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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're so glad

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Speaker 1: to have you listening. I'm Lynette Kittle. In today's topic

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Speaker 1: is why praying as a nation matters to God. We'll

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Speaker 1: be right back after a brief message from our sponsor,

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Speaker 1: Why praying as a nation matters to God? Written and

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Speaker 1: read by Lynette Kittle. When God saw what they did

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Speaker 1: and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented

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Speaker 1: and did not bring on them the destruction he had

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Speaker 1: threatened Jonah three ten. As America celebrates two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty years as a nation, some ask does it matter

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Speaker 1: if our nation prays together on national Day of Prayer?

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Speaker 1: Does God even pay attention or hear us when we

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Speaker 1: pray corporately as a nation. The answer is yes, it

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Speaker 1: matters to God, and we can be assured of this

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Speaker 1: because the Bible gives us plenty of proof that He

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Speaker 1: often calls us to corporate prayer for a city or

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Speaker 1: a nation. Most of us are familiar with the well

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Speaker 1: known biblical passage Second Chronicles seven fourteen that says, if

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Speaker 1: my people who are called by my name will humble

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Speaker 1: themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from

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Speaker 1: their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven, and

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Speaker 1: I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

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Speaker 1: Such is with the story of Jonah and the wicked

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Speaker 1: city of Nineveh. God called for the entire city to

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Speaker 1: pray and repent, and even the animals were included in

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Speaker 1: the city's prayer, fasting and repents. As Jonah three four

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Speaker 1: through eight describes, God led an entire city to repentance

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Speaker 1: through corporate prayer. Jonah began by going a day's journey

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Speaker 1: into the city, proclaiming, forty more days in Nineveh will

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Speaker 1: be overthrown. The Ninavites believed God. A fast was proclaimed,

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Speaker 1: and all of them, from the greatest to the least,

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Speaker 1: put on sackcloth. When Jonah's warning reached the King of Nineveh,

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Speaker 1: he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes,

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Speaker 1: covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the dust.

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Speaker 1: This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh. By the

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Speaker 1: decree of the king and his nobles. Do not let

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Speaker 1: people or animals, herds or flocks taste anything. Do not

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Speaker 1: let them eat or drink, but let people and animals

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Speaker 1: be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God.

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Speaker 1: Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.

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Speaker 1: Who knows God may yet relent and with compassion turn

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Speaker 1: from his fierce anger, so that we will not perish.

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Speaker 1: In Jonah three ten, we read of God's gracious response

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Speaker 1: to their corporate prayer, relenting rather than sending destruction. Likewise,

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Speaker 1: looking back at America's founders, we see that they recognize

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Speaker 1: the importance of corporate prayer and how establishing a nation's

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Speaker 1: future doesn't just involve fighting a physical battle for victory,

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Speaker 1: but also a spiritual battle too. They demonstrated this when

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Speaker 1: they officially met and came together for the first time

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Speaker 1: on September seventh, seventeen seventy four, as the Continental Congress

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Speaker 1: of the United States, opening with prayer and the reading

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Speaker 1: of Psalm thirty five by Reverend Jacob Duchey, which which

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Speaker 1: begins with contend Lord, with those who contend with me,

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Speaker 1: fight against those who fight against me. This was no

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Speaker 1: easy feat either, as the outspoken members had to set

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Speaker 1: aside their denominational differences to pray together, uniting members who

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Speaker 1: were Congregationalists, Anglicans, Quakers, Dutch Reformed Baptists, Lutherans, Puritans, and

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Speaker 1: Presbyterians coming together to overlook their differences, joining in one

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Speaker 1: accord praying for a common goal. American conservative radio talk

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Speaker 1: show host and writer Dennis Praeger explains, ultimately, they wanted

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Speaker 1: people to be free to practice their religion and relate

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Speaker 1: to God in their own way. They all knew God

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Speaker 1: is the source of liberty. Providence Forum Executive director doctor

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Speaker 1: Jerry Nukke points out how historians find in George Washington's

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Speaker 1: writings and actions during the Revolutionary War that he relied

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Speaker 1: heavily on prayer, believing that with the tremendous odds set

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Speaker 1: against them, victory could only come with God's help. As well,

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Speaker 1: the Great Awakening absolutely helped the cause of independence, writes Newcome.

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Speaker 1: Even before the Great Awakening, the ministers, especially the ones

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Speaker 1: from New England, helped shape the thinking of the colonists

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Speaker 1: as to their God given rights. Christian historians believe the

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Speaker 1: spread of the Great Awakening across the colonies greatly influence

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Speaker 1: and strengthen Patriot leaders leading up to the signing of

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Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence, where prayer and fasting played a

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Speaker 1: critical role in helping America to establish its freedom. In

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Speaker 1: Miracles in American History, author, historian, and speaker William J.

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Speaker 1: Fetterer writes about the many national calls to prayer leading

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Speaker 1: up too and throughout the formation of the United States

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Speaker 1: of America, intersecting faith in life. Are you planning on

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Speaker 1: joining in with our nation to pray for God's divine

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Speaker 1: guidance and protection over our country? If not, consider praying

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Speaker 1: with millions of believers across our land who will be

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Speaker 1: praying together during this year's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary

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Speaker 1: National Day of Prayer. Further reading a prayer to take

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Speaker 1: part in our nation's National Day of Prayer. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: listening to today's devotional. If you liked what you heard today,

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Speaker 1: with God. If you're looking to grow in prayer or

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