These are important days indeed ─ ones that need our attention and diligence. But attention and diligence in what?

The waters of allegiance to God need to be stirred. And a call to action needs to be issued with prayer as our greatest resource and God as our only true hope. What is our first step?

Revival prayer. Only prayer can hold back the floodtide of sin and God’s judgment and release the cleansing, healing hand of God.

God’s Word gives us historical accounts of His mercy, deliverance, and revival among His people. One good example of that is when Israel had been taken captive by the Babylonians (Babylonian is the ancient name for Iraq). In Daniel 9, we have a wonderful illustration of a prayer that Daniel offered to God to deliver the Israelites from their captivity.

Adrian Rogers
Love Worth Finding Ministries

Pray With Serious Concentration

Daniel said, “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). To “set our face” refers to the faith and fervency of our prayers. We are to sincerely pray with every inch of our being as individuals, as a church body, even as a nation. But not just any prayer, it must be prayer and fasting.

• What is fasting?

Fasting is not merely going without food. It is not dieting or cutting down on our eating for health reasons, though we ought to do that. Fasting is going without food, water, and other pleasures for a spiritual purpose.

• Why do we fast?

We are to fast with the correct motivation unto the Lord. Matthew 6:17-18 says, “…when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”