When word reached Nehemiah that the remnants of God’s people were in great affliction and that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates burned with fire, he did not shrug off the report. He did not point fingers or wait for an earthly court to solve the crisis. Scripture records his immediate response in Nehemiah 1:4:

“Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”

Nehemiah understood a timeless truth that every Christian in our day must grasph: the collapse of the city begins with the spiritual compromise of its people, and the restoration of a culture begins with our own reprentance before we can appeal to Almighty God to heal our land.

As America continues to recognize the 250th anniversary of our founding, we simply cannot look away from the spiritual descent and moral choas of our current culture. The ancient landmarks have been uprooted. The foundational, God-ordained pillars of family, church, and community are under relentless assault. Our laws increasingly mock the moral order established by our Creator, and innocent life is discarded without a second thought.

Like ancient Jerusalem, our walls have been breached. Confusion reigns in the public square, and our adversary captures more unsuspecting victims in his snares.

Yet the greatest tragedy is not the godlessness of the surrounding world; it is the apathy, indifference and prayerlessness of God’s people. When judgment looms over a land, God does not look first to secular palaces or legislative chambers. His looks to His people to engage in the spiritual battle.

“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 Chronicles 7:14

Healing begins when God’s people humble themselves, pray, repent and obey His commands.

We are called to rebuild our walls, restore our homes, revive our hearts, and contend for the spiritual integrity of our nation. That work cannot be accomplished through political strategies or human energy alone. Prayer is our primary, most powerful weapon, beginning with praise and thanksgiving. It is right to give thanks for how God has protected, blessed and prospered our nation.:

Thanksgiving & Praise

• Thank the Lord for preserving us a nation for 250 years. The amazing gift of self-government and our constitutional republic.

• Thank God for His generous blessings on our nation and the ways He has prospered us.

• Thank God for a legal and cultural framework heavily influenced by biblical moral law, which provided a stable foundation for justice, order, and the flourishing of Western civilization.

• Praise God for the generations of preachers, missionaries, and faithful families who kept the light of the Gospel burning, allowing America to be a primary base for spreading the Word of God across the globe.

• As we enter harvest time, thank God for the abundance of the land, the stewardship of our farmers, the ingenuity of the American people who have created and utilized technology in order to maximize the crops.

• Thank God for His hand in protecting our shores and preserving our sovereignty even through times of war and testing.

• Thank God for the faithful remnant in this land who continue to stand for truth, prayer, and the preservation of our national heritage.

Please Join Us As We… 

• Pray that the Christians will own the responsibility for the moral decline of our land. We have failed to be the conscience of our state and nation. We have been silent in the face of evil, and have pursued comfort over conviction.

• Appeal to Almighty God to break the influence of the radical ideologies currently dismantling the biblical purpose of the family. Pray for the protection of our children from government indoctrination and for a renewal of the understanding that the family—not the state—is the foundational unit of society.

• Pray for the total end of the culture of death. Pray that the scourge of abortion and assisted suicide be permanently removed from our land and that Christians would lead the way in defending the sanctity of life as an act of worship.

• Pray that God would stir the hearts of the apathetic. Pray that pastors and leaders would trade “polite” rhetoric for courageous and bold exhortations on the threats facing our nation without fear of man.

• Pray for the unveiling of all corruption, backroom dealings, and anti-Christian agendas currently operating within our government. Ask God to expose the works of the enemy so that citizens can see clearly the true nature of the agendas they are voting for or against.

• Pray for the candidates of uncompromising Christian conviction to win their elections. Pray that the Lord would remove the ungodly from positions of power and replace them with stewards who understand that their authority is derived from God, not from a secular electorate.

• Pray that Christians would recognize their role in self-government as a sacred trust.

• Pray for the courage of those fighting against the encroaching surveillance state and bureaucratic overreach. Ask that God would grant wisdom to those in the “trenches” of local government and activism, protecting their efforts and guiding their strategies to effectively check the power of the regime.

• Pray for wisdom and discernment as voters consider candidates, their character, and their positions.

• Pray for honest and peaceful elections, and for election workers to carry out their responsibilities faithfully.

• Pray that God would intervene and bring an end to the use and distribution of the abortion drug in our nation. Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom, discernment and the opportunities to tear down the lies that portray the abortion drug as safe and simple.

• Pray for the healing of every woman who has suffered as a result of the “pro-choice” agenda.

• Pray that Christians would realize the importance of being God’s ambassadors in every aspect of our culture, especially the public square.

• Pray that more of our family, friends and neighbors would want to strengthen their faith by committing to regularly reading the Bible and attending church.

• Please pray that God will use the upcoming IFI Annual Banquet with Seth Gruber to raise much-needed support and revenue so that we can continue our work and ministry – for the glory of the King of kings.

Invitation

Join IFI and other Christian leaders for a time of corporate prayer, repentance, and fellowship:

When: Friday, October 2nd, at 12:00 PM (Noon)
Where: Crowne Plaza Springfield (3000 S. Dirksen Pkwy, Springfield, IL)
Details: Admission is free, but registration is requested so we can plan accordingly.
A fellowship reception will follow.

Whether you can travel to Springfield on October 2nd or you commit to interceding faithfully from your own home, we urge you to join The Nehemiah Alliance and their call for a 52-day prayer initiative which is already underway.

Let us set aside our distractions and lay down our self-reliance. Let us confess our sins, our silence, and our compromises, pleading with Almighty God to grant genuine revival to our hearts, our families, and our commonwealth.

The task of rebuilding is great, but our God is greater. Let us rise up and build.