Why I pray for America
I have been fortunate in my life to be surrounded by believers who take the call to pray very seriously. When I got saved in college, my first church was a Tuesday and Thursday night dorm Bible study led by young Christians who had a deep relationship with Jesus. These brands of fire freely and openly spilled out their hearts in prayer and worship to God every time we gathered together.
The church I attended as a young career woman was birthed in prayer and even held regular 10 pm to 3 am prayer meetings on Friday nights for a while. Those meetings added gas to the fire that burned within me, and nothing less than seeking God fully satisfied me.
After I left that church, I attended another church while I sought God for direction. I even traveled to the Soviet Union with 6 other folks from that church to preach and win souls. What a time we had, praying in Red Square the words of Psalm 2, “Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples devise a vain thing?” Little did we know, on the Saturday we flew out of Moscow to return to America, that Monday morning the tanks would roll into Red Square and the Soviet Union would quickly become the former Soviet Union, within days. Indeed, the nations were in an uproar, and we were in on the secret before it hit the press.
Then God planted me in my current church, one that was also birthed in prayer. The leadership and lay people surrounding me in this church value prayer, pray readily and regularly, and have amazing testimonies bearing witness to the effectiveness of prayer.
Therefore, as I look at my nation, I must pray. It’s in my DNA; it is built into the very fabric of my relationship with God. When I see obstacles in my nation, I am challenged by my rich heritage to stand my ground and trust God.
I feel I owe it to the Founders who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guard, nurture, protect, and defend the fledgling nation.
I owe it to past generations of men and women of God—Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, William J. Seymour, Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson, and all the rest, both known and unknown—who took advantage of their American liberty to pour out their lives for the cause of Christ.
I owe it to my dad, who although he never claimed to know God intimately, was willing as a young man to risk his life in service to a country which guaranteed that his daughter, yet to be born, would bear the sacred right to lead her own life, speak openly, and worship God without any fear that acting on her convictions could lead to loss of her freedom…
I must pray. I must pray the Word of God over my nation. I must seek her deliverance when evil threatens her. I must stand my ground even if it takes the rest of my life. I can do no less, so help me God.
Read MoreJugglers
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13, NASB
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13, KJV
In the King James Version of 2 Timothy 3:13, impostors are called “seducers”. According to the Encarta Dictionary, a seducer is a persuader who uses deception to get what he or she wants sexually. However, the same reference further reveals that the term isn’t limited to sexual enticement; a seducer also tries to talk someone into doing other things they wouldn’t normally do by painting a picture of how “amazing” or “truly noble” those things are. Lastly, the same source states that the term “seducer” can be used to describe a person who manipulates others into giving them their support or agreement.
The term “impostor” used in the NASB indicates the false, illegitimate character of this type of person, whereas the word “seducer” in the KJV further reveals the manipulative, self-serving motivation by which they are driven.
In Greek, “impostor” is the word goēs and indicates not only a deceiver and an impostor, but also reveals some other very interesting peculiarities (see < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1114&t=KJV >).
The first definition right out of the box for this Greek word is “a wailer” and “a howler”. Remember, impostors lie and manipulate, so this wailing and howling is not the genuine cry of pain, remorse, or compassion—no, the wail and howl of the impostor is a grand charade to further his agenda of conning and deceiving. Would you be surprised to learn that one of the strategies which activist Saul Alinsky included in his book, Rules for Radicals (© 1971), to force societal change was to loudly, disruptively, and continuously complain—to howl and wail—against the status quo? (Incidentally, Alinsky dedicated this book to “…the first radical known to man…Lucifer”.)
Another definition of goēs is “enchanter”—a person, according to the source, who would utter incantations in a sort of a howl.
But to me, the most intriguing definition of all is included in the second meaning along with “enchanter”—a “juggler”. You may wonder how this word “juggler” could possibly be related to “impostor” or “seducer”. Well, this is where it gets very interesting.
These days, information—extremely important information—gets thrown at all of us constantly. Any attempt to make sense of current events is dizzying and can make you feel as if you are watching a multi-object juggling routine in hyper-speed! You start to learn about one thing going on and before you know it, a second, and then a third, and then a fourth—all breaking news—all “just in”—slap you, one after the other, in the face. Changes and crises abound—whether in health care, invasive privacy concerns, military changes and new crises in the middle-east and the Ukraine, deepening concerns about the integrity of the IRS, changes in the traditional definition of marriage and a growing antagonism toward those who hold to traditional views, chilly relations on the part of the administration with Israel, predicted decline in America’s status as the world’s economic leader and super-power, changes in what is commonly accepted as right and wrong—all these things and so much more fly at us from every direction at the speed of light.
Most of us do not have the reading capacity of President Kennedy who was reported to read four newspapers in 15 minutes every day. And yet the daily, perpetual juggling of volumes of highly detailed information about ever-changing, significant events intensifies all the more, mocking our inability to comprehend even one piece, let alone grasp the entire scope of information.
Most folks just throw their hands up in the air, let the info fall to the ground, and walk away. Who can keep up with it all?
I propose that this “juggling routine” takes place by design to keep men and women of good will and honest heart off-balance as they attempt to bring order to the chaos they see.
However, I also believe that there is a strategy from the Throne Room of God to empower His people to deal effectively in the face of this constant juggling of toxic and disastrous events and information.
Consider this: It was rumored that baseball legend Ted Williams was able to see—as if frozen in space—the seams on any fastball hurled his way. Could it be that God might be “magnifying your vision” with one or two of the very serious issues facing our nation? Are you passionate about any of the crises or changes gripping our culture? What angers you? What makes you uneasy? What is attempting to rob your peace? Take note. Could it be that the issues that bother you the most are the “seams on the baseball” flying at you? Could it be that the Living God has prompted your ire and is coaching and preparing you to hit that issue out of the park in consecrated, heartfelt prayer?
It is my belief that God’s will in these difficult days is to send assignments to His men and women, boys and girls, “freezing in space” for each one of us the details concerning those things about which He is prompting us to pray. Look. Our God so much greater than any impostor or juggler of oppression and folly that ever existed.
So when you see alarming information being juggled at warp-speed before your eyes, thank God that He has His “Ted Williams” prayer people stepping up to the plate all over the nation and around the world. They are poised, ready, waiting, bats in hand, anticipating those fastballs…and, seeing the seams, with their prayer muscles bulging, they swing with a force that could only come from Heaven and connect—sending those balls way out of the park.
Get ready to play ball, Ted Williams—you!
Dorothy
Read MoreFolly exposed
But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all… 2 Timothy 3:9
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
The above two verses couldn’t seem any more contradictory, yet they both appear in the apostle Paul’s description of the last days. Both verses are about the same type of people—evil men and impostors—men who oppose the truth, who have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith (see 2 Timothy 3:8).
Verse 9 tells us that these truth-haters will make no further progress. Verse 13 says that they will proceed from bad to worse.
Could both verses be true and about the same godless people?
Let’s muddy the waters a bit more before we clear them up. Did you know that the word for “progress” in verse 9 and the word for “proceed” in verse 13 are one and the same word?
Both words are prokoptō in Greek. It means to promote, to further, to advance, to go forward, and to make progress (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4298&t=KJV ).
According to the Word, evil men and impostors will prokoptō (proceed and advance) from bad to worse. And, also according to the Bible, these evil men will not make further prokoptō (progress or advancement).
If the evil operatives of the last days:
- will make no further progress, while at the same time they
- are proceeding from bad to worse
then the Holy Spirit is revealing something very significant here.
He is letting the last generation in on an important, overcoming fact.
1.) We can put our faith in what God has said about those who oppose the truth, who have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith. And that is this: They will make no further progress. Why not? For their folly will be obvious to all.
This is how their progress will be halted—by having their folly openly displayed before all; by having their deception exposed to the rest of the population.
How will it be exposed and made obvious before the eyes of everyone else? That’s where we believers come in: We are to pray for truth to prevail and for evil to be exposed in God’s way and God’s time.
But then, you may ask, if evil men are supposed to make no further progress, why are things clearly getting worse? My response is this: This thing’s not over! God’s not done. Don’t tell me you’re done!
2.) We also can bet our bottom dollar that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse. God said they would.
Here’s the difference. These evil men and women will make no further progress in their God-defying agendas, in great part, because of their folly. Folly has neither the ability nor the power to cause the one who embraces it to flourish forever. Many godly souls see right through impostors and their lies, and many more will start to wake up to the folly of what is being foisted upon them. Our part, as believers in all of this, is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be openly and explicitly exposed for what it is, for the upright to know what to do and to receive the boldness necessary to accomplish it—AND for God to intervene in a big way on behalf of our nation.
However, the poor souls clinging to their agendas of folly will themselves proceed from bad to worse as they deceive and become even more deceived themselves. Unfortunately, they will be successful in deceiving quite a few; but again, our job as believers is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be seen openly for the evil that it is, and for the advancement of the agenda of those who hate the God of the Bible to be checked and restrained on our watch.
May God strengthen, direct, and gird you for your part in this prayer battle as you cling to Him and His Word.
God bless and empower you,
Dorothy
Read MoreImpostors
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Paul began this part of his letter by delineating the traits that would characterize the people living in the last days. While it is true that every generation since Christ has exhibited some of these ungodly traits in their allotted time in history, this section of Scripture is reads like a laundry list of the prevailing attitudes and behaviors or our own time.
Verse 13 goes on to say, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
Take a closer look at the word “impostors” in this verse. First, consider the definition of impostor—one who “assumes [a] false identity or title for the purpose of deception” (MerriamWebster.com). To assume an identity or title that is not your own is lying.
Next, impostors are grouped in verse 13 with evil men. Since lying violates the Word of God, it’s not hard to understand why the Scripture places impostors alongside evil men as those to beware of in the last days.
The verse continues to reveal that impostors will proceed from bad to worse. A lying individual who supposes that he won’t get caught in his falsehood will likely continue to lie. In fact, the lies will become more and more far-fetched because this individual counts on never getting caught or facing consequences. And since lying violates the Word of God, obviously telling a lie is bad. However, as this person continues in his deception and his lies snowball, he gets worse. Impostors—unless they repent—will proceed from bad to worse, just like the Bible says.
Last of all, verse 13 tells us how impostors spend time. They are busy deceiving and being deceived on an ongoing basis. When a person invests in deception, he will eventually believe his own lies. Because of this, deceivers become very deceived. In other words, impostors don’t live in reality. And if those in leadership posts throughout the nation are involved in any part of the deception cycle, their grasp of reality is, at best, faulty, and those under their authority will likely suffer because of it. Hence, the need to pray.
This scenario spelled out in 2 Timothy 3 has caused many in the Body of Christ great concern. If the evil men and impostors among us are going to proceed from bad to worse, then what hope is there for us to even dream that our prayers will be answered?
In the next couple of days, I want to share with you some “inside facts” I discovered in 2 Timothy 3 that have given me great encouragement and resolve. It is my desire that you, also, will find comfort and be fueled to continue in effective prayer for our nation despite what you may see with your eyes.
Stay tuned!
Dorothy
Read MoreFrom bad to worse
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 Timothy 3:1
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however… 2 Timothy 3:13-14a, emphasis added
I’ve heard several Christians say that they don’t like to intercede about current events because they’re concerned they might pray against the will of God. “After all,” they confide, “we’re in the end times. The Bible says that things will go from bad to worse. If we pray for things to change, aren’t we in danger of praying against the plan of God?”
Although a survey of 2 Timothy 3 paints a very stark picture of what to expect in the last days, a closer look also reveals great hope for effective Christian witness and prayer.
Notice the wording of verse 13. Paul wrote that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse. Often, when I hear Christians discuss our times, they refer to this verse but say it this way: “In the last days, things will proceed from bad to worse.” I understand that thinking; I, too, have said that about the last days. But a beam of hope radiates from the true wording of this thought—it’s the evil men who will proceed from bad to worse according to the Word. The times and culture will only decline because of the ascendency of evil men (stirred up by the devil who knows his time is short). Therefore, since the gospel extends to evil men and women (and gives believers authority to bind and loose in the realm of the spirit), I believe that hope exists for individuals—even evil ones—to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in the last days.
But get real, I can hear someone saying. Can evil men and women really be saved in the end times?
We know that the apostle Paul wrote that such people will proceed from bad to worse, but does that indicate that once the last days have arrived, every single wicked person has lost their opportunity for a saving relationship with Jesus?
As long as the Church is alive on the earth, we remain in an age of grace. Therefore, I believe that as long as an individual has a heartbeat and can breathe, the Word extends hope for their salvation. We know for certain from both the Old Testament and New that God takes no delight in the death and eternal damnation of the wicked. Ezekiel, by the Spirit of God, said, “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11.)
Likewise, the apostle Paul wrote, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:3-6).
The fact that evil men and women will proceed from bad to worse in the last days does not negate the depth of God’s love for them or the fact that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for each one of them. But His love—demonstrated in the Lord’s sacrificial death on their behalf—does not guarantee their salvation. Evil men and women—just like you and me when we were dead in our sins—must acknowledge their sin and need of salvation, turn to God through faith in Jesus, and repent of their evil ways. It’s always been that way in the age of grace, and as long as we live in this age, it will continue to be this way.
Remember the story of the man who tossed stranded starfish back into the ocean? The starfish were not universally saved; but several were due to the compassionate efforts of the man. In a similar way, in the last days, many evil souls will remain marooned in their sins, going from bad to worse. But due to the prayer, compassion, and bold witness of faithful believers (combined with the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit), there will be men and women—including some shockingly antagonistic ones (think Saul of Tarsus)—who will come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will (see 2 Timothy 2:26).
Sure, many evil men and women will proceed from bad to worse. But you, however, are in Christ; you have access to the Father; you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit; you are covered by the blood of Jesus; and you wield the Sword of the Spirit. And like that beachcombing man whose act of compassion meant salvation for many starfish, you, too, by prayer, the Word of God, and direction from the Holy Spirit will be able to launch rescue missions for human “starfish” stranded on the beach of their sins—whether one at a time or by dozens or hundreds, by thousands or millions or billions.
You were born for such a time—and assignment—as this.
Dorothy
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:7
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:25, 26
Read MoreDon’t fall for lies
…examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21, NASB
On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, Message Bible
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, radio address, October 26, 1939
Lies are often craftily advanced as common sense, self-preservation, or progress in a culture of lawlessness, confronting you with a Pandora’s box of moral, ethical, and spiritual pandemonium. Here are a few of those lies:
- It’s so much easier to go with the flow of popular opinion, because really trying to understand an issue takes too much time…
- There’s safety in popular opinion. If everyone else feels a certain way, then it’s a good bet that they are right. After all, the majority is always right…isn’t it…?
- Even if the majority isn’t right on something, it couldn’t hurt too much to go along with everyone else, could it? After all, I do have my reputation to consider…
One thing that will likely happen to you when you pray for the nation according to the Word of God is that you will find the need to examine some uncomfortable issues. You may discover as you read the Word, pray, and learn about issues that certain things are not as they appear to be. You will probably notice that some falsehoods and twisted truths are being reported and accepted as fact by a huge segment of society. Don’t be alarmed; the Bible warns us that this will happen, and it gives us the tools to discern between good and evil, lies and truth. Your job is to make sure that you always use God’s Word as your standard of measurement.
If you discover that you have stumbled upon a lie that is being embraced on a large scale as truth, then that is probably one of your prayer assignments. Seek God to bring truth to light in the hearts and minds of the population and ask Him to equip and protect those that He has chosen to step out on the world’s stage on behalf of this truth.
Don’t think that your prayer part is small potatoes. Your prayers for this nation are secret weapons, hidden from prying eyes, used to right wrongs and to turn lies on their heads. Your prayers are used by God to empower those He calls to confront lies—both privately and in public—granting them wisdom, timing, discernment, and effectiveness. Without your prayers and those of others, even the boldest of the bold and the brightest of the bright will be easy pickings for those of darker motives. But with your prayers, God can bring forth His champions.
And His champions in the natural realm cannot fully complete their tasks unless His champions in the prayer realm arise first and take their place. Arise, Champion!
Dorothy
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20-21
…and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:19-20
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