes of the world. After World War II, the world was looking to us for help, for sustenance, for provision, for answers. I tried to reach leaders with this message, and that we needed to have a nationwide repentance of some sort, but I couldn’t get anyone’s attention.
We should have humbled ourselves, and said, “No! We have been blessed by the Lord God. It is because of Him that we are able to help you. If you choose Him, worship Him, He will help you as well, for He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
He is merciful, but ultimately, He deserves the glory. I believe that was Obama’s purpose, to knock us off our lofty post in the eyes of the world. He fulfilled that purpose so well. With Trump, we can still help the world, and give the Lord the glory. Yes, we must continually humble ourselves under His almighty Hand, especially during success and prosperity. It all comes from Him.
This is an excellent and timely article. Thank you.
Jana, THANK you for your very interesting, rare, insightful and enlightening perspective about our having made a god of ourselves. If we could only humbly acknowledge this, repent and do everything possible to redirect the world’s desire for God, through Jesus, He would at least be so pleased. I can’t support anything about Obama’s role, as his reasons were, and are, for FAR different reasons than our beloved founding fathers. Thanks again!
Hi. What I meant was that his purpose was similar to Pharaoh’s, the God might be glorified, in this case rather than the United States. (Though there is honor in doing well.) As Pharaoh was destroyed for the hardness of his heart, unless he repents, so will BO.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Oh ok, I see what you mean about Obama…
God will use anyone to further His agenda.
And yes we as a nation and as individuals must humble ourselves.
So true. Sometimes its so hard to see corrupt people in power. Those eight years were so distressing to me, but (sigh) I kept praying for him as did so many others.
Another reason Obama got in is because the church failed to vote righteously. Church became a feel good institution instead of a place to be convicted and repent and humbly go forward. The Church was sleeping and even many clergy taught the flock “politics is dirty and stay away from it – no need to vote, we are heavenly citizens” – that is not Biblical. (Not all clergy of course.) Clergy that persist with their own “theology” like that are in danger of being removed from their pulpits by the Lord from what the prophets are saying – that is if the clergy do not align themselves with God and His Bible and put some sweat behind it. God is looking for a church that is a Holy Bride without spot or wrinkle. The Church is rising now to this! Praise God!
Jana,
Thank you for the explanation regarding pride. It is important to have pride in oneself and family, work and community and nation and so forth, but to give God the glory by being humble. Something that is not being taught anymore. Due to the radical left and others tearing everything to do with America down, President Trump is trying to instill pride in our country once more for our own citizens and the world. He is a very humble leader and man after God’s own heart. Some people erroneously do not see him that way or choose not to for their own agendas. However, put another way of what you are stating so well, Jana if I may, is that we as a nation (our leaders and some populous) touched God’s glory and took the credit for “our own” success and it became a fake or haughty pride as well. Just like in NYC after 9/11 when Al Gore and other leaders (mayor at the time etc) quoted scripture out of context and defiantly stated we will rebuild. It was an attitude without God. It is important for clergy and others to define some of the words they are using (such as in this case, pride for their audiences) and what they mean especially now when words have been commandeered by the world to mean something else or add a “new slang” to it that may have become “mainstream”, especially to the young. Many Christian article writers are making too many assumptions that people understand what they are talking about or editors are “snipping” down the verbiage and we have so many different cultures in the USA under GOD, young people were not taught like their predecessors, and people have all levels of churching/Biblical teaching from none to not that great to fantastic. Sometimes quoting scripture without explanations and definitions is tough to understand even with those that are Bible readers. Just some thoughts. Hopefully, they are helpful to someone.
Best regards,
Kayla
Thank you for your beautiful reply. Its wonderful that there are so many thoughtful people like you in our land.
Thank you to the Spirit of Truth Who leads us into all Truth as Jesus promised. someone called out the spirit of witchcraft which I saw operating a long time ago and worried that no one else saw it. As we bend ourselves in humility before God Most High, we must renounce the spiritof witchcraft which seeks to control others, circumstances and even God. We must renounce it verbally and ask God to lift it from our nation.
Father God, We ask for your mercies on United States. Forgive us for pride, forgive us for judging one another instead of praying for one another. Father, open our eyes to see your truth. I pray that you would give our President’s legal team words of wisdom that the enemy can Not gain, stay nor resist. Let there not be Anything hidden that You do not shine Your light on. We need You Jesus. We need You. Please give our President a sign of Your Goodness that even his enemies may see it & be put to shame. Let us once again truly be One Nation under God. Have Your Perfect Way Lord, our eyes are on You, only You Lord can do what needs to be done in this Nation. We Love You & need Your intervention & we Thank You Thank You Thank You for it, in Jesus Name.
Lord, what are You saying to us through this? As Samuel told you, “Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening.” Father, the younger generation is so self- focused that they constantly stay on their phones checking their social media and taking selfies. Our generation was self- absorbed with wanting bigger homes and newer cars. Sports have become the new god in this country with people skipping church services to attend ball games. Rap, rock, and country music concerts draw people into praising the people on stage but Christians in church refuse to cheer that loudly for God. People stand in line for doors to open to entertainment events yet Christians complain about the length of a one hour Sunday Service. Christians say daily that they have no time to read their Bibles but their social media accounts and Netflix accounts show they spend far too much time binging on things other than God. We claim we have no money to tithe and no money to donate to Christians running for public office, yet we have plenty of money to go out to eat or to go to a ungodly movie. Lord, Your heart must be broken over the people who claim to be Yours. Show us Lord, how we can spend more time focusing on You and less time being like the rest of the world. Amen
My Father, my Love, I pray for all the “Christians” who think they are fine with you. I remember well that years ago I also was one…completely blinded, believing that I was walking in the Light.
I ask that You will have mercy on them and remove the veil. Block the voice of the enemy that has fooled them. Father, implant an understanding of holiness in their minds…that we must, must, must walk in obedience to Your Word and in the image of Your glorious Son Yeshua.
You are so exceedingly loving and tender. Your great mercy is astounding. Thank You, thank You, thank You!
You are always faithful to Your Word when we are humble, when we pray – seeking Your precious Face – when we turn our back on sin. When we keep our part of the Covenant, I know You will heal our land.
Glory to You, Father, all glory, honor and praise!
Lord God teach us to be humble always before You. I pray that pride does not set in, as pride brings destruction. Help Your Intercessors to always pray with humility. Prayer is certainly a privilege given to us by You through the Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. I thank you that You have called me to a life of prayer, help me to always follow Your lead. Bless this nation and always keep us humble. Thank You for this article. Amen!!
O Lord, I lift my voice and my heart to you this morning and I ask that you take any pride in me and turn it to humility. Holy Spirit make me aware of when pride rises in me so I can come to you and get my heart right. Lord let me live humbly in your presence and be obedient to whatever you would have for me to do. Let us love our country and be humble in doing so. Let us not be prideful and bring destruction onto ourselves. I praise you Lord for all you do for us. I give you glory for all that you have brought us to. I honor you above all things. I pray with a humble heart today for protection of our country and our president. I pray for justice in the impeachment hearings, a righteous justice only you can bring. God Bless this country and all you live for it, for our troops and all who serve.
Yes, that is the most important 1st step toward following Christ. Along that line, the word I keep hearing is “submit” …. Submit to God before anyone or thing and then you can “resist” the evil one. All that I commit myself to I become. Selah
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!!!!!
[…] To understand the inspiration for this prayer, please read Don’t Miss What God is Saying to Intercessors Today–First Things First. […]
Yes Lord Jesus, give us a spirit of humility and a heart of obedience to follow you wherever you lead us to. Amen!