Global 40 Days of Prayer: Devotional: Day 1

DEVOTIONAL DAY 1 AUGUST 6, 2013 Intention: The world is waiting for the church to WAKE UP and call on our God! Scripture:  Jonah 1 (taken from verses 4-12) A violent storm arose....But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.    CAPTAIN:  How can you sleep?  Get up and call on your god!  Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish. CREW:  Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?  JONAH:  I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.   Reflection: In these days God has been using the story of Jonah to sound a WAKE UP CALL to the Church particularly in the area of prayer.  As Jonah was given a responsibility to preach to the city of Nineveh, the Church has been given the responsibility to pray for the people of our cities and nations and especially those who lead them (1 Timothy 2:1-6).  And much like Jonah, we have fallen asleep and run away from our responsibility.  As a result we find our world experiencing a great storm and the question is echoing across the nations:  Who is responsible?  Some would say it's the devil's fault...others would blame a particular group or religion.  But the story of Jonah speaks to us that we, as God's people, are responsible and it is our fault. Thankfully, though, as in the story of Jonah, there is HOPE and a second chance!  During these 40 days as we WAKE UP and take responsibility (Jonah 1:12) for our prayerlessness, as we cry out day and night from the belly of the whale (Jonah 2:2), and as we turn away from our worthless idols (Jonah 2:8), the Lord who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Jonah 4:2) will hear and respond to our united cry for mercy!  The world is waiting! Prayer: Father, we honour You as our gracious and compassionate God who is slow to anger and full of unfailing love!  We humbly bow before You and confess that we have run away from our responsibility to stand in the gap on behalf of the world and cry out day and night for justice.  We also confess the many worthless idols we have run to that have stolen our hearts away from this responsibility to pray.  We ask for Your forgiveness and for Your grace to strengthen us to wake up and become the House of Prayer You always had in Your heart for us to be!  Amen! Continue in prayer using the 4 prayer points as the Lord leads you.   Four Prayer points:    *Pray for a worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit for revival and transformation of the nations of the world.   *Pray for a billion people to find Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. *Pray for an end to abortion and for God to turn back the tide of death and immorality that is sweeping the nations of the world. *Pray for a multiplication of prayer, praise and worship to God across the world as never before, to bring great glory to God. Today's devotional courtesy of: Candace Lahr, HOPE WA (House of Prayer for Everyone), Australia     Email Candace  See us at: www.Dayofrepentance.org  STAY IN TOUCH