I had something big happening in my life. Something hurtful. Something heartful.

Darkness was closing in.

I decided to pray like Hezekiah, so I ran to the temple to my Lord.

I got alone with Him and got on my knees and got humble and got truthful.

I spread out my hands and my heart and my bad news before my God, the King of kings.

GOD, do You see what they are doing?

Do You hear what they are saying?

Do you feel the ripping of their laughter on my soul? The whipping of their insults in my spirit? The stripping of their mocking on my heart?

I prayed like Hezekiah.

I reminded God of who He is– the Great I AM. I reminded God of who I am. I am I AM’s, His child.

I poured out my hurt and my hopes and my faith and asked God to act.

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 34:7

And He did.  One minute THEY were in my life, large and looming. The next minute THEY were gone. Silenced.

The prayer of Hezekiah. 30 seconds. 127 words. A nation is saved. Destiny shifts. Faith blooms. Who is like our God?

Pray like Hezekiah.

Have you prayed a Hezekiah prayer? Leave me a comment; I’d love to hear from you!

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Day 1, The Lord’s Prayer: Pray for God’s Will.

 Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

 

“This, then is how you should pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

 

Prayer Focus: The prayer focus for Day 1 is revival. Revival for our country starts with revival in my own heart. We must each seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Our first priority is to glorify God. When we get our hearts and priorities set by seeking and doing His will, everything else will come into alignment with Jesus. He can then begin working His plan in each one of our lives. Revival will happen when we live by the credo “thy will be done.” To the degree that we relinquish control to God is the degree to which the Holy Spirit can begin to transform our lives. Imagine if we all did that! As our lives transform, so will our nation. Revival happens one soul at a time.

 

Action Steps:

1. Find a quiet place to process with the Lord. Take your Bible and a journal.
2. Pray for revival to start in your own heart. Ask the Lord to show you any habits, actions, thoughts, words, attitudes, etc., that need to change in you so that you are ready for revival.
3. Journal about what you feel God is showing you.
4. Once you feel your own heart is set, move to praying for your community, state, and nation. Choose a scripture that you can pray specifically for our nation and use that throughout the week.

 

Day 2, The Prayer of Nehemiah: Rebuild Some Walls

 

Scripture: Nehemiah 1:5-11, 2:18b

 

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man” … “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

 

Prayer Focus: The prayer focus for Day 2 is unity in our country. In the story of Nehemiah, Israel was in trouble because those who had survived the exile and were back in Jerusalem were facing the extreme situation of a broken-down wall and burned gates. They were defenseless and open to other enemy attacks without the protection of the wall that encircled the city. Rebuilding this wall was top priority if they were going to once again live in safety. They needed the remnant to work together to rebuild the wall.

Today we are facing a divided nation, as are many of our European and African brothers and sisters, as we deal with a caustic society where respect and manners have given away to prejudices and a do-and-say-what-you want mentality. We need to rebuild the walls of unity, respect, and peace in our nations.

 

Action Steps:

1. Take your journal and Bible to a quiet place.
2. Ask God to show you if you have any wrong beliefs/attitudes that need to be corrected.
3. Journal what you feel God is showing you.
4. Prayerfully seek ways you can reach out to others who are different than you. We can’t try to force this, but must ask God to open opportunities and then be watchful for them.
5. Consider serving in a ministry that gives you opportunity to interact with a diverse group of people.
6. Diligently intercede over divisions in your own family, neighborhood, church, and country. Write down any specific requests that the Holy Spirit quickens to your heart in your journal.

 

Day 3, Prayer Daniel: Admit Our Sin and Ask for God’s Intervention.

 

Scripture: Daniel 9:15-19

 

“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! “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.

 

Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

 

 

Prayer Focus: For Day 3 our prayer focus is restoration, upcoming elections and leaders. Because we have chosen to walk by sight and not by faith, to follow our own heart and forget the word of God, our nation is in turmoil. God will only bless us when His people follow His word and His will. Thankfully, God constantly calls us to repent, to turn back and start over again with Him. The election of 2016 is critical. We are at a turning point. The “watchman on the wall” is calling. We need strong godly citizens and leaders to help our nation thrive. The battle for our heart, for the heart of our families, cities and nations will be won our knees with the sword of the spirit on our lips. Pray for the hearts of the people to turn back to God so we will elect God’s chosen leaders. Pray for God to surround the leaders who are in power with godly counselors, like Daniel (Never doubt the influence of one godly man or woman placed strategically by God). In Christ, we always have hope.

Action Steps:

 

1. Find a quiet place to process with the Lord. Take your Bible and a journal.
2. Pray for God to reveal sinful attitudes and actions in your own heart and life. Ask Him to show you sins of commission (things you’ve done but shouldn’t have) and sins of omission (things you haven’t done but should have). Confess your sins to God.
3. Journal about what you feel God is showing you. Ask for His healing and restoration.
4. Now pray and ask God to show you sins committed at a local, state and national levels. Stand in the gap and corporately confess to God these sins.
5. Ask for forgiveness and restoration for our cities, states and nation.
6. Throughout the rest of the week, continue to take time to pray and confess on all four levels. Choose scriptures to pray specifically throughout the week.

 

 

Day 4: The Prayer of Hezekiah: God’s Deliverance

 

Scripture: Isaiah 37:15-20

 

“And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. Then Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying: “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD, You alone.”

 

 

Prayer Focus: Our prayer focus for Day 4 is terrorism. We can no longer shut our eyes and pretend terrorism is a Middle East problem. Five of seven continents have experienced terrorist attacks. Since most of us will not be moving to Antarctica, we must face the problem and act. The most powerful thing we can do is pray. Pray for God to:

1. wreck the plans of terrorists
2. confuse their communications
3. cut off their supply lines
4. use their plans of evil for good
5. raise up mighty men and women of God to oppose their plans with force
6. make us all ready to live courageously in the face of great danger and be willing to lay down our lives if needed
7. infiltrate the hearts and minds of terrorists with the truth of His Holy Word.
8. send in missionaries to witness to all involved in terrorist activities.

By the mighty power of Jesus’ Holy Name we pray, Amen.

Action Points:

1. Get out your prayer journal and read through the scriptures for today again. record in your journal any thoughts you have or actions God is prompting you to take.
2. If you are connected to the Internet, Google search the latest terror attacks throughout the world. Choose the three or four of them, record them in your journal and pray for the victims, their families, the first responders and the leaders of those nations.
3. Access the following link and pray for one or several of the nations listed in the terrorism index: Global Terrorism Index
4. Here comes the hard part. God tells us to pray for our enemies. Let’s do it. Let’s pray for the terrorist cells to be confronted dead on by the life-changing, heart-rending power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for God to pursue them night and day, to speak to them through the testimony of those they kill and their dreams at night. May they have no peace until the meet the Prince of Peace.
5. Look up the names of known terrorists and pray specifically for them to turn to Christ, for God to interrupt their plans and for them to see God moving in the lives of those they are persecuting. 

Day 5 The Fast of Esther for the Persecuted

 

Scripture: Esther 3: 8-9, 4:13-17

 

Esther was a young Jewish woman who had been exiled and lived in Persia with her older cousin Mordecai, about 100 years after the Babylonian captivity. By a series of dramatic events Esther is named Queen of the Persian Empire. Haman, one of the king’s advisors, hated the Jews and devised a scheme to annihilate all of the Jews in Persia.

 

“Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.

 

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.”

 

Prayer Focus: Our prayer focus for day 4 is the persecuted church and Christians. Every day around the world people are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and martyred for their faith. One Christian is killed every 5 minutes (11 each hour, 273 each day, about 100,000 each year). While these people may be strangers they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. When Esther heard about the plight of her people, she chose to act. She called for believers everywhere in Persia to fast and pray for God to act and deliver His people. After three days of fasting and praying, at the risk of her own life, she approached the king and asked for deliverance. We, however, can boldly approach the throne of grace and ask our King for mercy without fearing for our lives. Today, let’s commit to spending a half hour in prayer for the persecuted church and persecuted Christians. Ask God to raise up others to pray. Let’s open our eyes to the need and speak out for those who are suffering and act.

Action Steps:

1. Once again, read through the scriptures for today and record your thoughts in your prayer journal.
2. Click a link. We tend to think the oppression and persecution of Christian people belongs to a bygone era. However, more Christians are being persecuted for their faith today than in any other time in history. Please click on the following link for Voice of the Martyrs and learn how you can get involved. Voice of the Martyrs.
3. While at their website sign up for their free Voice of the Martyrs newsletter. Click on the Get Involved link and learn about several significant ways you can impact and encourage persecuted Christians around the world.
4. Throw a party! One of my favorite ways to help persecuted and oppressed women is through Women at Risk. “Women at Risk International is a, nonprofit organization, established to create circles of protection around at-risk women and children … we provide safe places to heal from abuse, trafficking, exploitation, and more. Our passion is to empower survivors to live and work with dignity and hope.” We have manicure parties, make-up parties, and cooking parties so why not host a party to help the persecuted? To watch a short video on how to host a WAR party click on the link: Women at Risk Party. I did it with my 5^th graders and we made over $500 to donate to those at risk!
5. Get a Map. To help you track the countries you are praying for, Every Home for Christ offers free prayer maps, e-books, and prayer guides. Click on the link and order yours today. Every Home for Christ

Final Challenge: Don’t let it end here. God wants you to take what you have learned and use it to teach others. Start your own 5 Days to Fast and Pray group.

Esther called out to other believers and asked them to join her in praying for the deliverance of God’s people. There has never been an easier time in history to start a prayer group than 2016. Technology, social media and e-mail have made it possible for any person to impact the culture at a global level. A few clicks of a mouse and you can set up your own 5 Days to Fast and Pray Facebook group.

If you are willing to answer God’s call, here’s how to set up your own prayer group:

1. Go to your own Face book page.
2. Click on the home tab next to your account picture on the top ribbon.
3. On the left hand pane under Groups, click on Create Group and Facebook will help you set up your own page.
4. After your group is set up, you can add/invite members in the right hand pane where it says add members.
5. You can also go to your own personal wall and create a post advertising your prayer/bible study group!
6. To access a logo and header for your group, please click on the links provided: Facebook Meme Facebook Header

 

Let us know if we can assist you with your group set-up. Jane and I are praying for you!

In Jesus Name, Amen.

 

Day 6:Service

“There was an abundance of burnt offerings, along with the usual liquid offerings, and a great deal of fat from the main peace offerings. So the Temple of the LORD was restored to service.” 2 Chronicles 29:35

 

 

Service [sur-vis] noun

1. an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service.
2. the supplying or supplier of utilities or commodities, as water, electricity, or gas, required or demanded by the public.

verb

1. to make fit for use; repair; restore to condition for service: to service an automobile.
2. to supply with aid, information, or other incidental services.

Have you ever endured the breakdown of an appliance or other convenience at your home?

About one year ago, we purchased a new washing machine. Shortly after we bought it, it malfunctioned so I called the service department number. Unfortunately, the service department was going through a computer upgrade and as a new customer my information had not yet been entered into the old or the new system. I was assured it would happen the next day, and they instructed me to call back then. This same scene played out every day for 5 days. My impatience and anger grew as large as my mountain of unwashed laundry on the basement floor. My out-of-service washing machine was doing me no good.

Well, during the reign of King Ahaz, the people of Judah had an out-of-service problem too, but it wasn’t an appliance; it was much more serious than my inconvenience. They posted an out-of-service sign  on the door of the Temple. It closed due to the people’s freefall into idolatry and sin.

When Hezekiah became king, he reversed this slide into sin and, as we saw on Day 2, began cleansing the temple. The temple was cleansed, the people were cleansed, and sacrifices and burnt offerings were made. Today’s verse may seem a bit odd, talking about burnt offerings, liquid offerings, and fat ( well, then again, maybe not with Thanksgiving next week!), but then the writer of this books slips in this sentence, “so the Temple of the Lord was restored to service.” Now we see that this verse is actually cause for great celebration. For years the Temple had been closed. No worship, no cleansing of sins, no restoration. But now the out-of-service sign is ripped off the door and once again mercy and forgiveness are flowing.

 

Pray for Service

As we’ve already talked about this week, as New Testament Christians, we are temples for the Holy Spirit. What kind of signs are we hanging on the doors of our temples? Do they say “Out of Service” or “Open for Service”? I have to ask myself, do my attitude and actions draw people to the Lord or am I driving them away? Am I only concerned with my needs, or am I setting aside time to do