Day 37

Today's Quote

Nothing would turn the nation back to God so surely and so quickly as a Church that prayed and prevailed. The world will never believe in a religion in which there is no supernatural power. A Rationalized faith, a socialized Church and a moralized gospel may gain applause, but they awaken no conviction and win no converts.
- Samuel Chadwick

INTERCEDE for law officers. Go sit in the place of the person away from God. Pray for him there. Identify with the guilt and separation. Tell an officer, “Thanks for being a minister!” (Rom. 13:1-4).

Prayer Exercise: Have a candle-light prayer supper. Pray about letting your light shine. Talk about the pressure of “standing out” from others. Talk about the temptation to hide our faith.


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PRAYING

… for boldness in witness!

You are the light of the world. …Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all … Let your light so shine before men (Matt. 5:14-16).

Lord, many around us live in darkness without hope. Some see no way out of the cycle of poverty and generations of broken families. Help us to be compassionate, to consider how easy we stumble in the dark of the night over some obstacle, even on familiar ground. Some are following us. How can they find the way if we stagger and grope? Light up our lives. Grace us to live beyond ourselves, to live nobly as examples. Not all of these are down and out. Some live in upscale gated communities, but they are just as blind. Paralyzed by fears, they medicate themselves. Loaded with anxieties, they pleasure themselves with folly. Some are our friends and family. Their lives are like soap operas, a dull and endless chronicle of heart wrenching disappointment and failed relationships. We feel so helpless. What can we do to end their night? The shadow in which they live has grown out of their own heart. Only they can choose to come into the light. Only You, God, can call them back from death. Break in on them. Talk to them. Empower my little light to suggest that the darkness can be dispelled. Give me speech to walk them out of their long night. The whole nation seems held in this spell of darkness. Light up the sky, like flashes of lightning so daunting that the darkness momentarily seems like day. Break the power of sin’s hold. Amen