God’s Promise Is To:
“Heal Their Land”
One Scripture that is getting a lot of play these days is 2Chromicles 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 promise is clear. The requirements to receive that promise are also quite clear. At no time in our history in the United States of America have we been more in need of a healing of our land. Do you think it is even possible? Remember, God’s promise has steps that must be taken before He acts. Or, do you think things are so far from our Christian roots and the capitalistic principles upon which we were founded that it is just too late to regroup and restore?
This past week I was once again blessed to attend the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) put on by Willow Creek Association. If you are able to attend the Summit next year on August 11-12 you will surely be blessed. If there is not a location near you consider having your church be a sponsor site. The link to check out the offerings is willowcreek.com/summit. The speakers are always dynamic and the information presented is most encouraging.
No Bars Can Contain God’s Healing Touch!
There were several vignettes that told of individuals who had a grander vision and changed their corner of the world. Two struck me most powerfully. The first is the story of Nathan Burl Cain, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola. Angola was once considered the “Bloodiest Prison in America” and “Alcatraz of the South.” Warden Cain told the story of how he did not even want to go to Angola but was convinced by a friend to take the job. His mother told him that if he went into that prison and did not teach them of Jesus, he would have to account for that. Wow, the power of a praying, believing mother!
Warden Cain took hold of 2Chronicles 7:14 and purposed to see change in the atmosphere at Angola. One of the most influential things he did was bring in seminary training programs. Inmates graduated with degrees in ministry and some have become pastors. Several of these convicted lifers were interviewed and spoke of the change in their life, the lives of those around them and in the prison atmosphere overall. It was very moving to hear these men speak and see the light of Christ shine through their testimonies. God is surely healing the landscape of the hearts and the “land”at the prison in Angola because Warden Cain had a grander vision from God for his corner of the world.
A Nations Repents Through It’s Leader and Healing Begins!
Bishop Joshua Lwere attended a GLS conference and left inspired with a grander vision. His home was Uganda. War torn, bloodied by tribal warfare and vicious leaders, Uganda surely needed a touch from God. Lwere prayed for his community and his country in line with 2 Chronicles 7:14 that it would turn to God, repent of past sins, pray and that God would heal the land. What followed is nothing short of a miracle. At the GLS conference this week we saw a tape of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni repenting of his sins and the sins of his country. It was so powerful. I am including his prayer here:
“Father God in heaven, today we stand here as Ugandans, to thank you for Uganda. We are proud that we are Ugandans and Africans. We thank you for all your goodness to us. I stand here today to close the evil past and especially in the last 50 years of our national leadership history and at the threshold of a new dispensation in the life of this nation. I stand here on my own behalf and on behalf of my predecessors to repent. We ask for your forgiveness. We confess these sins, which have greatly hampered our national cohesion and delayed our political, social and economic transformation. We confess sins of idolatry and witchcraft which are rampant in our land. We confess sins of shedding innocent blood, sins of political hypocrisy, dishonesty, intrigue and betrayal.
Forgive us of sins of pride, tribalism and sectarianism; sins of laziness, indifference and irresponsibility; sins of corruption and bribery that have eroded our national resources; sins of sexual immorality, drunkenness and debauchery; sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and revenge; sins of injustice, oppression and exploitation; sins of rebellion, insubordination, strife and conflict. These sins and many others have characterized our past leadership, especially the last 50 years of our history. Lord forgive us and give us a new beginning. Give us a heart to love you, to fear you and to seek you. Take away from us all the above sins. We pray for national unity. Unite us as Ugandans and eliminate all forms of conflict, sectarianism and tribalism. Help us to see that we are all your children, children of the same Father. Help us to love and respect one another and to appreciate unity in diversity. We pray for prosperity and transformation. Deliver us from ignorance, poverty and disease. As leaders, give us wisdom to help lead our people into political, social and economic transformation.
We want to dedicate this nation to you so that you will be our God and guide. We want Uganda to be known as a nation that fears God and as a nation whose foundations are firmly rooted in righteousness and justice to fulfil what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation, whose God is the Lord. A people you have chosen as your own. I renounce all the evil foundations and covenants that were laid in idolatry and witchcraft. I renounce all the satanic influence on this nation. And I hereby covenant Uganda to you, to walk in your ways and experience all your blessings forever pray for all these in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Hearing this prayer, I wept for America. The rhetoric we hear from our leader is so very different and so divisional. Please reread this prayer daily for your country. Please reread this prayer daily for the United States of America. If we fail in this hour, the remaining bastion of freedom will be only a memory.
Bishop Lwere had a grander vision from God to see God heal his land. He now travels the country from village to village with the son of the former brutal leader of Uganda, Idi Amin. Together they repent of past atrocities, forgive and seek healing and unity. A grander vision coming into reality in Jesus’ name!
This week prayerfully consider what grander vision God may be putting in your heart. Walk that vision out and allow Him to heal the land around you. He will always provide a grander vision if you are faithful to the vision He has given you ‘for such a time as this!’
It Is Never Too Late!
If you have not yet made the decision to accept Jesus into your heart, do it now. Do not wait another minute. Speak to Him from your heart (for it is always a heart issue). Tell Him you have fallen short in your life. Sincerely apologize for your sins, ask Him to cleanse you and come into your heart and into your life. From this moment forward let His Spirit guide you along the narrow road that leads to everlasting life.
Quotes to Ponder This Week
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ~Jesus, Matthew 28:16-20
“If you seek vision for your home, city or nation, you will receive a grander vision.” ~ Sam Adeyemi, Founder and Senior Pastor, Daystar Christian Centre in Nigeria
“Influential churches should influence culture.” ~Brian Houston, Founder and Global Senior Pastor, Hillsong Church
“The Bible also argues that something important in this world will be undone unless you put your hands to the doing of it. Saying it differently: There is a grander vision somewhere on planet earth with your name on it.” ~Bill Hybels, Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
“Do not live for your resume. Live for your eulogy.” ~Albert Tate, Founder and Senior Pastor, Fellowship Monrovia in Southern California
“There is way more inside you that you can imagine…We are Christ-centered world changers!” ~Craig Groeschel, Founder and Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv
A Prayer Request
Thank you for your continued faithfulness to pray. Please keep all who serve our country, our servicemen and women and their families in prayer for salvation and safety. They are our front-line on the battlefield, let us be their front-line in the spirit. Also, let us cover all who have come home wounded that they and their families will receive the kindness, help and support they need to go forward in their lives. God bless all our diplomatic and military personnel and their families. May the Lord keep them safe.
Pray for all throughout the world for hedges of protection against radical Islamic extremists and all forms of terrorism. Pray for Christians who face violence and death for their faith. We have long prayed for spiritual victory over radical Islam in Esther’s Warriors Ministry. We now see the reality of this threat come to the forefront in this time in world history. As Iranians and Islamic extremists are shouting ‘Death to America,’ let us speak life, hope and a return to God in America!
Please pray for all in authority over us, for the full truth to come forth concerning Benghazi. May God richly bless the United States of America, bring to light every single crooked place and keep her safe. The lives lost in Benghazi, the continuing targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, Operation Fast and Furious, the Department of Justice targeting journalists phone records, the National Security Agency overstepping its legal authority are hardly “phony scandals.” We continue to pray for truth to prevail in each of these situations. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones, for those relentlessly targeted and for all of us who are proud to call ourselves American.
May we may arise united once again as One Nation Under God in this auspicious season in our country’s history. These are treacherous times and now more than ever we must maintain our walk with the Lord, saturate this country in prayer and stand for all that is right in America. Fail not in this hour.
Pray for peace in Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Please Join Me In Prayer
Father God, we thank You for the ultimate price that Jesus paid to set us free. Thank You, Lord for placing Your vision for my destiny deep in my heart. Equip me to take hold of that grander vision and run the race for Your Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Grace me to step out when I might be complacent. Help me to go forward in Your grander plan for my destiny. Place deep in our hearts the love of God and love of country that has guided this Nation from its inception. Place deep in our hearts Your compassion for our fellow men and women. Lead us to pray without ceasing for our brothers and sisters who suffer at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Open the eyes of our leaders to arise in this season to defend the very belief in You upon which our Nation is founded. Thank You for keeping Your hand on America. We humbly pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen and Amen.