Pray For Your Enemies

When is the last time you wept for your country? When is the last time you prayed for its leaders? And I don't just mean...
"Lord, have mercy on us!"
Or
"Lord, would you please take out Barack Obama!" (Don't give me that holy-look! You know you have at least thought it.)
These are NOT the type of prayers I'm talking about.

I'm talking about truly lamenting the blindness, deafness, and deadness of MOST of this nation's leaders. I'm talking about weeping over the condition of the church in this nation... Weeping for the many generations that are ignorant of the truth's in God's Word. Weeping for the church's failure to "tell the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done...lest they forget the works of God and become like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation..." Ps.78

Really, when is the last time you recounted all the unmerited gifts, blessings, and sacrifices the Lord has bestowed upon you and this nation for the last 250 years...AND THEN repented of not giving Him the glory due His name for them. Or repented for not defending your God-given faith, family, church, or freedoms.

We should repent now, that we have sinned so much and wept so little, that God's bag has been so full and His bottle so empty (Job 14:17). We should repent now that we repented no sooner. We should repent now that we have loved Christ no more, that we have fetched no more virtue from Him and brought no more glory to Him. ~ Thomas Watson

It is my earnest prayer today that God will find each of our families in repentance and prayer.

REPENTANCE:
"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 3:2

"Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3

"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." Rev. 2:5

PRAYER:
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matt. 5:44

"Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Matt. 9:38

"Pray without ceasing" 1Th. 5:17

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12

"I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high posistions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." 1Tim. 2:1-2