A Lesson from the House of Burgesses in Virginia

"Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." John 2:12

When I have my devotions every morning I read a collaboration of books that help me start my day out well and further my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  One of the books that I am currently going through is called "In God We Still Trust:  A 365 Day Devotional"  by Dr. Richard G. Lee. 

Sometimes what is written for a particular day has nothing to do with that days date and other times, the devotional written is a reminder for what happend in history on that specific day.

Today I read the following:

"After the Boston Tea Party, the British navy retaliated by blockading the port of Boston.  The colonies surrounding Massachusetts responded with sympathy and action.  On May 24, 1773, the House of Burgesses in Virginia proposed and approved a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer:

'This House, being deeply impressed with the apprehension of the great dangers to be derived to British America from the hostile invastion of the city of Boston in our Sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, whose commerce and harbor are, on the first day of June next, to be stopped by an armed force, deem it highly necessary that the said first day of June be set apart, by the members of this House, as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition, for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil rights and the evils of civil war; to give us one heart and mind firmly opposed, by all just and proper means, [to] every injury to American rights; that the minds of his Majesty and his parliament, may be inspired from above with wisdom, moderation, and justice, to remove from the loyal people of America all cause of danger from a continued  pursuit of measures pregnant with their ruin.'

***Patriot's Prayer***

Teach me to fast, Lord, so that the discipline is all about You and only for Your glory."

First of all, if you are wondering who or what the "House of Burgesses in Virginia" was, you can click here.

However, the point of the devotional this morning was that these men set aside the first day in June to fast and pray for the following:

* Divine intervention from God.  That He would save them from the "heavy calamity" that was going threatening to destroy their civil rights and start a civil war.

* That God would give them one heart and one mind.  In other words, that they would be unified.

* That they would use this strong unity to oppose any injury to American rights and would act in a just and proper way when the time came.

*That the minds of his Majesty King George and the members of his Parliament would be "inspired from above with wisdom, moderation and justice."  That God would give them the wisdom to see that what they were doing was wrong and to act in an honorable and just way.

* That when the above mentioned, was given the wisdom they needed from God, they would act to remove any danger to the Americans.  That they would stop their current course of destruction which was headed for ruin.

These men knew that the future of America was going to be determined in the next few years. They saw the response of the Bostonians to the "Tea Tax" and then the response of the British after the "Tea Party."  And yet, despite their aversion to the British rule, they prayed for the King and those in Parliament.

They also made a point to say "Humiliation" in this proposition.  Humiliation in the Webster dictionary reads, "to reduce to a lower position in one's own eyes or others' eyes."  They were going before God in prayer with a humble spirit. They knew that they were sinners and did not deserve the relationship that God has given each and every one of us that has accepted His gift.  They were coming before God in complete humility because they knew they were entering the presence of God, the Creator of the universe, the Savior of our world, the King of king's and Lord of lords.

For me, this was a picture of what we are to be doing.  We see where our country is headed.  We know how different people are responding to the different situations.  We know that the next few years will define where our country will be for future generations.  What are we doing?

I decided as soon as I read this in my devotions that I was going to set aside June 1, 2011 as a day that I would encourage my family, friends, and you my fellow blogging friends to use as a day to fast and pray for our great Country and the following:

* Our Leaders, especially those who oppose God and His laws, that they would see their need for Christ. And that God would foil the plans they have for our nation that will injure its citizens and further reduce our amount of freedoms and liberties. 

*Those who already know Jesus as their personal Savior would have the courage to do what is right, come what may, because their faith is planted in God and His promises that "He wil never leave us nor forsake us" and that "we can do all things through Christ".

* That our nation would be united under God and would act in honorable and just ways that glorify God.

This prayer, just like those made on June 1, 1773 must be made with "humiliation."  Our hearts need to be ready.  We need to make sure that when we enter the presence of our loving Savior, we remember that we are also entering the presence of God, who will not tolerate any sin.  If our hearts are not clean He will not hear us.

Please share this with others and get the word out.  These men made the decision because they saw the critical condition their country was in. 

Who will join me in this endeavor to pray for our nation and its future?

Matthew 18:20 ~ "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

If you would like to join me on June 1, or would like to share this on your own blog.  Please let me  know in the comments. 

"When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with a difficulty.  If it is going to be something very wonderful He begins with an impossibility." ~ Charles Inwood

God Bless!