How effective is a national day of prayer and
fasting?
How effective can a national day
of prayer and fasting be for any nation who seeks God’s intervention in dealing
with a crisis in their country! How assured can we be? Citing for example the
biblical statement which reads; “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” (2Chronicles 7:14).
The effectiveness of a national
day of prayer and fasting is conditional depending on the successful
implementation of five important things namely:
1.
If
My people who are called by My name
First and foremost,
the appeal must come from God’s people who are called by His name because God
does not hear the prayers of sinners for it is written, “Behold, the LORD's
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have
hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
So the important
question is who are those who are called by the name of God? The crux of the
matter is, Jesus Christ said plainly “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you
who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:2-23).
The irony of truth
is, there are those who are children of God and those who are children of the
devil and it is imperative that we make a clear distinction between the two. For
example Jesus said to the Jews, “You do the deeds of your father." Then
they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father ---
God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love
Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He
sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to
listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your
father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:41-44).
The apostle John
echoed a similar sentiment when he wrote; “He who sins is of the devil, for the
devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born
of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he
has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil
are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he
who does not love his brother” (1John 3:8-10).
Therefore, there
are specific identifying signs that differentiates a child of God from a child
of the devil and they are; one who loves Jesus Christ, understand Him, able to listen
to His word, believes in Jesus Christ, has repented of his/her sins, has been baptized
and is in receipt of the Holy Spirit and is practicing righteousness. For thus
it is written; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).
It is only when our
human spirit which was separated from God due to Adam’s transgression is
connected to the Spirit of God that one becomes a child of God, for this is
what we have been admonished saying; “And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works
in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians
2:1-3).
It is only when the
Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth is connected to our human spirit that we
become a child of God and so we have been admonished saying; “But you are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is
in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors --- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For
if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put
to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God: For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry
out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God.” Bear in mind also that God gives His Holy Spirit
only to those who obey Him (Romans 8:9-16; Acts 5:32).
It is at this
juncture that we are to “give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us
from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His
love, in whom we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians
1:12-14).
It is important to
note that the transition from being a child of the devil to becoming a child of
God will result in a change of heart and mind, a transformation from hostility
to being obedient and in harmony to the laws of God, for we have been duly
admonished saying; “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit: For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it
is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in
the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8).
And so, instead of
being hostile to the law of God we become obedient to it and begin living in
harmony and within the confines of the law, because we have received the consolation
saying; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God” (Romans
12:1-2).
This
transformation of the mind is from that of being carnal which is enmity against God and not subject to
the law of God, to becoming in harmony and subject to the law of God, for this
is what the Lord says; “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He
had said before, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their
minds I will write them," then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless
deeds I will remember no more" (Hebrews 8:10-12; 10:15-17)
So
the first criterion for having an effective day of prayer and fasting for a sinful
nation is for God’s people, who are classified as follows; "Now by this we
know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know
Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.
By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3-5).
Let
us therefore, “Examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. Test
ourselves. Do we not know ourselves that Jesus Christ is in us? --- Unless indeed
we are disqualified. But I trust that we will know that we are not
disqualified.
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To be continued, stay tunedWith brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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