Fulfilling Our Nation's Destiny

Fulfilling Our Nation's Destiny
 by Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

As Christians and concerned citizens, we can easily be overcome by the barrage of discouraging reports that fill our newspapers and television and computer screens.  Our economy is not what we want it to be.  Our family structure is threatened.  Sensuality seems to have become our god.  Devastating tornadoes and floods have left many Americans homeless, frightened and in despair. Many feel that God has abandoned us or has, at least, withdrawn His blessing from us.   If God has turned His back on us, where, then, is our hope? 

Whenever we have questions about our heavenly Father, the first place to look is in the Book He has written for us. In Jeremiah 17:7-8, we read, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit."  

According to His Word, if our hope is in the Lord, we can prosper in the midst of and in spite of the circumstances around us. A nation's destiny lies not within the halls of the Congress in Washington or the Knesset in Israel, but within the hearts of believers. To understand the destiny and purpose of God for a nation, we must look with spiritual discernment at the believing remnant within that nation.  More simply put, God's justice is based more on what is happening in the hearts of His people than on what is happening in the hearts of others. Believers are the representatives within America and every other nation who carry the destiny that God sees for that nation.  

We often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  We quote this passage and point our fingers at non-believers and declare their need to repent.  We often choose to overlook the fact that God is calling His people, believers, into repentance and holiness
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In Genesis 18:17-23, God agrees to spare Sodom from destruction if only 10 righteous men can be found within the city walls.  In Ezekiel 22:30, God says that He will spare Jerusalem if only one righteous person is willing to stand in the gap and intercede for the city. It is a righteous remnant who can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, bring into fulfillment the destiny of a people.

How can we, as individuals, join the righteous remnant whose intercession can determine the destiny of our nation?   Through righteous and holiness.  Today, via the internet, many of God's people are praying what we have come to call "The Harp" prayer based on 2 Chronicles 7:14:

H: humble ourselves
A: Acknowledge God
R: Repent of our sins
P: Pray for our land

"Lord, I humble myself before you and acknowledge that You alone are my God and my Savior.  I repent, first of all, for my own sins, and then for the sins of my nation.  I pray that You, in Your mercy, will heal our land.  In Jesus' Name, Amen."