This resolution of Daily United Prayer is based on An Humble Attempt, originally put forward by Jonathan Edwards in 1748. Its design is to encourage God's people in the duty of united extraordinary prayer; setting aside some time every day to pray for the revival of His church and the advancement of Christ's kingdom in our homes, in our churches, in our nation, and in the world.
"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19.
Our God is not stuck in the past. Can I say that reverently? Perhaps I can say it like this. Our God is not a "God of the dead, but of the living" (Luke 20:38). He is the God of "new things." He is the God of life itself. We can sometimes get stuck in the past. We have a hard time getting over our past failures for example. We have a hard time imagining that anything can change or improve. We have a hard time believing that we serve a God that can put a "new song in my mouth" (Psalm 40:3). We are so often stuck in the past. But not our God. He says, "I will do a new thing." Let us step out on this promise with confidence and with great expectation. May our faith be like the hot air that causes the balloon of our prayers to rise into the skies. May the sagging bough of our branch be lifted up to catch the life-giving rays of the sun. Let's pray that God will do a new thing.
I stumbled across this news item which reports on how the next generation is leaving their faith. Here are some excerpts that are generally true of this generation:
"Not only no connection to faith congregation but also really no time in life to stop and contemplate anything spiritual."
"Even some of the people who identify themselves as Christians and say they believe in God and have accepted the gospel, for a lot of them, church and contemplation and worship have been squeezed out by the schedule in their lives."
"People are continuing to search and continuing to think about the larger questions, but the lack of dedicated spaces and time set aside for that leads to the chaos that we see around us presently."
This has been our sentiment for some time. We are living in a never-ending state of noise and distraction. There's simply TOO MUCH to take our attention away from the things of eternity. I mean, even with that one news article, look at these other headlines:
100-year-old WWII vet breaks down, says this isn't the ‘country we fought for’: ‘I am so upset’
Elon Musk breaks Twitter silence with photo of the pope, ex-wife in Italy
This July 4th, COVID is still killing hundreds of Americans each day
World's largest freshwater fish caught in Cambodia
Come on, folks. It's like the world is throwing everything at the public and seeing what sticks with their attention. It's time to say no. It's time to make space. Create a perimeter. Take time to be holy. Speak oft with thy Lord.
DAILY UNITED PRAYER unitedprayer.net
Mon-Fri @ 12pm EDT // Sat @ 10am EDT
We invite you to join our dedicated and earnest group of praying participants of all ages from around the world that meet every day over Zoom to pray. At the start of each prayer call, a different individual will bring a brief Scriptural meditation. Here's the most recent:
