I have been thinking I need to shift back into praying more for our nation. This week is a major party’s national convention, a few weeks from now early voting in the November election begins, and in the meantime, there are plenty of things to pray about. I share here Dutch Sheet’s “GiveHim15” post from August 13 which speaks to this urgency to pray.
“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” (Jeremiah 18:7-10)
“Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.” (Jeremiah 26:2-3)
“Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.” (Jeremiah 26:12-13)
“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” (Ezekiel 18:21-24)
Why must we continue to pray with urgency for America when God has already said He’s rendered His verdict: “America shall be saved?”
The vast majority of the time God’s promises are conditional, whether they be from His Word, or are those He speaks prophetically (which must always be in agreement with the tenets of Scripture). Regardless of where they initiate, His promises are generally “offers,” not guaranteed outcomes.
God’s Word gives us principles and conditions that must be honored in order to receive His blessings and provisions. He requires us to learn and obey His ways, aligning with and implementing them. Obviously, it would be ridiculous to assume all of these ways and conditions should be listed each time God makes a promise in Scripture or prophetically.
Hebrew and Greek scholar Zodhiates says of the above verses, Jeremiah 18:7-10: “This is the clearest statement in the Old Testament of the conditional nature of prophecy and of God’s promises. God is free to revoke any promise or threat, because He chooses to consider man’s conduct as a factor in whether it is carried out or not. For example, He promised that His people would never again return to Egypt, but He warned them through Moses that their action could nullify that promise (Deut. 28:68). Through Jonah He threatened to overthrow Nineveh. Though He stated no condition for reversing Himself, He still accepted the city’s repentance and revoked the threat (Jonah 4:4,10).”(1)
Many Christians do not understand the conditional nature of God’s promises and prophecies. They haven’t been taught this, so they sometimes don’t pray, release faith, release the creative power of God’s Word, etc, in order to receive the fulfillment of promise. When the promise isn’t fulfilled they often become cynical of Scripture. The same results often occur when prophecies are received: no action, no receiving, and the validity of prophecy is then questioned.
When Holy Spirit began saying several years ago that “America shall be saved,” He was affirming our actions and prayers, telling us that these things had brought us to a point that He could save us. But this did NOT mean we wouldn’t have to continue in our prayers, repentance, and perseverance. America’s sins continue; innocent blood continues to be shed; and rebellion against Him continues by our leaders. This means that the path of prayer and repentance that got us to the promise of salvation would need to continue until the full manifestation: revival and reformation.
God told Joshua, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you…No man [enemy] will be able to stand before you all the days of your life” (Joshua 1:3, 5). Three days later, the crossing of the Jordan was miraculous and beyond amazing (chapter 3). All good. A few days later Jericho was miraculously conquered (chapter 6). All good. The Scriptures even say Joshua’s fame went throughout the land (6:27).
Then came the tiny town of Ai. It was so small Israel only sent a small number of soldiers. But the unthinkable happened – Israel was routed, 36 of their men were killed (7:1-5). Suddenly, the promise of Joshua 1:3-5 was no longer working, and fame was replaced by failure. Joshua and the elders mourned and questioned God’s faithfulness (7:6-10).
Yahweh had to explain what had gone wrong: an Israelite named Achan had sinned by disobeying God and taking some of the spoils of Jericho for himself. All the spoils were supposed to go into God’s treasury or storehouse. The people would partake of the remaining spoils of Canaan, but not Jericho. The Lord told Joshua that Israel would not be able to “stand before their enemies” until the sin was dealt with (7:12-13)—the exact opposite of the promise in chapter 1, verse 5!
Clearly, God would have alerted Joshua to this sin issue had he prayed, asking the Lord for instructions before the battle of Ai. In his self-confidence, however, Joshua didn’t feel the need to do so.
This is a sad example of God’s conditions not being met, causing what looked like the failure of a promise. We must always remember: the obedience that gets us to the declaration of promise, will be necessary to get us to the fulfillment of the promise!
Pray with me:
Father, millions of appeals and much repentance have brought America to a place of promised salvation and turnaround. Millions more prayers have prepared the world for unparalleled harvest. You have said, “America shall be saved;” and “Earth’s greatest harvest of souls ever will occur” in the unfolding revival. We don’t want to miss the time of our visitation.
Every generation of believers has its Jericho’s and its Ai’s. When we walk and war Your way, we experience victory; when we disobey, either through ignorance, self-confidence, or rebellion, we cannot stand before our enemies and we experience defeat. I pray that the praying Ekklesia of America in our day would persevere in seeking and obeying You. We want no reliance on self, no “fame” or pride trap! Give us tenacious determination to pray and decree Your words over America until salvation manifests.
We ask You to not let our enemies triumph over us in the coming elections. Do not let those who favor shedding the innocent blood of the unborn to continue defiling our land. Do not let those who castrate our children continue to rule over us. Do not allow those who violate and mock the FIRST covenant You established – the marriage of one man to one woman – to continue and occupy the White House, and control our Congress. Do not allow those who violate justice – which You said is a foundation of Your throne – to win this election. Expel them!
Our media does not reveal and expose the truth so we are asking You to do so. Our government hid the deteriorating mental condition of our President, ruling our nation through individuals hidden. Our media was complicent. This is evil. Expose them. Now they try to hide the plans and true positions of those running for office. Expose and unravel these evil plans, whatever it takes! Use the shaking You have spoken of to uproot their hidden plans and tear down their evil schemes.
These things we ask in the all-powerful name of Yeshua. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that we will not weary in our praying, nor grow complacent in arrogance. We will persevere!
(1) Spiros Zodhiates, The Hebrew-Greek KJV Key Study Bible (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers), p. 921.