Written by Pastor Myles Holmes, REVIVE Church in Collinsville

All believers are called to pray at all times and in all situations.

We are to pray without ceasing.

Jesus taught us to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth just as it is in Heaven.

The prophet Samuel said to the people of Israel, “…far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.”  1 Samuel 12:23

In Luke 18:1 Jesus told us we … “should always pray and never give up.” 

In Jeremiah 29:7, the people of God were told to pray to the Lord for the Babylonian city while they were in captivity…”for its welfare will determine your welfare.” 

American believers in Jesus have a great responsibility to pray, and fast and pray, as this nation was founded on Godly principles and is drifting far from those moorings.

God’s Word and God’s truth is being mocked, scorned, ignored and disobeyed in Washington, DC and in Springfield, IL. 

Truth lies fallen in the streets (Isaiah 55: 14). We now have leadership in our state and our nation who do not know what a baby is, do not know what gender is, do not know what a marriage means, do not know what a border or an economy is, and have absolutely no grounding in any semblance of reality or decency or morality, let alone truth. 

We must fervently pray for an awakening to truth, a revelation of conviction and repentance that can only come from a mighty sweeping of the Holy Spirit through our culture.

We must fervently pray for our churches and pastors to boldly rebuke the wickedness and the darkness and proclaim the good news of the Gospel and the light of God’s truth.

At the very moment that our culture, politicians and media are shouting their love and embrace of every kind of evil and debauchery is precisely the time the church is told to be silent about all these issues.

May God in His mercy deliver us from timid preachers and quiet pulpits.

We must fervently pray for families, and for marriages to demonstrate the grace and the goodness of God.

We must fervently pray for these elections on November 8, both for our state and our nation, that Americans would realize the absolute necessity of voting for individuals who represent Godly, moral, righteous values, who support life and liberty, the U.S. Constitution, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. 

Pray with me now.  

“Our Father in Heaven, God of history time and eternity, we come to You in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior.

We repent of our rebellion and wickedness and the mocking of your Word and Your Name.

We are ashamed of how far we have fallen from Your truth.

We turn from sin toward Your mercy. 

Your people ask You humbly for a mighty revival, a sweeping move of your Holy Spirit to bring millions to the foot of the Cross.

We ask for Your anointing to grant us boldness and courage to speak up and to speak out for Your truth and morality.

We pray for our children and grandchildren, that they might know Your mercy and Your power in this generation.

Grant that we might be found faithful to our calling and Your mandate on our lives to be ambassadors of your Good News.

We pray that whatever the future calls us to, we would be found honoring Your truth and Your Word, so that You always have a witness of Your power on this earth. 

May Christ be glorified in our lives, our work, our families, our ministry, and our voting.

In the Mighty Name of Christ we pray, Amen.”

Pray, Pray, and Pray Some More

• FOR STATEWIDE CANDIDATES: Regardless of political party affiliation, let us pray that God will work in the hearts and minds of each candidate running to represent the people of Illinois in Washington D.C., including: Tammy Duckworth and Kathy Salvi, and the following list of candidates for U.S. House of Representatives:
  • Jonathan Jackson and Eric Carlson in the first district;
  • Robin Kelly and Thomas Lynch in the second district;
  • Delia Ramirez and Justin Burau in the third district;
  • Chuy Garcia and James Falakos in the fourth district;
  • Mike Quigley and Tommy Hanson in the fifth district;
  • Sean Casten and Keith Pekau in the sixth district;
  • Raja Krishnamoorthi and Chris Dargis in the eighth district;
  • Jan Schakowsky and Max Rice in the ninth district;
  • Brad Schneider and Joseph Severino in the tenth district;
  • Bill Foster and Catalina Lauf in the eleventh district;
  • Chip Markel and Mike Bost in the twelfth district;
  • Nikki Budzinski and Regan Deering in the thirteenth district;
  • Lauren Underwood and Scott Gryder in the fourteenth district;
  • Paul Lange and Mary Miller in the fifteenth district;
  • Elizabeth Haderlein and Darin LaHood in the sixteenth district;
  • Eric Sorensen and Esther Joy King in the seventeenth district;

• In addition to those federal candidates, we of course want to pray for those who are running for statewide office. This includes praying for J.B. Pritzker and Juliana Stratton;  Darren Bailey and Stephanie Trussell and those who serve in their campaigns.

• There are also two seats up for the Illinois Supreme Court. Those two seats are located in the suburban counties outside of Cook County. In district two, please pray for Elizabeth Rochford and Mark Curran as they run for this seat. In district three, please pray for Mayr Kay O’Brien and Michael Burke.

• Finally, please pray for these statewide candidates and those contenders running for local offices near you:
  • Kwame Raoul and Thomas DeVore running for Attorney General
  • Michael Frerichs and Tom Demmer running for Treasurer
  • Alexi Giannoulias and Dan Brady running for Secretary of State
  • Susanna Mendoza and Shannon Teresi running for Comptroller
  • YOUR local State Senate Candidates
  • YOUR local State Representative Candidates
  • YOUR local Judicial Candidates
  • YOUR local County Board Members

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
~2 Samuel 22:2-4

I know we shouldn’t be surprised. We know intuitively and intellectually that the nature of Big Government is tyranny. Yet I was stunned to watch Illinois Democratic State Lawmakers intentionally and aggressively pursue an agenda to diminish the civil rights of its people. Not only did they attack health care conscience rights protections, but they also repealed Illinois’ last major abortion regulation which ensured the rights of parents/guardians to be notified when their minor daughter seeks to have an abortion.

Thankfully, not one Republican state lawmaker voted for these tyrannical proposals.

The second half of the 2021 Veto Session started on Tuesday where the Illinois Senate Executive Committee heard testimony on HB 370, the legislation to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. A few hours later, it was sent to the Illinois Senate floor, debated and then passed by a vote of 32-22, with 5 senators not voting.

The bill was sent to the Illinois House Executive Committee on Wednesday, where it was debated and sent to the Illinois House floor. The bill was taken up for debate Wednesday evening where it was debated and then passed by a vote a 64-52 with 2 voting present. You can watch and/or listen to the debate here below:

Myles Holmes, IFI Board member and pastor of Revive Church in Collinsville emphatically points out that

“government is not God and has no right to usurp the place of parents in the instruction and direction of their children’s lives. The passage of this onerous bill demonstrates the Marxist control that Democrats want over our families. The first response of Christian families must be to remove their children from government control in the public schools, and the second  is to work hard to remove these politicians in the next election.”

Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law. According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, Pritzker “vowed” to sign the bill saying, “At a time when reproductive rights are under attack across the country, Illinois is protecting those critical reproductive rights.” The article does not explain that reproductive “rights” is literally license to kill pre-born human beings.

Conscience Rights

Immediately preceding their vote to usurp parental rights, the Illinois House of Representative decided to quash conscience rights when they took up and debated SB 1169. This bill diminishes the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act — specifically for COVID-19 remediation. In other words, the sponsors of this amendment intends to curtail the safeguard that existed in state law that allowed citizens to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The bill passed the Illinois House by a vote a 64-52 with 2 voting present. UPDATE: Late Thursday night (10/28/2021), the Illinois Senate concurred with the Illinois House and passed this bill by a vote of 31-24.

The chief sponsor of this legislator, State Representatives Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), repeatedly argued that the original intent of the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act was about abortion, birth control and sterilization and was crafted to protect healthcare professionals. In other words, it was not intended to protect people who want to avoid experimental and/or dubious medical treatments and/or the unmerciful despotism of vaccine mandates.

But the fact is, many who oppose being forced to take the COVID vaccine against their will firmly believe, as do we, that the Health Care Right of Conscience Act protects all citizens. You can read it for yourself.

(745 ILCS 70/5) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5305)
Sec. 5. Discrimination. It shall be unlawful for any person, public or private institution, or public official to discriminate against any person in any manner, including but not limited to, licensing, hiring, promotion, transfer, staff appointment, hospital, managed care entity, or any other privileges, because of such person’s conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept, perform, assist, counsel, suggest, recommend, refer or participate in any way in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience.
(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.)

You can watch and/or listen to the debate here below:

Calvin Lindstrom, IFA board member and pastor of Church of Christian Liberty in Arlington Heights, is disgusted with Illinois politics, saying:

I hate to say this, but Illinois is a failed state in terms of political government. We have been dealing with a governor who for over 18 months passes executive orders with very little challenge from other elected officials. On these important matters the legislative branch is useless. And then unfortunately when the legislative branch does decide to pass legislation it follows an agenda rather than listening to the citizens of this state. There was no grass roots movement among citizens of Illinois to remove parental notification when a minor seeks to obtain an abortion. And in the face of massive opposition to changing the law over rights of conscience with respect to health care, our lawmakers again follow an agenda with no real concern for the voices of citizens.

I can speak personally to this when I met my own state representative, Mark Walker, in the state capitol building on Tuesday. I tried to engage him in conversation on Parental Notification for Abortion. I asked him his position and he said something like, “It’s an obvious choice.” I asked, what does that mean. He responded by saying, he was voting for repeal for the safety of women. He then walked off in a very rude manner. Perhaps he had somewhere to go, but his dismissive manner was not appreciated.

This is not a time for weakness or capitulation even though we are sorrowful, frustrated, and righteously angry. The psalm our church is using for this week, Psalm 68, is a good prayer for God’s people to follow. “Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.” (Psalm 68:1).

Both of these bills will soon be sent to the Governor’s office for his consideration. While he has publicly declared his support for these feckless bills, you may want to call his office to let him know that many Illinois residents oppose the eradication of the parental notice statute and the amendment to our conscience rights protection law. His phone number in Springfield is (217) 782-6830. His phone number in Chicago is (312) 814-2121.

Nearly a month after calling Christians to the nation’s capital for a prayer march, Franklin Graham is calling on them again, this time to join him for a day of prayer and fasting. Graham posted to his Facebook page October 20th,

“I urge you to join me for a day of prayer and fasting for our nation on this Sunday, October 25. The upcoming election is the most important in our lifetime—with two diametrically different directions for this country on the ballot. Our only hope is in God, and we need to call out to Him for His help and intervention. Will you join me—and will you share this with others?”

A similar message went out on his Twitter page.

The BillyGraham.org website shared a further appeal.

“Today, our nation is at a critical juncture. We need to call out to God for His help, His intervention, and His mercy. It is only by His hand that America will survive and be able to thrive again.”

Graham described how King Jehoshaphat, when the very survival of his nation was at stake, called on his people to fast. When the people turned to God, He delivered them. The story is captured in 2 Chronicles 20:3-4, “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So, Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.”

According to Graham, as much is at stake now as it was then. The decision is between “two vastly different directions for the future of this country. This not only affects us, but our children and our grandchildren.”

Pastor Myles Holmes of REVIVE Church in Collinsville agrees with Graham’s call to prayer and fasting, saying, “the most earth-shaking, culture-shaping interventions of God’s Holy Spirit changing our world have always been in response to the fervent, faith-filled fasting & prayer of God’s people. There is simply no other pathway to repentance, revival and restoration.”

Church of Christian Liberty Pastor Calvin Lindstrom wisely points out, “We trust not in our own prayers, but if we are not praying, then are we really trusting in the Lord? We must pray not because of who we are, but because we serve a faithful, sovereign God who does hear the prayers and cries of His people.”

Rev. Richard Valkanet, senior pastor of Living Waters Church in Grayslake reminds us that, “in times of great stress, people of God have always turned to the Lord with “fasting & prayer.” George Washington proclaimed a Day of Prayer in 1789.  Lincoln put forth a proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer in March, 1863. If there ever was a day as the one we are in, it would be most appropriate for all true believers to unite, petitioning God’s divine intervention as we repent.”

Striking a similar chord in the October issue of Decision Magazine, Rev. Graham wrote,

“If we truly want the blessings of the Lord on our country, then we must come humbly before Him, seek His face in prayer and fasting and repentance, and ask if He might by His grace and mercy bring healing to our troubled nation.”

His “To the Point” column message paraphrased 2 Chronicles 7:14 and echoes his October 20th call. Decision is a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association publication, of which Graham serves as editor-in-chief.

The son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse Ministries was joined by thousands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the September 26th National Prayer March. Participants in the non-political event asked God to save the country from its current situation and petitioned Him for peace. Other prayer topics included the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, ongoing nationwide protests and rioting, and upcoming national elections.

Take ACTION: Join the IFI board of directors and staff as we intentionally fast and pray for our state and nation this Sunday. Please pray for God’s mercy on this state and on our nation. Pray for the election of God-fearing candidates to every level of government. Pray for wisdom for voters and a safe and fair election.

HELP: Our get-out-the-vote campaign is up and running. 

We are distributing the IFI Voter Guide to hundreds of churches and civic groups throughout the state..
Will you financially support our endeavor to educate Illinois voters and promote Christian family values?

This National Day of Prayer, May 7, 2020, will be like no other. Since its inception in May 1952, under President Harry S. Truman, the day has been observed with large public events. While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the shutdown of all public events, prayer has never been more essential and this important event will still take place – online.

Pastors from across the state told the Illinois Family Institute how important they feel it is to pray not only on the National Day of Prayer, but every day. Joey Krol, pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur shared, “One of the effective ways of measuring your spiritual walk is by examining how connected you are in prayer. Jesus said in John 15:5, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.’”

Krol urged during this pandemic, “Now is the time to be the Church. Now is the time to be on our knees. Now is the time to be a people of prayer. In this time of uncertainty, confusion and fear, let us be so connected to the Vine that when others see us, they will give their hearts to the Prince of Peace.”

Calvin Lindstrom, pastor of Church of Christian Liberty in Arlington Heights, pointed to the power of God. “So often we focus more on how feeble and inarticulate our words are rather than focusing on God’s mighty power,” Lindstrom said. “It is good that we know we have no power in our ourselves. It is good that we are humbled in the face of the problems we are facing. The power of prayer is that God has commanded His people to pray, and that nothing He determines to do can be frustrated.”

This National Day of Prayer comes at a perfect time as our nation faces a crisis like one not seen in generations. Sensing the urgency, Pastor Richard Giovannetti of Standing in the Word Ministries in Morris, told IFI, “With a desperate and hurting nation rapidly bleeding out her freedom, the words, ‘The Effectual Fervent Prayer of the Righteous Man Avails Much’ shout at us with critical urgency… ‘Is There Not A Cause?'”

Further calls for serious prayer came from Myles Holmes, pastor of REVIVE Church in Collinsville. “Seasons of national crisis call for Prophetic Prayer,” Holmes said. “Prophetic Prayer is intercession that calls for the purposes of God to be revealed so that His Kingdom will come and His Will is done. This includes help for His people, but is even more intent for His Glory to be revealed.”

David E. Smith, executive director of IFI, summed up why it is important we pray during this time. “We have a loving and merciful God of compassion who invites our prayers,” said Smith. “His Word tells us repeatedly to turn to Him in the midst of challenges and trials. We are encouraged to take shelter in Him as our refuge and our strength. He is our sure rock in the midst of any storm, the Light that pierces every darkness, and an anchor of hope for those who contend with despair. We should embrace every opportunity to bring our appeals before Him.”

Will Graham, an evangelist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the grandson of the late Billy Graham, will co-host the live-stream along with the National Day of Prayer Task Force President Kathy Branzell from 7-9 p.m. central time. Guests include Harry Jackson, Nick Hall, Gabrielle Odom, Luis Palau, Michael W. Smith, Rick Warren, and others.

Watch the event online at NationalDayOfPrayer.org or at facebook.com/natlprayer. It will also be broadcast on television via GodTV and DayStar, in addition to radio over the Moody and Bott networks.

NOTE: The Illinois National Day of Prayer and Illinois Prayer Caucus Network have organized a conference call for Thursday at 11 AM – 12:15 PM. The call in number is (978) 990-5001 and the access code is 601577#. (They will be recording the call.)

This year’s theme is “Pray God’s Glory Across the Earth,” which is based on Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

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