DAY 34/40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR AMERICA

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16b)
Are you growing weak in prayer? Are you growing tired of all of this? Do you see the finish line, yet, you look around and want to give up because everything seems to be going to down anyway, despite your best - in worship, prayer, intercession, outreach, caring for the saints (and those who ain't)? Don't give up. Now is the time to step it up a notch. 

Today's exhortation in pray is found in the key word, which I am led to put out there. That word is FERVENT, which means (according to Webster) - having a passionate, burning desire or enthusiasm for something. Fervency before God counts in the hour of prayer and finds a speedy and rich reward at God's Hands (EM Bounds)! The spiritual warfare around is raging and we cannot afford to retreat, sit on our hands, sit on past victories or just offer up lifeless prayers. The violent take the kingdom on the other side, we are need to respond to their spiritual aggression with passion for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gives the victory if we approach Him in the way He loves. The Son loved the Father tremendously, let us now pray and walk in that fashion, if we wish to continue to take the hills for our families and the nation, in Jesus Name, amen.

Father, I stand right now, with the Holy Spirit and His promptings and with the very Armies of Heaven, Who are prepared to battle for Your people if we just ask and stay focused on pressing in with the fire of Your Holiness. I pray for the strength to never let this fire flicker but long may it blaze and energize me daily to stay focused on winning with Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith, Who for the Joy set before Him, endured the Cross, beat death and hell and the Devil and then called us over to join in the Triumphant procession with Him. It is in His Name I ask for fuel for the day, amen and amen!

SOME ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM THE LORD:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, ESV).

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV)

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7, ESV)

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And his ears toward their cry.”(Psalms 34:15, ESV)

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SATURDAY

WORD OF THE DAY - PERSEVERANCE

Put in modern language, this word comes from the LATIN (Like most English words) and means "hang in there" or to continue on; stick to it and well, persist. It implies specifically to NEVER give up.

A couple months ago, on this very blog if you searched, you will find a thorough examination of Hebrews chapter 11, which lists by name, all the major Bible heroes who persevered through trials, temptations and evil, to the end! These names range from Abraham and Moses to Rahab and more!

America was built by people who refused to give up. Charles Goodyear, the tire man, never gave up until he found way to make rubber flexible, even though he and his family were hungry and cold from poverty, back in the early part of the 19th century.

Elias Howe patented the Sewing Machine in 1846, but do you think he just invented it and it worked right away?!

Milton Hershey, one of the heroes I wrote about in my book DANGER ZONE, whose name is an American Chocolate staple, tried and failed so many times.

I could go into detail on these and more....and did on the Bible heroes, but we get the picture.

All of us - young and old - are called to never give up. 

Things are horrible for our young people as most teens and college graduates cannot find jobs - never give up.

They see no point to life and its many hardships - never give up.

They see their parents struggling in some cases, even bible believing parents, but they should - never give up.

Wives are seeing husbands laid off, through no fault of their own but - never give up.

Widows are alone and sad and feeling the emptiness of loneliness  but - never give up.

Never give up, never give up...our Jesus never, never gave up on us. If He did, we would be toast! God has spent the last 6000 years graciously trying to offer His Hand to man to pull us out of our self-made quicksand, when He could have justly given us what we deserved!

I offered you His exhortation to hang in there, this morning, no matter what you're going through. I also wish to start off by asking first of all, as our focus has been on prayer, to persist and persevere in PRAYER this weekend!  

Perseverance through Prayer is probably the most beneficial to the Christian believer because it shows we trust and depend and rely fully on God, through Christ, and Him alone! AMEN

Romans 5:3-4: Perseverance in Sufferings

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that sufferingproduces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

James 1:2-3: Perseverance in Trials 
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness


James 5:1: Perseverance with Job as the Example

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

1 Timothy 4:16 Perseverance and Persistence

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.