Happy Thanksgiving dear friends!  I pray that your day has been filled with joyful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends.  Indeed, we have so many reasons to be thankful.

On my way home from Thanksgiving fellowship and fun, I was saddened by the multitude of businesses open on this precious holiday for the sheer purpose of profit.  It seems that Thanksgiving is quickly becoming overlooked for the sake of the almighty dollar.  I fear we are losing the entire idea of why Thanksgiving was instituted in the first place.

Thus, I did what I do every Thanksgiving: I re-read President Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation of 1789.  Throughout the proclamation, our nation’s first president not only acknowledged God, but called the nation to a day of thanksgiving and prayer.  Yes, a US president called his country to prayer, and he was not the only one!  Many other presidents have done likewise, including Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, set aside “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”  Yet, our country has walked away from those values in favor of profits, immorality and selfishness.

Could our prayers for a Great Awakening come at a more opportune time?  Fellow prayer warriors, I’m as thankful as anyone to live in a country where freedom reigns.  I am proud of our Christian heritage, but am one of millions who believe that our lack of stewardship of what God has entrusted to us will bring about severe consequences if we fail to turn from ungodliness.

Tomorrow, that will be one of three critical prayer points.  Over the past several days we have prepared to pray confidently for:

• The peace of Jerusalem
• Persecuted Believers
• A Third Great Awakening in Our Nation that will Impact the World

Tomorrow is the day!  If you have followed along, I hope you will commit to faithful prayer tomorrow, as we dedicate 3-hour segments of time to each prayer point.  I’ll post guidelines at 8:00am (Prayer for the peace of Jerusalem), 11:00am (Prayer for persecuted believers) and 2:00pm (Prayer for a Great Awakening).  (MST in the US)  The plan is to fast and pray the equivalent of a work day, but you are free to participate to whatever degree you choose.

If you are new to Looking for the Blessed Hope, please join us tomorrow!  I’ll provide everything you need, so just check back at 8:00, 11:00 and 2:00.

Prayer warriors, we’re going to battle tomorrow, and we are at the command of a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering, miracle-working God who longs to “shake it up” for His glory!  Let’s heed His commands.  See you in the morning at 8:00am!