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" It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63

Tuesday 1 October 2019

Praying for Our Land - Repentance, Revival, and Rain!!

Well, it’s very sad in our part of northern NSW and also S.E of Qld, we are badly in need of rain. Fire west over the hills has ravaged 250,000 acres or 100,000 hectares, and another not that far away is 76,000 hectares: these fires along with about 20 others in northern NSW are still out of control. It’s early spring, not even summer.
However there is something more needful in our land than the rain, a blessing of God, whether in Australia, UK, US or any other county on the planet.
A long time prayer on my prayer list, (I think) was given to me years ago by dear Bro Mac. 
“O Lord, I pray that all men everywhere would repent.”
Isn’t that all encompassing?
Today I've started fasting and praying for:
*Repentance, 
*Revival and 
*Rain 
... all across Aust but in especially the parched areas.
There’s a Christian Australian group that are doing this for the month of Oct. I’m joining in, in my own small way. 
It’s not easy and takes commitment. But prayers are a commitment, if they’re from the heart. However when you think one farmer a week reportedly commits suicide each week, due drought severity this is really, really critical. 
Souls need to be saved.
This prayer of Brother Mac’s is from two verses in the Bible:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Acts17:30
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3,4 
Note:
“ ..commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Hence "pray that all men everywhere repent". 
There is power in real prayer that aligns itself so closely to the perfect will of God.
As I prayed this morning, I used the verses of Ezra’s prayer for his nation. Let me share some, it’s in Ezra 9:6 -15 (link to it here).
Ezra 9:6, 13
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
What has always struck me, was that although Ezra personally had not partaken of this great sin of his people, he aligned himself with the full extent their sinful ways. 
Why?
Because whether we’ve committed that exact same sin, or not, we are of the same sinful nature, worthy of the same condemnation. 
God does not measure as we do (2 Cor 12: 10 -16).
Black and little white lies do not exist at God's judgement  seat. 
Hate = murder (1 Jn 3:15)
So in my prayers for my nation I must follow such Godly examples and plead for mercies in spite of “our” great sinfulness.
The key to this Repentance, Revival, and Rain (in God's mercy), is found in 
2 Chronicles  7:14 
If my people,.. called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Note the two sets of actions.
*** on our part = humble, pray, seek, turn
*** God’s part = hear, forgive, heal
Needs right order to be effectual.
Oh, that we might humble ourselves pray and turn from our wicked ways.. and seek forgiveness, seek God's face! 
For then God will indeed hear our prayers, forgive our great sin and trespasses against His holiness and heal our land.
O Lord, even though we are so very unworthy, please forgive us of our great excessive wickedness and sinfulness.
Wilfully we are guilty of disobeying the holy truth of Thy Word, please forgive me, forgive us all,  please Father, for Thy great name's sake. 
We come in Jesus' name, that our poor wayward nation of Australia might be healed, a spiritual healing of repentance with revival, and physical healing with the blessing of rain. 
Mercy from above in spite of our great sin, for the state of NSW that only last week passed that Abortion law, slaying little ones, as others have done before.
Oh Lord please forgive us, we are so full of sin and so needy. Send please, in Thy great mercy, a revival upon parched hearts of this sinful land, and graciously send rain upon the parched lands of heartbroken farmers. Our hearts break with them, Father, and though we are not worthy, we cast ouselves upon Thy great grace. 
Grace greater than our sins. 
In the precious name of our Lord Jesus, Whose blood was shed for the sins of us all, Amen.
Lord bless dear ones, let us pray fervently for our nations. Oh, how such prayer is needed.
Sending prayer hugs πŸ™πŸ»πŸ€— for you, in your burdens,
Shaz in Oz.x
*****

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5 comments:

Brenda said...

I am sorry to hear about the wildfires Sharon, I pray Ausie gets some rain soon. Farmers all over are struggling to make it, suicide is high for them. I pray for them too since Dwayne was a farmer. We are starting fall dry as well. Not as dry as you guys, but still dry. Our winter can fix that though if we get a lot of snow. So prayers my friend, a great post. I wish you well with the fasting. As always, you give us plenty to think upon. Hugs, Brenda

kiwimeskreations said...

A sobering post Shaz - thank you for having the courage to post it! I was wondering about the wildfire situation.

We are not in drought, but have had a dry Autumn and early Winter, and although I would love some sunshine and warmth, I am glad of the rain we are currently getting - just wish it didn't come with hail and winds, which promptly dry the soil surface!

Blessings
Maxine

Anne said...

How ignorant I have been not associating that what is happening on the other side of the world is a result of my sin as well. Praying. xxx

Conniecrafter said...

So sorry to hear that the rain situation has gotten that bad. I pray for those families were they thought there only option was to commit suicide.
I do agree that we all in every nation needs to ask for God's forgiveness, May God hear our prayers!

Betsy said...

Thank you for this heartfelt post. I realize there has always been sin in the world since the garden, but it truly does seem as though the world is on a spiraling course of evil. Our country has passed so many abortion laws too. Now babies can legally be murdered, even after birth. It’s horrifying. We have had hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes and the list goes on and on. They all seem to be getting more severe. Sometimes I wonder, in my minuscule intellect, if God is showing us just a bit of his righteous wrath on our nation for turning away from what our founding fathers laid the foundation on. The foundation was God. I am definitely joining you in prayer this month my dear friend.
Much love and many blessings,
Betsy