Making America Great Again: Tapping into the Power of Prayer, The Bible, and Worship

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Nehemiah 9:2-3

Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ³ While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the Lord their God.

(CSB)

The first amendment of the United States Constitution prevents the government, or any government official from mandating people make a public confession of sin and belief in God.  (1)  While Christians like myself may entertain the thought of the nation on its knees in confession, it would not be biblical for the government to mandate this public confession for belief in God and confession of sins is voluntary (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9).  However, the first amendment also grants Christians the freedom to share their beliefs with others moving them to confess their sins and profess their belief in Jesus as their savior.  The responsibility of spreading the Gospel and moving the nation to repentance, confession, and worship lies with the people of God and not government (Mark 16:15). 

After completion of the wall and the public reading of the law, the Israelites assembled together to pray confessing their sins, reading from the Word of God, and a fourth of the day in worship.  While the U.S. Constitution forbids a similar government mandated public assembly in the United States, the gathering of Christians together voluntarily occurs each Sunday across the nation.  Unfortunately, however, the people of God often do not realize the tremendous power of prayer, study of the Bible, and assembling together, failing to tap into the tremendous power available to them (Matthew 18:18-20).  Jesus knew the need for His disciple’s empowerment and why he cautioned His disciples to wait for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit prior to beginning their ministry (Acts 1:4).  To effectively spread the Gospel and make America great again we must

1)      Tap into the power of prayer – James 5:16 reminds us of the power of our prayers.  Unfortunately, however, some in the world view prayer as a demonstration of weakness with some even believing prayer is a demonstration of one unwilling to make needed changes as evidenced by David Hogg, one of the survivors of the Parkland shooting.  (2)  However, if R.A. Torrey were alive, he would disagree after seeing prayers power to transform lives at work in his ministry, examples of which Chris Poblete mentioned on the BLB Blog.  (3)  The United States began with a solid biblical foundation as stated in the nation’s founding documents (1) (4) , but after many years of liberal progressive governance and policies has fallen off this solid foundation.  Prayer is powerful and just as prayer was instrumental in the group in Sydney, Australia, and the group in Bristol, England coming to Christ, (3) the powerful prayers of believers across the world will bring many to Christ.  The effect of these prayers will remove the violent intentions from the hearts of people, thus reducing violent crimes like mass shootings. 

2)      Know the truth of the Bible to resist and point out hypocrisy and deception – Truth liberates people and sets them free (John 8:32).  Conversely, lies and deception turn people away from the liberating power of truth, holding them captive.  Jesus said He is the way, truth, and life (John 14:6) with John 1:1 reminding us that God is the Word, and with Jesus being equal to God (John 5:17-18), we come to the logical conclusion that The Word of God is truth, the truth Jesus came to earth to declare (John 18:37).  In addition to protecting the President of the United States, the Secret Service also has the duty of detection of counterfeit money.  (5)  As part of their training, secret service agents become intimately familiar with real U.S. currency to detect counterfeit money more easily.  (6)  As Christians, we must tap into the power of truth in the Word of God to better discern hypocrisy and deception. 

3)      Tap into the power of worship – Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that true worshipers of God worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23).  Church services generally begin with songs which service to worship in spirit, preparing our hearts to receive truth from the Word of God.  Worship encompasses more than just music and encompasses offering praise, glorifying God, giving thanks, and offering service.  (7)  Looking at worship from this perspective, we begin to understand the words of Jesus to the woman at the well, worship in Spirit and truth. 

Tapping into the power of prayer, the Word of God, and worship makes America, or any nation, great again by transforming people, empowering, and enabling them to realize the Godly purpose for their lives.  A nation full of such empowered and transformed people transforms into a Godly great nation one individual at a time.  Beginning next Saturday, we will look at how to bring about revival, or turning nations and our world to God one individual at a time.  Please join us then and invite your friends. 

1. constitutionus.com. The Constitution of the United States. constitutionus.com. [Online] [Cited: January 21, 2017.] http://constitutionus.com/.

2. The Editorial Board. Florida school shooting demands more than thoughts and prayers. www.usatoday.com. [Online] USA Today, February 15, 2018. [Cited: April 22, 2018.] https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/15/florida-school-shooting-demands-more-than-thoughts-prayers/340400002/.

3. Poblete, Chris. EXAMPLES OF GOD'S POWER EVIDENT IN PRAYER. blogs.blueletterbible.org. [Online] The BLB Blog, August 9, 2012. [Cited: April 22, 2018.] http://blogs.blueletterbible.org/blb/2012/08/09/examples-of-gods-power-evident-in-prayer/.

4. ushistory.org. The Declaration of Independence. www.ushistory.org. [Online] [Cited: October 30, 2016.] http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.

5. Lovgren, Stefan. news.nationalgeographic.com. U.S. Secret Service's Other Job: Fighting Fake Money. [Online] National Geographic News, October 22, 2004. [Cited: March 25, 2017.] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1022_041022_tv_secret_service.html.

6. Challies, Timn. Counterfeit Detection (Part 1). www.challies.com. [Online] Challies Blog, June 27, 2006. [Cited: March 25, 2017.] http://www.challies.com/articles/counterfeit-detection-part-1.

7. Bayless, David. Worship and Service. www.dabhand.org. [Online] www.dabhand.org. [Cited: December 10, 2017.] http://www.dabhand.org/Essays/ME511_worship_and_service.htm.