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Lam 3:24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

It is unto You, O Lord, that we return, praising You above the roar of dissent and strife that comes crashing around our ears in relentless ways. There is doom and despair on all sides, yet Your Word teaches that this is not our portion. YOU are our portion, Merciful Father ... it is in You that we live and move and have our being. If this were not so, O God, we would be as madmen ... fearful at every turn, easily swayed by the appeals of men.

Relentless is the media in portraying how impotent we are ... how ignorant we are ... how unthinking and uncaring we are, and how we need the wisdom of men to guide us. Father, is this not the sin of satan, who would be like unto You? Forgive us for relying upon the goodness of man, when there is none righteous, no not one. Forgive us for lack of persistent, insistent prayer that You would raise up men after Your own heart to be the leaders among us. Prepare our hearts in this time of chastening, that we might contritely call upon You in this time of trouble. Send Your Spirit to sweep across this land, that there would be a great awakening of our need for You, and You alone. Let not the enemy be victorious in abandoning a people whom You have set free ... all of hell has seemingly been loosed upon the earth to stamp out the tiny flame of liberty and freedom that has been set in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet ever is our hope in You ... thank You, Merciful Father, that though man plans, You decide.

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God! ~ William P. Merrill

And may it be, Merciful Father, that You will continue to minister to those in authority over us who look to You for wisdom and guidance, who name You as Savior and Lord. Keep them focused on what is right, and not what is expedient or popular, no matter the verbal assaults. Stir the American people to understand what is happening around them and to them, for evil is about to overtake. Hold back the full fury of the enemy's hatred, O Lord, lest we perish. May a heavenly hedge of protection surround Your anointed ones, even as we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

May it be thus, O Lord, may it be thus, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen ...