We Pray For America!
- In the Lord’s Hand
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever he will. – Proverbs 21:1
When viewing satellite images, you can often see the course of a particular river… or where a river was once flowing but has since dried up. Water can be diverted out of its natural channel by several methods. Powerful flooding, earthquakes, or changes in water flow from upstream may naturally alter the flow. There is also the intentional man-made relocation of waterways for commercial or other purposes. Frequently, during a large construction project, artificial rivers or small containment areas can be used to temporarily divert or halt the water flow.
Today’s verse is a reassuring reminder. The heart of any political authority, including this nation’s president, is like a river. In God’s hands, this heart can be molded, turned, and shaped. The hand of the Lord can turn the person in authority according to His will, just as He can turn the course of a babbling brook or even shut down a mighty river. He is in control, and each person is ultimately subject to His will. God can change minds and redirect affairs according to His purposes and plan.
Consider how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and softened the heart of King Cyrus. Neither of these men knew or even acknowledged Him at first, but God’s hand was on their hearts. The Lord worked through King Solomon to build the first temple in Jerusalem, and again through King Darius and King Artaxerxes to rebuild it from the ruins. The heart of the president of the United States, whoever holds the office, is in the hands of Almighty God.
Trust in your Father and His plans for the nation and for the world. He is in charge and at work. Pray for God’s will to be accomplished in and through the president and public servants throughout this country.
Today’s Verse: Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Ezra 4:1-3, 7:11-16, 27-28
4 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: 12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now 13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, 15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
TODAY’S NATIONAL LEADER FOR PRAYER
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- Chief Judge Mark A. Barnett, U.S. Court of International Trade
Chief Judge Mark A. Barnett, U.S. Court of International Trade
- Born – 1963 in Reading, Pennsylvania
- Education – B.A., Dickinson College; J.D, University of Michigan Law School
- Profession – Attorney, Judge
- Political Experience – Trade Counsel for U.S. House Subcommittee on Trade, Commerce Department Chief Counsel for the Office of Import Administration
- In office since – 2021
- Family – Undisclosed
- Religious Affiliation – Undisclosed
- Chief Judge Mark A. Barnett, U.S. Court of International Trade
CONTINUE PRAYING WITH US
Read the Daily Prayer Briefing to view the president’s schedule and to pray for the day’s current events.
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