Today in America we are observing a National Day of Prayer — a corporate time of dialoguing with our Heavenly Father specifically about the wellbeing of our nation. We are talking with Him because we need Him. We need His counsel, wisdom and guidance for lives that prosper in divine purpose. And what’s more, He wants to help us because He loves us. He knows that our own understanding is not sufficient for the greatness that He has called us to, and that left to ourselves we perish.
The prophet Malachi said that when the hearts of fathers and children turn to one another the land would be healed. It is family love that is the key to a nation’s wellbeing, and the key to family love is relationship with Abba Father whose heart is already turned toward us. As the Initiator of our life, His love brings the healing that we desperately need as individuals, families, and as a nation.
Just as the heart of a father celebrates his child and works in every way to see that child flourish in life and purpose, so Abba deeply celebrates us and wants to see us and our nation prosper in divine purpose. Love is how He sees America. As a Father, He wants to see our families and our national family prosper in His good plans for us. His presence with us is the most significant thing we can have for that end.
Here are five ways to draw close to Abba Father and pray for our nation:
- Have faith in God — believe that your words are heard and valued. Abba Father both hears us and speaks with us. As people, we draw close to those who value our life and there is no one who loves and values us more than God who created us in His image. Our words carry weight in the courts of heaven as we align ourselves with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We may tend to pull back from those who we feel only tolerate us — but that is not how our Father views us. The more we are grounded in His love, the more we are free to draw near, share our thoughts, feelings, and desires, and listen to His…and pray them with confidence and authority. Psalm 5:3
- Believe that God has our nation’s best interest in mind and America is on His heart. God is not a distant supervisor of creation who is just waiting for someone to break a rule and move in with a heavy hand. He is a Father who has a purpose for everything and desires to see us prosper with intentional design. He also knows what hinders us, and our nation, from prospering with life and wholeness. Righteousness exalts a nation; wickedness destroys it. Knowing that someone has our best interest in mind opens our heart to intimate dialogue and acting on His counsel. Proverbs 14:34
- Speak a blessing over Israel as you talk with Abba Father. Our Father is a Father to Israel and He says that He will bless those who bless Israel through whom He brought forth our Savior (Jesus). One of the greatest things we can do as a national family is to support the Father’s continued plans and purposes for the land of Israel and God’s covenant with that nation. It will pour out a blessing back on us as we do. Genesis 12:3
- Pray for our judges to judge with truth, justice, and what is right. Making the right decision isn’t always easy, but is necessary for corporate wholeness. Pray that God give them courage to defend truth that prospers the life and wellbeing of a nation. Psalm 89:14
- Pray for our conscience as a national family to be restored to love and the esteem of truth. God is love and God is truth. There is nothing more beautiful than a mind empowered with truth and inspired by love that moves with wisdom and leads with a sound mind. On the other hand, there is nothing more destructive than a mind driven by self that leads with lies and drives with confusion. Hebrews 10:22
Abba’s daughter
Shining the Light that heals nations
