By: Myrna Weaver – Sanctuary City Intercessor
“Dear Heavenly Father,
You have drawn me aside to read I Samuel. The destruction of Eli’s family and the sins of Samuel’s sons are in this portion of scripture. I Samuel 2:12,17 says, “Now the sons of Eli were useless men; they did not know the Lord. And so the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord disrespectfully.” I Samuel 8:1, 3 says of Samuel’s sons, “Now it came about when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways but turned aside after dishonest gain, and they took bribes and perverted justice.”
As we read further in I Samuel, Eli, his two sons, and his daughter-in-law died on the same day! Samuel gave Eli a warning from the Lord, but Eli didn’t heed it. The Israelites rejected Samuel’s sons as judges because of their sinful behaviors of taking bribes and perverting justice. The Israelites were fed up with corrupt leadership, so they took a stand against Samuel when he tried to appoint his sons as judges; however, the people were short-sighted. They looked at the culture around them and asked Samuel to appoint a king to rule over them. After a prayer dialogue with You, Father, Your response to Samuel was that he should give the people what they asked for. Their first king was Saul. What a disaster!
Father, our nation is ruled by useless men who do not know You. They treat You with contempt and grave disrespect. Our courts are filled with judges who take bribes and pervert justice. We’re fed up! When men are free that should be serving jail time, it causes our blood pressure to rise! Enough corruption! Help us, Father! When the Mafia runs rough-shod in our own city, we cry out, ENOUGH! HELP US, FATHER!
Father, let us not be short-sighted as the Israelites were. Teach us everything we need to learn during this continued perversion of justice. We ARE NOT crying out for an earthly king. We know that a new president alone won’t fix our mess. There are vast levels of deep-state injustice. But we are asking for You to help us purge the political system. We aren’t asking for a king to rule us as the Israelites did.
WE ARE INVITING YOU BACK INTO OUR NATIONS TO BE OUR KING! KING OF GLORY, COME BACK IN! RESCUE US! We invite You into our city. We invite You into our schools. We invite You into our nation. We welcome You to take charge of our lives. We surrender our lives to You. We trust You even while injustice is prolonged. Most of us can quote Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” We’re ready to see all things work together for our good. Because You are good, we’re asking for hope, health, and prosperity to invade our city to the fullness of Your goodness.
SO WE STAY THE COURSE AND WALK OUT OUR PATH OF TRUST! AND WE WORSHIP YOU! Psalm 27:6 says, “And now up head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy: and I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.” Isaiah 58:14 says, “Then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your Father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” This is our prayer and declaration: We will shout for joy and sing praises to You. We will delight in You. Cause us to ride on the heights of the earth. Feed us with the rich heritage of the fathers of our faith, Father Abraham, Father Isaac, and Father Jacob. When You speak a promise to us, we trust Your promise and receive it into our hearts as a personal commitment to us. We trust You! We love You! We praise You! Amen and Amen!”