Independence Day (also called the Fourth of July) here in the United States, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress which declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer part of the British Empire.
The Fourth of July is so commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, that many of our citizens have lost the meaning, cost, and spirit behind the holiday as intended.
When I think of the original name for this grand holiday, I ask myself, “Where has our independence gone? When did it leave?”
I will tell you when I woke up to the fact that we may no longer have the freedom, protection, or the joy of independence any longer. For me, it was that dark and frightful day of September 11, 9-11.
Oh, there was a rallying around the flag, boys, and the singing of “God Bless America” over and again, and lots of prayer. The patriotism was so strong looking, and the calling out to God all over this land seemed real enough that I thought, “Surely this will usher in the revival I have been praying years for,” but it all too quickly faded away.
Beloved, we are a nation whose independence is nearly a distant memory. However, the American story does not need to end that way.
The President, Congress, Supreme Court, and even our preachers are not our final hope, neither are they our best hope. Only the Almighty God can save and redirect this nation called America, the Beautiful. Pray for America!
God has said, “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 . . . forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Christian, it is your responsibility to pray for America. We must humble ourselves and confess the sins of this nation as well as our own sin. Being Americans, we all stand guilty before God for the sinful acts the nation participates in that are contrary to His Holy Word. The power of our praying will be the power within the word, repentance! God empowers a contrite heart. God promised this when He instructed us in James 5:16, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
I fly my personal flag at half-staff for many months now, not because someone special has fallen, but because a nation special to my heart and soul is falling! I hear the death rattle in each news report. It is also a reminder to me to be faithful in praying for my homeland, land that I love.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (I Timothy 2:1-8)
We must pray for our nation, and to do that best we must pray for our leaders.
Beg the LORD to give to each leader that serves us godly wisdom. Our mandate is to intercede (stand in the gap) for those in authority, whether they know God or not, and trust God to bring godliness, and peacefulness to our nation and homes. Pray that God will free our people from the sins that destroy this nation. Pray that God will protect us from the enemies within and without. Watch and Pray, America! “Awake, thou that sleepeth!”
I am losing faith in America, but my motto is always: “In God I Trust!”
