Tennessee Calls for 31 Days of Prayer and Fasting
Jun 26, 2024 16:40:29 GMT -5
Post by schwartzie on Jun 26, 2024 16:40:29 GMT -5
Tennessee Calls for 31 Days of Prayer and Fasting
Jun 26, 2024
NASHVILLE, TN – Reminiscent of proclamations to pray and fast by the Founders and past presidents during times of national concern, Governor Bill Lee has signed a resolution calling for 31 days of prayer and fasting in Tennessee beginning July 1, 2024. Tennessee House Joint Resolution 803 asks the state’s citizens to “seek God's hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.”
The resolution passed overwhelmingly in state Senate 27-1 and in the House 82-6. In the resolution, Tennessee legislators recognized that “God, as Creator,” has the “authority to judge and bless” the states and the nation. They acknowledged the precedent of American leaders seeking “the Creator’s favor” through proclamations to pray and fast, such as President John Adams, who in 1799 called for “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer…”
The legislators also acknowledged the many crises and problems plaguing both the state and America and that seeking God through personal “humbling” and “penitence” is a way to resolve those issues. The legislators specifically named many specific moral issues that have been causing Tennesseans and Americans suffering, such as violence committed upon its citizens by other citizens and non-citizens; violent crime in schools; the “violent evil” of human trafficking “that enslaves lives;” deadly fentanyl which “flows uncontrollably” across the southern border; drug addiction that “overwhelms families;” 9,000 children in the state in need of foster care; and “evidence of corruption in our federal government” which impacts every Tennessean.
The state’s legislators then called on the people of Tennessee to “humbly ask for forgiveness” and to ask that “the Lord Jesus heal our land and remove the violence, human-trafficking, addiction, and corruption.” They also ask people to call upon the “Holy Spirit” to fill the halls of government, classrooms, businesses, churches, and homes with “peace, love and joy.”
The resolution reads, “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to do so to join in a thirty-day season of prayer and intermittent fasting as we begin a new fiscal year as a means of seeking God's blessing and humbling ourselves to receive His Grace and Mercy, transforming ourselves, our communities, our State, and our Nation.”
The language of the resolution seemingly invokes the principles in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
A letter accompanying the resolution, signed by state Senator Mark Pidy and Representative Monty Fritts, further invites citizens to:
“On Sunday, June 30, read or have HJR 803 read in our church services;
Examine our lives in light of God’s Word and confess of our sins;
Acknowledge that we, as the Church, have failed to stand for the principles of God, ask for His Forgiveness and Mercy, and commit to stand firmly on those principles going forward;
For those who are able, join in prayer and intermittent fasting as a means of demonstrating our desire for repentance.”
In response to Tennessee’s prayer and fasting call, California Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills called upon “every pastor” and “every Christian church” in the nation to join with Tennessee and intercede for America and all the states.
“Let’s all be Tennesseans this month of July and pray and fast as the Lord leads,” stated Pastor Hibbs.
link
Jun 26, 2024
NASHVILLE, TN – Reminiscent of proclamations to pray and fast by the Founders and past presidents during times of national concern, Governor Bill Lee has signed a resolution calling for 31 days of prayer and fasting in Tennessee beginning July 1, 2024. Tennessee House Joint Resolution 803 asks the state’s citizens to “seek God's hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.”
The resolution passed overwhelmingly in state Senate 27-1 and in the House 82-6. In the resolution, Tennessee legislators recognized that “God, as Creator,” has the “authority to judge and bless” the states and the nation. They acknowledged the precedent of American leaders seeking “the Creator’s favor” through proclamations to pray and fast, such as President John Adams, who in 1799 called for “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer…”
The legislators also acknowledged the many crises and problems plaguing both the state and America and that seeking God through personal “humbling” and “penitence” is a way to resolve those issues. The legislators specifically named many specific moral issues that have been causing Tennesseans and Americans suffering, such as violence committed upon its citizens by other citizens and non-citizens; violent crime in schools; the “violent evil” of human trafficking “that enslaves lives;” deadly fentanyl which “flows uncontrollably” across the southern border; drug addiction that “overwhelms families;” 9,000 children in the state in need of foster care; and “evidence of corruption in our federal government” which impacts every Tennessean.
The state’s legislators then called on the people of Tennessee to “humbly ask for forgiveness” and to ask that “the Lord Jesus heal our land and remove the violence, human-trafficking, addiction, and corruption.” They also ask people to call upon the “Holy Spirit” to fill the halls of government, classrooms, businesses, churches, and homes with “peace, love and joy.”
The resolution reads, “BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to do so to join in a thirty-day season of prayer and intermittent fasting as we begin a new fiscal year as a means of seeking God's blessing and humbling ourselves to receive His Grace and Mercy, transforming ourselves, our communities, our State, and our Nation.”
The language of the resolution seemingly invokes the principles in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
A letter accompanying the resolution, signed by state Senator Mark Pidy and Representative Monty Fritts, further invites citizens to:
“On Sunday, June 30, read or have HJR 803 read in our church services;
Examine our lives in light of God’s Word and confess of our sins;
Acknowledge that we, as the Church, have failed to stand for the principles of God, ask for His Forgiveness and Mercy, and commit to stand firmly on those principles going forward;
For those who are able, join in prayer and intermittent fasting as a means of demonstrating our desire for repentance.”
In response to Tennessee’s prayer and fasting call, California Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills called upon “every pastor” and “every Christian church” in the nation to join with Tennessee and intercede for America and all the states.
“Let’s all be Tennesseans this month of July and pray and fast as the Lord leads,” stated Pastor Hibbs.
link
