Prayer for Our Nation

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

As we move on toward the midterm elections and in light of the chaos in our nation and in the world, several major prayer ministries our calling for us to intercede, to stand in the gap for our nation. Remembering that righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34), please join together as we declare the word of the Lord over those in authority over us.

We declare that our governmental leaders will love God and obey His directives for a good life because happy is the one who keeps the law of the Lord. (Proverbs 29:18)

Then our land will be blessed because our leaders will noble and not given to partying and drunkenness. (Ecclesiastes 10:17)

Our authorities will judge with truth. (Proverbs 29:14)

Our leaders will make right decisions because true authority is established in righteousness . (Proverbs 16:12b)

Our politicians will walk in the truth because “the king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it.” (Proverbs 29:4 (NKJV).

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. (Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV) .

Intercede, pray, declare and then vote for truth and righteousness.

 

Rise Up, Decently and in Order

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Micah 6:1: “Hear now what the Lord says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.”

The Lord is calling His people to rise up and speak truth into the councils of the worldly. However, believers must do more than simply speak against sin and oppression; we must coherently speak for truth, and we must speak for that truth decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:40).

In order to plead our case, we must have a case.  It is time for Christians to offer solutions, to make solid, grounded suggestions in writing to influence public policies and to articulate exactly why we stand where we stand.  Every problem that exists is an opportunity to offer a godly solution. We must be proactive in offering solutions.

Our solutions must be presented decently and in order.  Decently and in order means that we must speak and write as the Holy Spirit directs.  (Luke 12:11-12:) "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.''

The Holy Spirit will not lead us to speak out of fear and anger.  He will not suggest that we resort to vitriol, bigotry and name-calling. While the context of Psalm 45:1 is a song of praise to the King, the example is universal. “My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”

We must have a good theme, a message that God wants people to hear and to understand.  Our theme must be well composed. A ready writer is one who has carefully chosen vocabulary and constructed sentences that will fully articulate the theme.

The biblical book of Romans is often considered one of the greatest legal briefs ever written.   Paul wasn’t just sitting at his desk spewing wrath.  He was listening intently to what the Holy Spirit wanted him to write. 

We must also present our solutions in an orderly manner.  Whether it is a board meeting, an open forum or friends meeting for coffee, we must understand protocol. We must follow the necessary procedure for placement on the agenda.  Then we must follow that agenda.  If we are given only 3 minutes to speak, we must organize our thoughts so that we present our arguments articulately within the allotted time frame.   Frankly, that takes thought and rehearsal.

We, like Esther, were born for such a time as this.  Like Esther, as well, we must prepare to meet those issues God has called us to confront.  Remember we are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.  Paul wrote, “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us”  (2 Corinthians 5: 20).

In our zeal, may we truly represent our King and His Kingdom. When we do that, Isaiah 60:1-3 will unfold in our lives:  “Arise, shine; For your light has come! and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles (unbelievers) shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

1 Corinthians 14: 40.  Let all things be done decently and in order. 

 Just had to share this.

Sometimes It Takes a Mountain

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Sometimes It Takes a Mountain

By Gloria Gaither and Mark Mathes

“Sometimes it takes a mountain

Sometimes a troubled sea

Sometimes it takes a desert

To get a hold of me

Your Love is so much stronger

Then whatever troubles me

Sometimes it takes a mountain

To trust you and believe.”

This song has captivated my heart.  It resonates in my spirit even in my sleep.  It has caused me to meditate on the mountains, the troubled seas and the deserts of life. 

In scripture, mountains often represent difficulties and hardships that must be overcome.  

Jesus assures us, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:22-24.)

Holding onto the promises of God, we discover that those mountains of obstruction in our lives can be removed, most often one layer at a time. 

However, the mountain image is not one-sided.  We often describe those victory moments in our lives as “mountain top” experiences.  Remember the ark rested on Mt. Ararat.  Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah and received the provision of God for salvation.  Later, Solomon built the Temple on that sight.  Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.  Elijah called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel.  Golgotha gave us the ultimate mountain top experience when Jesus cried, “It is finished” and died to pay the price for our sin.

Whether the mountain offers obstruction or deliverance, a mountain top experience opens us to the revelation of God.  God gets a hold of us on the mountain.

On the troubled seas of life, we can either be like Jonah or like the Apostle Paul.  Jonah tried to escape the Lord on the tumultuous sea.    Jonah asked to be thrown overboard in the storm and found himself in an unlikely and uncomfortable place of protection.  God got a hold of him in the belly of the great fish.

God previously had got a hold of Paul on the road to Damascus.  When the tempest arose, Paul prayed and fasted during the storm and received the assurance that though the ship would be lost, all the lives on board would be saved.  When the stormy sea arose, Paul prayed because he knew his Lord.

God's love surrounds us even in the most turbulent times.

Romans 8:38-39:

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor messengers, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,

nor things about to be, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, that in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Then we come to the desert times when we feel empty, deserted and spiritually lethargic.  During those times, we must remember the Israelites in the wilderness.  God found his people in that desert: "He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them, cared for them, guarded them as the apple of his eye" (Deuteronomy 32:10)

When the people of Judah were exiled in Babylon, God told them to return to their homeland.  The desert wilderness that lay between them and Jerusalem became a pathway back to God: "A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!" (Isaiah 40:3.)

We are not deserted in the desert.

What we must learn in difficult times is that His love is stronger than anything that might trouble us.  It is in those seemingly impossible situations that we learn to trust and believe. Sometimes it takes a mountain for us to accept that.