Australia Prays – August 22: Our Eyes Look to the Lord
Intention
We have endured much contempt. From the depths, we look to God and ask Him to pour out His Spirit on this land.
Scripture
“Have mercy on us Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt.”— Psalm 123:3
Reflection
Psalm 123 has only four verses. Be sure to read them. Our eyes look to the Lord, until He show us His mercy. That is what we are doing in prayer today: we are crying out to the Lord. We have endured much contempt, and we ask the Lord to pour forth His Spirit on this land.
Jesus Have Mercy
In Matthew 5:7, Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” We are crying out to the Lord for mercy. In this beatitude, Jesus tells us that we are ourselves to be merciful. That’s a great prayer for us today. May the Lord enable us to be a merciful people.
Have Mercy on Australia
Today we pray for Western Australia. There have been 1,062 cases in WA, only 93 of which were locally acquired. There have also been nine deaths. WA benefits from its isolation. The biggest difficulty is going to come when they eventually open up to the rest of Australia and to the rest of the world.
Have Mercy on the World
Today we pray for New Zealand and South Korea. In NZ there have only been 2,937 cases and 26 deaths. This week NZ has gone into lockdown because of a handful of cases. There have been 2.6 million doses of the vaccine administered there, or 51 out of 100 people. South Korea, like NZ, was initially doing well, but the Delta variant means they are now seeing a higher number of cases. There have been 233,000 cases in South Korea, and over 2,200 deaths. Some 34 million doses of the vaccine have been rolled out, or 66 out of 100 people. We don’t have the figures for North Korea, which claims to be Covid-free. Like Australia, China and New Zealand have been operating on a ‘Zero Covid’ policy.
Have Mercy on Your Church
On this day—the Lord’s Day—when we remember the resurrection of the Lord and we (usually) gather together, let us pray that the bride of Christ would be beautified and made ready for His return. As His bride we should be longing for that and calling, “Maranatha. Even so, come soon Lord Jesus.”
Have Mercy on Our Families
Each of us falls on our knees and pleads with the Lord to protect our families—not just from this plague and its consequences, but also to bring those who do not yet know Him to the knowledge of Christ. May it be that in this time of lockdown, stress and enforced loneliness, we will be draw back into better habits of prayer and family worship.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, we cry out to You.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
We confess our sins and how far we have wandered from You.
We confess the sins of our nation and plead with You to work in this land.
We confess the sins of your church and ask You to cleanse and purify.
We confess our personal and family sins:
Lord if You should count them, who could stand?
Lord from the depths to You we cry,
Lord, hear us from on high,
And give attention to our voice,
When we for mercy cry.
In Your Name and for Your glory.
Amen.
Australia Prays
These devotions are brought to you by Rev David Robertson and the National Day of Prayer and Fasting (NDOPF).
Join us for Australia Prays this coming Sunday via Zoom:
DATE: 22nd August 2021
TIME: 9am–9pm (AEST)
ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/776881184
MEETING ID: 776881184
(Watch: Zoom tutorial)
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Praise you David for your prayers and blessings yo the whole world, in coming together on this day of fasting prayers