For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me– Psalm 86:5-7 ESV
Humans were made to shape their world (Genesis 1:28).
Consequently,
All humans have an inborn desire to make a difference. This fundamental longing gets magnified when a person embraces Jesus as Lord (Acts 4:12, Ephesians 1:13, James 1:21). God literally saves people from their sins for the purpose of doing good in the world (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, most Christians spend a good portion of their lives trying to figure out exactly what God wants them to do. There’s nothing wrong with a Christian searching for their God ordained purpose in this life.
However.
Sometimes Christians miss the forest for the trees when it comes to the subject of purpose. We can get so caught-up in trying to discover what God wants us to do as individuals we forget there are things God wants all Christians to do all the time, regardless of who they are or what their individual calling is. There are some non-negotiables in the Christian life. All Christians are called to behave in a holy manner (Hebrews 12:14), serve in some capacity (Romans 12:5-8), forgive others (Matthew 6:15), practice thankfulness (Colossians 3:15), be generous with their resources (Luke 6:38, Romans 12:13) love others sacrificially (1st Corinthians 13, 1st Peter 1:22, 1st John 3:11) and pray Matthew 5:44, 1st Thessalonians 5:17, Colossians 4:2.
Okay, so.
I would be a gigantic liar if I were to I tell you I understand everything there is to understand about prayer. I don’t. Truth-be-told, after thirty years of following Jesus, the in-and-outs of how and why prayer works is still a bit of a mystery to me. That said, my experience with prayer has taught me prayer is a powerful thing frequently underestimated by most believers. Prayer can literally transform people and situations in a way nothing else can.
We live in a world that is in desperate need of all sorts of transformation in all sorts different areas. Every day we are confronted with new and completely crazy-town ideas the world has decided are totally true and one-hundred-percent reasonable.
That’s where we come in.
There are three prayers Christians can pray everyday that will bring real and lasting transformation to this messed-up planet. Christians should be praying for:
A moral awakening-
The whole notion of morality and goodness has been turned on its head (Isaiah 5:20). Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the rainbow movement. This movement has even infiltrated some churches. The rainbow people teach behaviors and activities God says are sinful are actually a good, helpful, wholesome and normal way to live life (Deuteronomy 18:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21, 1st Corinthians 6:9 1st Timothy 1:10). This new sexual ethic has become so rooted in our thinking that no one will change their minds about the new sexuality unless God touches hearts and shows people truth. Christians should urgently pray for a moral awakening and the repentance that always comes with a moral awakening. Without it there is little hope for transformation and zero hope for revival.
For truth to be revealed and received-
We live in an age of lies. Seriously. There are lies are being told about everything from sexuality and gender to what makes people happy to what exactly is safe and unsafe. Some lies are being told out of evil motives by people who want power. Other lies are told by deceived people who sincerely believe the lies are truth. When men and women reject God they automatically reject what He says is true about everything (Romans 1:18-32). This causes them to believe lies about every part of life. We are currently at a tipping point where more people believe lies than truth. This means Christians must make a daily practice of praying that truth about life, God and current events will be revealed and received by those who have been deceived (Ephesians 6:14, John 8:32).
The church will be ready for God to answer our prayers-
Most Christians I know are praying for revival right now. This is an essential thing to pray for. However, revival will not come to the world unless the church is ready for it. One of the responsibilities of the church is to make converts into mature disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). An irrefutable law of life is that all creatures produce after their own kind. This is every bit as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical (Genesis 1, Matthew 23:15). Weak, unhealthy, self-focused Christians inevitably produce weak, unhealthy, self-focused disciples. Christians prepare for revival by becoming the people God has called us to. This means casting off sin and seeking to live lives that are one-hundred percent God honoring (Hebrews 12:1).
These prayers are critical because our world is caught in a spiritual battle the likes of which the world has not seen in centuries (Ephesians 6:10-12). Without focused prayer nothing will change and without change our world is headed for all kinds of disaster.
