Daily Devotional For Sunday, May 4, 2025
It’s Sunday! I’ve told you several times that Sunday is my favorite day of the week because all around the world the largest group of people combined in the world get to worship and praise God. Since this is the first day of the week, I would like to suggest that we pray for our nation and our political leaders. If America ever needed a revival, it is now. It is today. The Bible tells us this in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. (2) Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity” (NLT). In every venue and area of our nation there is sin, corruption and rebellion against God.
Oh, I know our national motto is: “In God we trust,” but that is just a phrase that is not true for America. Public prayer and national days of prayer (which was May 1, 2025) have a longstanding and significant history in American tradition. Historical records indicate that there have been more than 1,500 state and federal calls for national prayer since 1775, and we’re still counting. Prayer has been a far more significant part of our nation’s formation than football! I believe God brought our nation into existence, and there’s a purpose for it, but if we don’t take steps to preserve our heritage of faith and our freedom, we will lose it.
Your role in this is mission critical. It’s so important to pray for our nation. We are at a crossroads and need God’s intervention more than ever. There are many, many instances in Scripture where the outcomes of a situation are dramatically different because someone prayed. We need to ask God to change hearts and lives so we may experience His blessing in our nation. We are given the great privilege and freedom to gather and pray, so let’s be sure to do so, because our prayers can change things!
Prayer is not a ritual we do. Prayer is to our relationship to God as oxygen is to our bodies. Prayer for our nation is more important and more vital than our military defense. I think one of the reasons we do not pray as we should is because prayer has gone from a privilege to an obligation. It has gone from pleasure being in God’s presence to being present in a bunch of man-made rules. Prayer has gone from building a relationship to God to a dreaded routine we feel compelled to do and guilty if we don’t.
For many Christians they see prayer similar to the swipe of a credit card that we get any “purchase” – prayer request we want. Prayer is not for God to please us, but for God to change us. If our heavenly Father gave us everything we as His children demanded and whined for, He would not be a good father. The Bible is clear that prayer offered up in sincere faith submits to God’s will. This is the point of 1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (NASB). If we do not see this, then we will be vulnerable to abuse prayer and take advantage of God’s answers for our prayers.
Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll said this happened when his church prayed for a woman in his church the night before she was getting ready to go into surgery for a brain tumor she had. They prayed for God’s will to be done as well as for her healing. The next morning, as she was in surgery, the surgeon discovered the brain tumor was gone. God had healed her. Swindoll says that he thought Karen would be grateful to God and use her healing to be used by God to bless others. Less than a year later, she left his church and divorced her husband. This reminds us of Numbers 11:1-4. The problem with prayer is not God, but us.”
What is really important in prayer is not our own personal style of prayer, but our attitude and gratitude to God in prayer and afterwards. So do not get hung up on style or word in prayer. Jesus warned us about this in The Sermon On The Mount in Matthew 6:5-8. When you struggle with prayer, remember Romans 8:26.
Assignment: Take some time today to pray for our nation, our political leaders, and for God to bring a revival to America. You can do this individually or in your Connect Group, Small Group or Bible study class. Don’t worry about words – just pray.
Scripture To Meditate On: Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, remind me to pray for America consistently. God, I ask that You bring about a revival in this country. Please forgive me for failing to pray for America. God, You are great at getting the attention of people. Please get the attention of our political leaders and the people in this country. Please bring us to a point where “In God We Trust” is not just a motto, but our message. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly