Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17 NAS
Here we are, less than a month from this year’s National Day of Prayer on May 6th 2021! These are exciting days for our thousands of coordinators who are planning and preparing prayer gatherings from coast-to-coast across America. While our name, ”National Day of Prayer Task Force” can be confusing to some who might think we only work one day a year, we are actually on mission to mobilize unified public prayer for America EVERY day of the year. We are blessed to steward and serve the Judeo-Christian expression of this special day that our leadership has served and spoken into since Billy Graham challenged Congress and the President to pass a law for an annual National Day of Prayer in 1952. As we prepare to celebrate the 70th observance of this prayer-filled day please continue to pray for all of our coordinators and make sure you check our website for the National Day of Prayer events nearest you.
We have spent the past several months praying and sharing through our prayer theme this year, “Lord Pour Out Your Love, Life, and Liberty.” In January we set the foundation in our conversation of deciding and declaring Jesus as our Lord. Only the Lord defines and designs us as our Creator, Savior, Sustainer, our all and everything. He knit us together in our mother’s womb. He made us in His image. We are His workmanship, never a mistake, but fearfully and wonderfully made. God authors our days and gives us purpose, Kingdom purpose, fruitfulness, that is enabled by His Spirit dwelling in us.
Therefore, as our Lord, He alone defines and designs Love, Life and Liberty. Satan and culture have tried to twist and counterfeit these since the beginning of the battle for our souls in the Garden of Eden. If Satan tricks you into believing the lie, he can tempt you to live it. God is love, acts in love and loves us unconditionally and sacrificially. It is up to us to respond and return that love in a personal relationship with Him. When you have settled who is Lord of your life then your response is love, honor, obedience, worship, and more. Love is a verb; it is lived out in daily life in action not merely an emotion. Our life is a gift and we receive and respond to it by loving God and love one another.
This month we turn to the final part of our prayer theme, Liberty. Liberty, real liberty is found in Christ not a country. Liberty is walking unchained from the stain and pain of our sin; living fully forgiven and fully free to live as our Creator designed us. In liberty we get to reach our destiny, to live a full life of purpose and fruitfulness. Liberty breaks every chain that holds us to our past and tethered us to the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
Our prayer theme for this year intercedes for America by asking the Spirit to pour out true Love, Life and Liberty over our nation. We pray He will soften hard hearts and heal broken ones as we engage, encourage, and equip the Church to love and live in the fullness of Christ as an example of the liberty, the abundant life, that we experience in Jesus. The world and culture are shifting sand, a moving target of popular trends that come and go like the wind. Just when you think you have arrived the train leaves the station and you are left abandoned, “canceled,” irrelevant, invisible. Jesus came that we could have real life; real love that won’t walk out on you, and real liberty that breaks every chain of pain and shame, that erases our sin with the freedom of forgiveness. Perhaps you know someone who desperately need God’s love, life, and liberty. Will you join us in interceding for our nation?
Our blessed Lord and Savior, we give thanks for Your love that brought You to dwell with us and die for us. We continue to celebrate Your Resurrection, not just Easter Sunday but every day knowing You defeated death and brought redemption to all who would believe and follow You. Real love, life, and liberty is our eternal reality in You as we pray the Spirit will pour out love, life, and liberty across America and draw all to You.
Serving Him with Gladness,
Kathy Branzell
President
National Day of Prayer Task Force