Our President has declared today a National Day of Prayer for two reasons. First, to intercede for our Texas brothers and sisters who have been so terribly affected by hurricane Harvey. Second, to pray for the healing of the deep wounds of racism in our nation & the reconciliation of the American people. Sisters & brothers, we need to wake up and recognize WHO the enemy is. The enemy comes to steal, kill, & destroy. Wherever there is the causing of division, no matter what “side” or platform it’s coming from or how many people are claiming “this is right”, especially as Christians, we MUST recognize the enemy so that he doesn’t blind us to turning against our brothers and sisters. I urge you to not be deceived by the lies that are pouring from the mouth of the enemy. The stories and footage I’ve seen that have come out of Harvey have been that of all races, genders, religions & faith groups working together to save lives and begin the rebuilding process… together.

Old wounds don’t go away instantaneously, and without God they won’t heal at all. But if we invite God into it then healing and rebuilding can happen much quicker than we may realize.

In the days of Nehemiah, the Israelites who had survived the exile and returned to Jerusalem were being robbed by thieves because their wall was broken down and their gates were burned. They were unable to protect themselves from their enemy. When Nehemiah heard of the trouble his people were going through he left Susa where he was serving the king of the nation that had oppressed them. Because of the favor that God gave Nehemiah AND because of his fasting and praying to God, the king sent Nehemiah away for as much time as he wanted, with armed guards, and FULLY funded to complete the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

God’s people tried to rebuild the walls and the gates themselves for somewhere around 70 years. When Nehemiah led the people, he called them to repent of sin (which in this case was oppressing the poor) and live righteously. The people repented and turned from wickedness, repaid those they swindled, and they completed the wall in a mere 52 days! That’s even with oppression and attacks from their enemies, food shortages, and conspiracies against Nehemiah. Friends, there’s no obstacle too great to accomplish when we commit our hearts and our nation to God, repent and turn from sin, and live righteously.

The church in America has been robbed and plundered by the enemy for far too long due to the broken walls of morality and the burned gates of culture. I’m not sure we’ve even been attempting to rebuild much on our own, let alone repenting from sin as a Church Body, turning to live righteously as the Bride of Christ, and praying and seeking God for Body of Christ leaders – modern day Nehemiah’s – to lead us in the rebuilding process. I pray that today and in the near future individually and as a Church Body we can and will repent of our sins and seek God to lead us in rebuilding the walls of morality and gates of culture.

With God nothing is impossible.