There’s a lot of concern about where the nation is headed. People are uncertain about our leaders, their’s a fear of war and fear of rights being taken from us. And we’re taking action. We’re writing political Facebook posts, joining rallies, picketing, rioting, even physically assaulting people who think different. We’ve become a divided nation, where both sides are flexing their muscles, hoping to intimidate the other into submission. Is this how problems are solved? How many of us are coming to God?

I was in a political conversation recently, where the individual I was speaking with was legitimately terrified for our country. I responded that I was praying for our nation and it’s leaders daily, and the response was, “Well, a lot of people prayed about the massacre of the jews and it did nothing.” I think many believe that God is active in the individual level; for illnesses, job troubles, choosing the right place to live…, but when it comes to big problems, we tend to think that God is limited, or absent. Well, God is limitless, so maybe we’re praying the wrong way.

Pastor Zedick chose an excerpt from the book of Daniel that relates very close to today. In this chapter, the Jews, who were enslaved by the Babylonians for 67 years, were about to have a new leader. The Persians overtook Babylon, and king Cyrus was about to begin his reign. If there was ever a time to be afraid as a nation, that was it. Daniel brought his concerns to God. He didn’t start a march, he didn’t protest, he didn’t even stand on a podium to tell the nation of Israel that they messed up and needed to change. He prayed, and he started by confessing sins – not just his own sins – the sins of all of Israel. This is significant, because I have a tendency to blame others for my situation before looking internally. Daniel not only looked internally, he took responsibility for sins that he didn’t do. I’m one of five children and my father used to go on tirades when one of us left evidence of wrong-doing, because when he asked who did it, we would all claim innocence. It took me a few years, but I realized that if I got up and cleaned-up or handled whatever my father was upset about, the tirade would stop. He didn’t care who’s fault to was. He wasn’t keeping a record of how many half-empty soda cans we each left in the living room. He wanted one of us to take responsibility and take action. Daniel took accountability for the entire nation of Israel. Are we taking accountability for our nation or are we pointing fingers at the other side?

History tells us that, shortly after his reign began, King Cyrus freed the Jews and allowed them to rebuild their temple. Daniel’s prayer was answered, and God has the same power today as then. We need to believe it. Prayer is not a feeble attempt at a last result after we’ve done everything we can think of, but it’s also not a wish list for God to fulfill. When we’re in prayer, we submit our requests, but we also need to be focused on what God’s plan is for us. God uses his followers as a catalyst for change, so we need to be listening.

To listen to the entire sermon, click here.