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WEEK TWENTY—FIVE: Friday, May 12—Thursday, May 18, 2006

I. REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH: LYING

[The spirit of Jezebel witchcraft: Part Two]

Lying is another sin that prevails much with those who have the controlling spirit. “He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.” (Psalm 101:7)

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)

Christians wound, kill and destroy their own. Those of us who are doing this do not have total say in the Body of Christ. The Bible talks of a five-fold ministry—not a one-fold ministry. We are to disciple, build up, and send out; not “lord over” everyone. We are walking on dangerous ground before God if we do.

Jesus said to His disciples concerning the Pharisees and the Sadducees of their days: “So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice.” (Matt. 23:3) We need to “walk the walk”—not just “talk the talk!”

(Source: Riding with the King in Unity, by Giles F. Mack, P.O. Box 1761, Branson, MO 65615, pp. 88,91.)

“Father God, we continue to ask You to search our hearts, that we might see our own wicked ways, repent of our sin toward each other, and move in healing and unity of spirit. Gracious Heavenly Father, help us to see the lies and deceit we may commit, and to quickly turn to you asking for forgiveness, cleansing and healing. We ask this in Jesus’ Name, amen.”

II. REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION: NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES

This week, as we continue to examine the root issues of our national sin, we turn our hearts towards those who lived here before us: the Native Americans. The atrocities committed against these precious souls “in the name of Christianity” are too numerous to cite here. Only our Omniscient God knows it all; and only He can bring healing from the deep wounds that have festered among these people for centuries, on land now called The United States of America.

Today, we turn to the first of three issues for which we must offer prayer:

THE SIN OF BROKEN TREATIES (LAND ISSUES)

According to the Word of God, the breaking of a treaty or a covenant between two nations brings a curse upon the land. In the Book of Second Samuel, the Bible records that the Israelites had sworn a treaty to protect the Gibeonites—a treaty that was later broken by King Saul:

“Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, ‘It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.’ So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.” (2 Samuel 21:1,2)

Looking to our own land and our own history, the Native American tribes are actually each a sovereign government—governments which our own U.S. government has had to recognize since our inception as a nation. And clearly, the land on this continent belonged to those Native American tribes. As our nation was founded and then grew in size, each time “the white man” moved west to claim land, a treaty had to be signed between the Native Americans and the U.S. Government allowing them to do so. Tragically, each time that treaty was ultimately broken.

This pattern of making and breaking treaties has continued for hundreds of years until, by now, every treaty that our government made with the Native American tribes has been broken. NONE were honored; and neither were the Native American peoples, either.

In the process of seeing these treaties broken, our own government perpetrated a variety of atrocities against the Native Americans in order to evict them from the land. Those atrocities will be studied in detail next week. For now, let us go to our Father, for only He can correct the wrongs of the past.

“Father God, we ask You to forgive us for the breaking of treaties, and the many atrocities we have perpetrated against the Native American people, both as American citizens and as Christians, too. Only You, Lord, know the great and deep pain we have caused these people; and only You, Father God, through Your Shed Blood, can forgive us for this sin and bring healing, renewal, hope and salvation to Native American men and women all across this land. We ask You to remove the barriers that the enemy has built between us; and take down the dividing wall that even exists today between the “white man” and the “Indian.”

“Let all the guilt, anger, shame, remorse, revenge, hurt and pain associated with these acts be swept away through the washing of the Blood of the Lamb; and teach us how to demonstrate Your love and Your amazing grace to the Indigenous Peoples of the United States of America. We ask all of this in Jesus’ Precious Name, amen and amen.”

As the Native American chiefs once smoked the peace pipe with American settlers and soldiers, trusting them to honor their sovereignty, we grieve that that trust was then broken. We now claim Eph. 2:14-17, asking our Lord to bring healing and true peace between us:

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.”

III. THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: LAND ISSUES

This week, we lifted up our government and its role in the fulfillment of Israel's destiny to become a blessing in the earth, focusing in particular on Land Issues.

“And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: ‘I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” (Genesis 28:13-14)

The words found in Genesis 28:13-14 were spoken by the Lord to Jacob as he was fleeing his brother's wrath. They were spoken at a place Jacob named Bethel, today in Samaria. In appearing to Jacob, God actually placed upon him the burden of His Word, gave him vision, hope and faith, as well as understanding as to his and his seed's destiny.

We prayed:

• For the Lord to speak again to our Leaders in government, especially our Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
• For the Word of God to become real to them regarding the Land and Israel's future.
• For the Lord to reveal Himself to them and give them vision. (Just as He did to former leaders: Herzel and Ben Gurion.)
• For understanding regarding God's Word will come to them before any more unilateral moves to give away the Land occur.

(Source: Intercessors for Israel)

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