We Declare E-Book

David Kubal

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 96

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

America needs prayer! Our nation seems to be in turmoil politically, socially, economically, and spiritually, and apart from a move of God, our future does not look bright. But you and your church can be part of the "rescue plan!"

 Through both prayer . . . and action!

 We Declare: 31 Days of Intercession for America by Dave Kubal and Intercessors for America is a 31-day devotional prayer guide that will fill you with hope as you meditate on its content and pray through its prayer points. Each day provides content about current issues from a biblical perspecitve, prayer points to pray, and an action step that will help you become the answer to your prayers.

 As you read and pray through the points in this book, you will pray for God's purposes for our nation in these areas:

Life

Religious Freedom

Constitutional Freedom

Voting and Elections

Politics

Education

Marriage and Sexuality

Technology

National Security

Foreign Policy

As we head into another divisive election, why not seek God's solutions for America! We Declare is an excellent prayer guide for an individual, a prayer group, or an entire congregation to pray through together. Why not pray through it at some point this summer or early fall, prior to the election.

Pray through We Declare antytime, but here are a few Suggested Staring Dates:

July 4

Oct 5 (31 days prior to Election Day)

David Kubal is the president of Intercessors for America, a ministry that informs, connects and mobilizes intercessors to pray for the United States and its leaders. Dave has been in national ministry for more than 25 years, after having earned a masters of divinity at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Kris, and they have three children and live in Purcellville, Virginia. 

Leseprobe

PrayerShop Publishing is the publishing arm of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. The Church Prayer Leaders Network exists to equip and inspire local churches and prayer leaders in their desire to disciple people in prayer and to become a “house of prayer for all nations.” Its online store, prayershop.org, offers more than 150 prayer resources for purchase or download.

Copyright © 2024 by Intercessors for America. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of PrayerShop Publishing, P.O. Box 10667, Terre Haute, IN 47801.

ISBN (Print): 978-1-970176-35-3

ISBN (E-Book): 978-1-970176-36-0

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

DECLARATION 1:Life

DECLARATION 2:Religious Freedom

DECLARATION 3:Constitutional Freedom

DECLARATION 4:Voting and Elections

DECLARATION 5:Politics

DECLARATION 6:Education

DECLARATION 7:Marriage and Sexuality

DECLARATION 8:Technology

DECLARATION 9:National Security

DECLARATION 10:Foreign Policy

Your Next Step

Introduction

“. . . Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Those words ring joyfully in our ears because they are fundamental principles embraced in one of the great documents of history: the American Declaration of Independence. So invaluable were these inalienable rights to our Founding Fathers that they pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor as they launched a new nation in defense of those rights. More than that, they declared together “a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence.”

Today, however, many Americans have largely forgotten what those words mean. The gift of life is treated flippantly or worse. Our liberties—especially religious freedom—are goods taken for granted, or perhaps even viewed as societal ills. And the pursuit of happiness is confused with a shallow search for the next high—a chasing after the wind.

I believe you’re beginning this We Declare: 31 Days of Intercession for America prayer guide because you know that America is in dire need of saving—and you sense that God wants you to be part of the rescue plan. I encourage you to take your time reflecting and praying as you read through the daily entries in this guide. Please voice boldly the declarations the Lord places on your heart. We need your heart and your voice!

And know that we at IFA stand ready to help you on this journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or our staff team at any point, through IFAPray.org or by calling 1-800-USA-PRAY. We’re in this together, and we’ll be declaring light, hope, and wisdom for you as you declare life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in your own way over this beautiful land.

May God reinvigorate our nation and truly bless America. Amen.

—Dave Kubal, President and CEO,    Intercessors for America

Declaration 1

Life

The very first gift God gave us is life. Human history begins with the Lord forming Adam’s body and breathing life into it. Then, at the focal point of history—the cross of Christ—God makes a way for our spirits and our bodies to live again. Our nation’s Founders were right to recognize the fundamental truth that God cherishes human life, that it is an inalienable right which earthly authorities are entrusted with respecting and defending. We believe that God will secure and bless our land as we revitalize a culture that honors the sanctity of human life.

Day 1: Embracing Life

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”(John 17:3)

As we embark together on this 31-day journey of intercession for America, there is no more fitting a place to begin than here, with a declaration of life for the people of our land. Think about it: Every one of our individual stories—not to mention our collective story as the human race—starts with God forming and breathing life into us. He gave us bodies and spirits. And He designed us to live with Him eternally.

Every one of us lost hold of that gift. We all—from Adam to the hundreds of thousands of new lives being born on the very day you are reading this—we all have gone astray. We all are stained by sin. We all make choices that set us on a road to physical and spiritual death.

But God. God didn’t give up on us. He so cherished us—the lives He breathed into existence—that He devised a radical plan to save us. At the cost of His own life, Jesus atoned for our wrongs. And then He rose. He rose from and defeated death and made a way for us to live again!

That is good news, friends! It’s a message of love. It’s a message of hope. And it’s a word that the people of our land desperately need to hear and to embrace.

It’s no secret that we as individuals and as a nation have made choices that are sending us down a dangerous path. If you are beginning this work of intercession, then this reality is probably already heavy on your heart. But remember: Death does not have the last word. Jesus conquered death. He is the way, the truth, and the life. That is a victory worth declaring!

PRAY

Praise God that He breathed life into us, and He made a way for us to escape the wages of sin and to live again!

Pray for the first friend or neighbor who comes to mind. And pray for the next stranger who crosses your path. Pray that somehow today God would break into their day, and that they would see that He loves them and wants them to truly flourish—to be filled with life.

Christ is risen! Declare the victory of life over death. Pray that eyes in our nation would be opened and that more hearts will embrace the love, hope, peace, and joy of that reality. Pray that our leaders would help our society to choose a path of life.

ENGAGE

Mail a card to a local government, business, or community leader. Keep it simple. Tell that individual about God’s love and gift of life. Invite that person to church. Will the leader respond? You never know until you take a step.

Day 2: Wonderfully Made

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.(Psalm 139:13–14)

When was the last time you looked into a mirror and said to yourself: “I am wonderfully made”? Is there a mirror nearby? How about a camera app on your mobile device? Stop just a minute and try it out.

OK, now look around you; is there someone next to you on a plane or train? Is there a person walking down the street or sitting in a coffeeshop window? Whoever you see, think to yourself: “That person is wonderfully made.”

This isn’t an exercise in vanity or superficiality. No matter who is near you, or what you saw in your reflection, at the core what you saw is beautiful. In Psalm 139 King David reminds us that we are “knitted” by God and that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Looking back further, the very first chapter of the Bible tells us that God created man in His own image. Actually, in case we missed the importance of that statement, the Genesis account immediately repeats it by declaring again: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Gen. 1:27).

The image of God—what does that mean? That’s worth its own 31-day study, but basically, it means that every single person ever “knitted” by God is uniquely and intrinsically special. Our lives are of inestimable worth, not because of anything we have done, but because of Who our Creator is.

Our nation’s Founding Fathers understood the fundamental importance of honoring life. That is why it’s the first inalienable right listed in the Declaration of Independence. Life is a precious gift from our Creator that human authorities are intended to preserve and protect.

Tomorrow we will turn to interceding in the face of our land’s most egregious offense against this basic underpinning of our society. But today, let us celebrate the beauty of every person as being wonderfully made. And let’s pray against any action or message in public policy, the media, pop culture, business, or anywhere else that defaces or demeans the sanctity of human life.

PRAY

What was the last advertisement you saw? Did it honor human dignity? Praise God if it did, and pray for change if it didn’t.

Take a look at the pop music charts, at the movies, at television, and at video games. Pray for light in all those spaces. Pray for culture influencers to honor human life and not to treat it cheaply or abusively.

Pray specifically against the perpetrators of human trafficking and other forms of modern-day slavery in our nation and around the world. Pray for the release and healing of the victims. May their spirits embrace the truth that they are not property, but people—individuals made in the image of God and loved by Him.

ENGAGE

What songs and videos are most popular in your media market right now? Do they honor the sanctity of the image of God? Perhaps you could post “reviews” on your favorite social media platform. Specify those things in a given song or video that do or do not honor human life, and boldly note why media producers must respect the dignity of human life in their creative works.

Day 3: Defend Prenatal Life

Speak up for those who cannot speak forthemselves. (Proverbs 31:8a, NIV).

Did you know that in 2020, Americans welcomed the births of more than 3.6 million babies? Praise God! But in that same year, the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute calculates, more than 900,000 prenatal lives were terminated. That means roughly one out of every five babies was aborted. Twenty percent of those who were to be in the graduating class of 2038—gone! When was the last time we grieved together over the loss of so many neighbors and loved ones whom we will never know, individuals who were not given the chance to live?

Actually, it is even worse: While we should remember that truly complicated and lose-lose life-threatening situations do occur in some pregnancies, far too many abortions are the result of an abortion-on-demand culture that preys on fear. It’s not that individuals were not given the chance to live. It’s that their lives were taken.

If we embrace human life as a gift and an inalienable right—a human right—given to us by God, then abortion-on-demand is one of America’s most egregious human-rights abuses. It is a scourge that has destroyed tens of millions of prenatal lives since the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling of 1973, and it continues to corrupt hearts, minds, and the very underpinnings of our land.