April 2nd - Shoulder To Shoulder
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and
stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30) NIV
50 Days of Intercession:
The final phase of this prayer project consists of 50 days of intercessory prayer. This part of the program begins tomorrow, April 3 and ends on May 22. We come together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Shoulder to shoulder we stand before the Lord in the gap on behalf of ourselves, our church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and our nation.
The book of Psalms will serve as our framework during these 50 days of prayer. Psalms is a book of praise and petition to the Lord.The Psalms remind us to “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10); They remind us that God alone is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1); He alone is our rock and our salvation (Psalm 62:2); He alone is our shelter in times of trouble (Psalm 27:5). The Psalms also lead us in praise to Him for answering when we cry out to Him in repentance and dependence (Psalm 34:6).
I have divided the book of Psalms into 50 daily Psalm Reading sections. So each of you prayer warriors will have read through the entire book of Psalms into 50 days, with each section taking only about 5-7 minutes of reading per day. There will also be a short devotional every day about the Scripture passage. So, in just about 10 minutes per day you can finish the Scripture reading and devotional (that doesn’t count the time you will spend in prayer.
As we read our respective Psalm reading and devotional for each day, let’s ask the Lord to lead us in what He would like us to bring to Him in prayer that day. The specific subjects may change from day to day based on the Psalm reading and devotional for that day. Or you may have a particular burden on your heart that will be the same throughout several or all of the 50 days. Let’s simply ask Him to guide us in what He wants us to bring to Him in prayer. The daily devotions are intended to encourage and embolden us as we read our Psalms to the Lord and then engage in our intercessory prayer.
Let’s keep in mind that the purpose of these 50 days of dedicated prayer is to stand in the gap for our church, our fellow Christians, and for our nation as a whole. Let’s ask the Lord to purify our hearts and lives and the hearts and lives of His people, returning us to our “first love” (Revelation 2:4). Let’s pray that He will enable us, His people, to turn from our wicked ways, so that He, Almighty God, will forgive our sins and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Let’s pray that us together rejoice that He has called each one of us to the privilege of interceding at this time for His purposes to be accomplished in our lives and in our nation. Let’s prepare to engage, shoulder to shoulder, faithfully standing in the gap for our church and our land!
We have submitted ourselves to Him during the 31 days of preparation so He can cleanse us and equip us to become powerful intercessors in this spiritual battle. Let’s now engage the enemy and take back the territory that has been surrendered!
Because of Jesus, our victory is assured! Our faithful fighting is all that remains to be done. As we cry out to Him over the next 50 days, He will hear our whole-hearted, desperate cries and empower them for the tearing down of strongholds, for the restoration of the hearts of His people and for the healing of our nation.
May our nation be renewed as the beacon of hope and the bright light that it once was for His kingdom, and may our church and our nation re-ignite our responsibility for the spreading of the gospel of good news to all the world!
Tomorrow — Let the battle begin!