July 28, 2023: Job 12:21-25 - A Prayer for America

“He pours contempt on princes, and disarms the mighty. He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings the shadow of death to light. He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man.” - Job 12:21-25

Almighty God, God of Israel and Father of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, I come to You with a repentant and heavy heart. Oh, how we in America and oh, how I myself, have sinned against You, with a depth of sin and shame that likely has never been seen before in all the nations of the world. A nation that was blessed by You beyond belief when we once put You first in our lives, above all things. How far we have fallen, fallen, from that once blessed nation! Now, we have become the example for the world to see, on full and arrogant display, of what a nation that once put You first and was blessed by You and which turned against You - and not only against You but also Your people, the nation of Israel - looks like when it replaces You with self, when it replaces You with false gods and idols, when it replaces obedience to Your commandments with carrying out all our deceitful and disgusting pleasures because they make us “happy,” when it replaces fear of accountability to You for our actions with no fear at all of any consequences of our despicable and evil actions against You, when it replaces all that is good with all that is evil. Your words tells us what happens when a nation forgets You:

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (Psalm 9:17)

Back in the early years, before our nation went to war with Britain to declare its independence from it, Patrick Henry, one of America’s Founding Fathers accurately proclaimed in his fiery “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech on March 23, 1775 at St. John’s Church in Richmond that You “preside over the destinies of nations": (See: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/patrick.asp)

“If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Almighty God, when we were being established as a nation with our thirteen colonies and declared our independence from Great Britain, we even wrote in our Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (USA Declaration of Independence)

We recognized that we have a Creator, and that You - and no mere man - have given us rights that no one has the authority to take away or deny. Now, not only do we deny You as Creator, but we deny You altogether. We deny the right of the unborn to their existence because we see them as a burden to us instead of the blessing that they are. Even worse, we deny their very humanity.

John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of America and second American President wrote to his wife Abigail of our declaration of independence, which actually occurred on July 2, 1776 but is observed on July 4, 1776 when the resolution of independence was approved. He recognized that the success of our nation and its deliverance from Great Britain was only by our “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”: (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States))

“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” (Letter from John Adams to his wife Abigail regarding the Declaration of Independence)

Benjamin Franklin prayed this prayer on June 28, 1787 in Philadelphia, nearly three months before the US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention when the convention was in a deadlock, threatening the future of our new country:

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing the proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building not better than the builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance despair of establishing Government by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate at that service.” (Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787, Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

It is clear from Benjamin Franklin’s speech on June 28, 1787 that he knew Your word, and he acknowledged that any success of America would only be because of You and only if it were built by You, by having You as its solid foundation. He also acknowledged it must not be governed by human wisdom but by Your wisdom, and we must be willing to let You lead us and not do it any other way. He appealed to You, and You blessed our nation abundantly. However, we did not heed his words that without Your concurring aid, we would become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. The only way we can have Your aid to us is if we remain with You, but we have left You and now, as Benjamin Franklin warned, we have become deeply divided as a nation and are a reproach and a byword; we are an object of scorn and derision to You and we have become a laughing stock to the world for our insanity.

Before we abandoned our faith in You, we taught Your word, the Bible, in our schools and we used names from the Bible to teach the letters of the alphabet to our children, such as “A is for Adam” and “B is for Boaz.” We taught the Bible to our children to give them a solid foundation for their lives through Your word and Your Son. Our early universities and colleges were founded based on belief in You and Your Son Jesus Christ, including Harvard College. They were founded to educate ministers in churches and to provide training that was built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. Per Harvard Divinity School’s website (See: https://hds.harvard.edu/about/history-and-mission):

“The origins of Harvard Divinity School and of the study of theology at Harvard can be traced back to the very beginning of Harvard College, when an initial fund of 400 pounds from the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony established the College in 1636. The founders of Harvard recorded their reasons for establishing this center of learning:

‘After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and settled the civil government: One of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.’”

Harvard College acknowledged and brought honor to You and Your Son Jesus Christ in both its original mission statement from 1642 and its motto from 1650:

Harvard’s Mission Statement from 1642: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” (See: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/1/19/secular-harvard-esteller/#:~:text=Consider%20Harvard%27s%20original%20mission%20statement,all%20sound%20knowledge%20and%20learning.”)

Harvard’s Motto from 1650: “In Christi Gloriam” (“For the glory of Christ).” (See: https://www.liberty.edu/journal/article/christianity-and-the-american-university/)

Princeton University, which began as the College of New Jersey, was also founded on the Christian faith to educate ministers of the gospel so that faith in You could be shared for generations to come:

“Princeton's broad role in public service and national development was evident from the very beginning of its existence. ‘Though our great Intention was to erect a seminary for educating Ministers of the Gospel," a founder wrote at the time, "yet we hope it will be useful in other learned professions — Ornaments of the State as Well as the Church. Therefore we propose to make the plan of Education as extensive as our Circumstances will permit.’" (See: https://princetoniana.princeton.edu/history/early-years#:~:text=Courtesy%20of%20Princeton%20University%20Archives,America%20in%20the%2018th%20century.)

“It’s common knowledge that Princeton University was founded by proponents of the great revival movement, often called the “Great Awakening,” that swept the American colonies about 1725. The word “revival” refers to the quickening of the human heart to hear and receive the Gospel in a decisive way. Usually understood as the revitalization of an old faith grown stale and lax, “revival” came to be synonymous with an emotional, personal, and immediate recommitment to God in Christ. As you may imagine, the intensity of this movement had its supporters and detractors. The desire to provide for the training of clergy who would be shaped by revivalism led to the establishment of the College of New Jersey in 1746, and the rest is history.” (See: https://paw.princeton.edu/article/princetons-revivalist-roots)

Oh, Lord Almighty, how we have gone astray from You! Now our “churches” are nothing more than social clubs, complete with coffee shops, feel-good messages disguised as sermons, concerts with music so loud that earplugs are needed, as our “worship teams” sing lyrics of songs that could be written about anyone, in sanctuaries with fog machines and dark venues. Professing pastors preach messages completely devoid of gospel truth and instead embrace the social norms of a society that has completely turned against You to approve and promote all that You call wicked and an abomination! Gone are the days when pastors feared You and not what mortal man could do to them, who preached on sin and how it separates us from you, convicting all of us who are sinners to show us that we are all in need of the One and only Savior who can redeem us of all our sins: Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Gone are the days when we preached your word in season and out of season, when it was popular and when it is hated, no matter the consequences to ourselves and to our livelihood, long before the government created 501c3 “churches” that willfully handed over all authority of their sermons and teachings to a government that has forsaken You. Gone are the days when we read and studied all of Your word, including the prophetic Scriptures that warned us of what is to come in the end times. Most churches do not preach on Bible prophecy because their so-called pastors do not want to offend anyone, they don’t want to make people uncomfortable, and because their congregants don’t want to hear those messages of “doom and gloom.” Gone are the days when pastors warned against being prideful and that it was Satan’s, also called Lucifer, pride that led to his great fall. Gone are the days when Scriptures that tell us what pride does to the heart and to the soul are preached in American churches. Now instead, the USA has an entire month dedicated to pride and not only pride but pride in one’s sin which You call an abomination. We even have people high up in American government saying that a month of pride isn’t enough and it should be an entire summer of pride. (See: https://www.foxnews.com/media/rachel-levine-declares-summer-pride-calls-transgender-treatment-suicide-prevention-care) We even have so-called “churches” celebrating the month of pride and hosting special activities for it. Gone are the days when pastors preached from your word, which warns us all of what happens when pride overtakes a person, when pride overtakes a nation:

“The lofty [proud] looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up - and it shall be brought low.” (Proverbs 2:11-12)

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

“The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4)

“When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

“A proud and haughty man - “Scoffer” is his name; he acts with arrogant pride.” (Proverbs 21:24)

But Your warnings have fallen on deaf ears in our nation and are not taught in most professing churches. Pride gets to the matter of the heart: do we serve self, which is actually serving the lies of Satan, or do we serve You? Do we bow to our fleshly, sinful desires or do we bow to You, the King of kings, Lord of lords, and Lord of hosts? Do we believe in our heart that we can save ourselves or that we don’t need saving of anything or do we believe in our heart that Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ is the Savior to all who would believe in Him and are not condemned, and we trust in Him for our salvation?

By failing to preach and teach on and read Your prophetic Scriptures because they are seen as “doom and gloom,” the pastors, teachers, and church congregants fail to see that the “gloom and doom” is only for unbelievers who will go through a literal hell on earth before Jesus’ second coming, only to be followed by living an eternal hell from which they can never escape. Particularly by not reading the book of Revelation, they fail to see that for believers in Christ, it is a revelation of who Jesus is and provides a warning and a look into what the future holds. Prophecy tells us we must remain steadfast in our faith and not be deceived by Satan, for deception in the end days will be rampant. By reading Bible prophecy, we can see and understand what unbelievers cannot understand and warn them of what is to come and to give them the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For all who believe in Jesus as our beloved Savior and Redeemer, it is a glorious future, a glorious eternity! The “doom and gloom” as perceived by unbelievers and also by professing “Christians” who refuse to read Bible prophecy is pure gold to true believers in You oh, my Lord and Savior, for in it we read what our future holds for us, and that future gives us hope in this dark and wicked world! Our hope is not in this world but in Jesus Christ and in Him alone! He is our true and good Shepherd, and He leads us into life everlasting with Him, in a new heaven and a new earth, when all sin will finally be gone, forever and ever. We will be with Him and all believers in Him in a place that is beautiful beyonds words, with all Your majesty, and where there will be no more pain, sorrow, death, or suffering. We will know and enjoy life the way it was meant to be, the way You intended it to be before the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. However, unbelievers will be cast out and thrown into the everlasting lake of fire because they didn’t heed your warnings, they didn’t acknowledge You and trust in Jesus for their salvation. They didn’t want You - they wanted self, and self is what they will get. Just as our nation once had it all, we have chosen pride and self over You, and we are seeing the collapse and demise of our nation, a nation that once loved You but has turned away from You and has willfully and defiantly turned to the lies of Satan, ultimately leading us to our downfall and our detriment.

Your word tells us the consequences of our sin and shame, as happened with Your people in Judah and Jerusalem, when the nation and Your city was wicked and had forsaken You, as Isaiah the prophet wrote about:

“For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.” (Isaiah 3:8-9)

Your word provides comfort to those who put their faith and trust in You and are made righteous by trusting in Jesus for their salvation and condemnation to those who don’t:

“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill will him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” (Isaiah 3:10-11)

Your word tells us who will oppress and rule over a nation that has forgotten You:

“As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.” (Isaiah 3:12)

Yes, O Lord, how we see this happening in our country and also in our world today with the role of men being all but erased, especially in our country with the feminization and humiliation of men made to look like ridiculous fools and the empowering of women, who are seen as superior to men in all aspects, including in physical abilities, especially in the entertainment industry with the predictive programming of the human mind. This is straight from the lies of Satan that started in the garden of Eden when he deceived Eve, who willingly chose to disobey Your command that she and Adam must not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a consequence of her sin, You told Eve, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16) Lord God, in our great sin against You, we have fought against Your perfect structure for the family and have destroyed many, many lives because of our rebellion. Many children are not raised in households with a father and a mother, with the father putting You first and loving his wife as Christ loved the church and the wife submitting to her husband as to the Lord, as Your word tells us should happen in Ephesians 5:22-33. Instead, we decided that we knew better than You and we created all different definitions of families, only to see the many detrimental effects on our children that last over multiple generations.

Not only have we forgotten and turned our back on You, oh Lord, but we have come against Your people Israel, to our own detriment. Back when we were a nation in its infancy, John Adams recognized Your people, the Jews, and their importance and significance to the world: (See: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1309876)

“I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern.” (John Adams, Letter to F. A. Van her Kemp, February 16, 1808)

Your word, the Bible, clearly tells us what will happen to nations that bless Israel and to those that curse Israel. When You brought Abram, whom You later named to Abraham, out of the land in which he lived with his father to a new land that You would give to him and his descendants and would make a great nation out him, this is what You said to Abram:

“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him you curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

The 33rd US President Harry S. Truman recognized the importance of Israel and “was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state on May 14, 1948, only eleven minutes after its creation. His decision came after much discussion and advice from the White House staff who had differing viewpoints.” (See: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/recognition-israel )

While our nation has recognized the importance of your nation Israel and has blessed it for many years, that is no longer true and hasn’t been for some time. Our current president Joseph Biden has become increasingly hostile toward Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has come against Netanyahu on his policies, most recently regarding Netanyahu’s proposed judicial policies. Per The Jerusalem Post on March 30, 2023, it has “sparked the worst crisis in American-Israeli relations in decades.” (See: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-735639)

Further evidence of strained relations between America and Israel is written about in an article by Joel B. Pollak dated July 28, 2023, who writes, “Caroline Click, one of the most staunch pro-Israel voices in the media, has written a column arguing that Israel should stop taking U.S. military aid because it has corrupted the leadership and policy choices of her country.” (See: https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/07/28/pro-israel-columnist-time-for-israel-to-stop-taking-u-s-military-aid/)

While we have and continue to give aid to Israel, at least for the time being, our administration has become increasingly hostile to the right of Israel to defend itself and continues to push Israel to divide its land. This push to divide the land - Your land - is something that has brought and continues to bring curses upon America. It isn’t just happening with President Biden, but has been happening for decades with both democrat and republican presidents, including former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush. White House Correspondent and author Bill Koenig has written much about the negative impacts on America when its presidents have pushed Israel to divide Your land, including in his book titled “Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel.” In his book, Koenig writes: (See: https://www.watch.org/store/product/1)

“Over one hundred billion-dollar, record-setting catastrophes and/or events occurred while US presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump were pressuring or calling on Israel to divide their covenant land.

“The costliest insurance events, the costliest hurricanes, the largest tornado outbreaks, the famous “Perfect Storm,” the 9/11 terror events, and Hurricane Katrina corresponded to White House pressure on Israel to divide their land.

“The US, the UN, and the EU do not have the authority to divide God’s covenant land.

“Calling the Israeli-Palestinian talks “Middle East peace talks” is a false narrative.

“Jews have a three-thousand-year history with Jerusalem, and Christians have a two-thousand-year history.”

In an online article, Koenig wrote about the consequences to both America and Israel under President Trump’s administration when on January 28, 2020 he presented his “Peace to Prosperity” deal that proposed dividing the land of Israel: (See: https://watch.org/eye-to-eye/responding-skeptic-consequences-dividing-land-israel-william-koenig)

“President Trump presented his Peace to Prosperity deal on Jan. 28, 2020, in the East Room of the White House—the plan that had been developed by Jared Kushner. It spoke of a Palestinian state in up to 80 percent of Judea and Samaria. He tweeted the boundary map to his 73.6 million Twitter followers (now 85 million plus). The following day President Trump established his Coronavirus Advisory Panel. Life in America before Jan. 28 and after are dramatically different due to the coronavirus.”

Bill Koenig also wrote on April 2, 2020 an article comparing the vast difference of life in America before and after President Trump delivered his “Peace to Prosperity” deal. (See: https://www.watch.org/eye-to-eye/life-america-and-after-trump-“peace-prosperity”-plan-was-delivered-january-28-2020%C2%A0

One thing is for sure, Bill Koenig makes some compelling arguments, arguments which seem far beyond random coincidence, that seem to demonstrate what You said, Lord God, about the consequences of those who curse Your people, the nation of Israel.

Almighty God, You told us in Your word:

“And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” (Daniel 2:21)

“All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.” (Isaiah 40:17)

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.”(Isaiah 40:21-23)

As you warned about in Romans 1:18-32, I believe that because of our refusal to glorify You and to be thankful for all You have done for us as a nation, and instead we are determined even more to continue in our sin against You, I believe that You have given many unbelievers in our nation over to their debased minds:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:18-32)

What else can explain the insanity that we are seeing in our country today? There is a demonic spirit that is controlling many people, including many in high places of power and authority, not only in our country but throughout the world. Even some unbelievers are asking, “What in the world is going on?!” Everything has been turned upside down because we have not heeded Your warnings and we have turned Your churches into synagogues of Satan and pleasure palaces. Your word even tells us that the same type of spirit You warned us about in Romans 1:18-32 will also pervade the church in the last days:

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved, concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

Almighty God, I pray that the people of this nation would read and heed Your warnings in Your word, which offer hope and salvation to all who believe in Jesus Christ for redemption of all their sins and which warn of the true doom and gloom that awaits all unbelievers. I include here words from our 17th president, Abraham Lincoln, who saw the carnage of the most bloodiest war in American history. These powerful words he spoke on March 30, 1863, when in the middle of the Civil War, he declared it a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer: (See: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-97-appointing-day-national-humiliation-fasting-and-prayer)

“Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; and

“Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;

“And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” (Abraham Lincoln, March 30, 1863, Proclamation 97—Appointing a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer)

Oh, my fellow Americans, that we would heed these words of President Lincoln and acknowledge that we too have forgotten God, the One whose gracious hand has preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us! We are just like the people he spoke of back on March 30, 1863! Are we willing to get down on our knees in all humility and pray to Almighty God and confess our sins to Him and acknowledge that He is God and there is no other like Him, and ask for forgiveness? Are we willing to take a period of time to fast, to withhold food from our bodies so that in our weakness, we depend on His strength, that we may stand in His power and might and not our own? Sadly, I believe the answer from most Americans is “no.” I pray I am wrong about that.

I believe we are on the verge of seeing not only the collapse of our country, and we have already witnessed the spiritual and moral collapse of it, but the entire world as we know it. I believe, based on my understanding of Your word, that we are on the verge of the time in history that the prophet Daniel wrote about in the book of Daniel and the apostle John wrote about in the book of Revelation, a time of which Jesus said:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:21-22)

Almighty God, I know in my heart that it is only Your hand of mercy that is restraining all hell from breaking loose in the world, so that more people can turn to Jesus Christ and be saved from all their sins.

Father God, Your word tells us:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Lord God of Israel, I believe that Your hand of blessing has been removed from our nation and we have been cursed because of our many attempts to divide Your land of Israel, and because we have forgotten who You are - Almighty God, Creator of everything. Because of that, we have no liberty; the freedom that our Founding Fathers so desired and fought for, for our nation, the freedom that our military has fought for and died to protect for hundreds of years, has been replaced with bondage, and it is a bondage to Satan in our sin. My prayer for my nation is not that it would be made great again, but it is that we would return to You, asking for Your forgiveness and mercy upon us, and that our pastors would preach and teach Your words of truth and not a watered-down, feel-good, keep-them-coming-back-so-they-will-keep-putting-money-in-the-donation-box type of government-restrained sermons. I pray they would preach and teach on sin, hell, and heaven and the truth that each and every one of us is born a sinner and we will either go to heaven or hell when we die and will spend our eternity there. Where we spend our eternity is dependent upon the decision we make about Jesus Christ and whether or not to trust in Him as our Savior.

I pray that our nation sees that no politician can save this nation, whether republican, democrat, independent, green party, or any other type of political party. We are corrupted to the core, we have turned against You and all that is written in Your word, we have rejected Jesus’ free gift of salvation, and we have given our nation over to Satan. We have chosen foolish leaders to rule over us instead of letting You rule in our hearts. I pray the words of Daniel as he wrote in his prayer for his people in Daniel 9:1-19:

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day - we have sinned, we have done wickedly!” (Daniel 9:13-15)

Lord God Almighty, I pray that we Americans see that this nation, that this world offers no hope; the only hope for us is Jesus Christ. I pray our eyes and ears will be opened to the truth and that we will know that our nation is finished, it is done. As Job wrote in Job 12:24-25, our people who have rejected You and the truth are wandering around in a pathless wilderness, groping in the dark without light, staggering like a drunken man.

Lord God, the wicked rulers of the world, including many in our nation, are bringing down everything in order to bring in their system, which I believe, based on Your holy Scriptures, will be the system of the final antichrist, who will reign for seven years over a one world government, one world religion, and one world digital economic system that tracks and restricts everything a person will do during that time period, as prophesied by Daniel and John in the books of Daniel and Revelation.

I pray Americans would see that something is deadly wrong in our country, and that we have been deceived into believing it is a fight of democrat against republican, black against white, gay against straight, abortion against life, those who took the jab against those who didn’t, and on and on it goes. All of those things are real, along with the “Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)/Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP),“ and are being used by Satan not only to divide us but also to distract us to keep us from knowing what is really going on. The truth is there is a spiritual war being waged in our country and across the world for the souls of mankind. Satan is deceiving people like never before because he knows his time is short before the tribulation period starts, which will be a time of Jesus’ wrath on all the wickedness on the earth, including on all those who are molesting and mutilating children.

The first thing Jesus warned His disciples of what the signs of the end times would be was to “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:4) He also warned of false prophets and false christs rising up and deceiving many. (Matthew 24:11, 24) Deception is all around us, and sadly, most people don’t even know they are being deceived. Lord God, I pray that You would put the right circumstances in our lives that would cause us to come to the realization that we need to turn to Jesus Christ and trust in Him as our Savior, before it’s too late. I pray that You would do whatever You need to do to our nation that would wake us up and turn our hearts to You. I know that You are a merciful God, and I also know that You are a just God. I believe that we are either at a point in our nation or very close to that time when You will have had enough of the wickedness and You will bring Your wrath upon us. You have every right to do that, for I believe we have gone far and above what Sodom and Gomorrah did and You rained down fire and brimstone upon them and destroyed them. I would never ask You to bless our nation for we absolutely do not deserve it. We had Your blessings for a long time, and we trampled all over them. Instead, I pray for Your will to be done in our nation so that it may bring praise, honor, and glory to You.

“Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.” (Psalm 9:19-20)

Lord God, as Your word tells us, only Your kingdom will last forever and ever. No matter what happens upon the earth, believers in Christ are eternally secure by our faith in Him and when we die, we will be allowed entry into His kingdom. However, all unbelievers will be denied entry and will spend their eternity in hell. They can choose to ignore this truth or reject it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is truth. The choice is theirs alone to make. I pray they choose wisely. In the name of Your Son Jesus, I pray. Amen.

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.’

“I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

“Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him.” (Psalm 2)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:16-21) ✝️