We Are The People

Matthew 5:33-37 “³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

Swearing of oaths had become routine in Jesus’ day.  It was also abused by many becoming promises that were unfulfilled.

Welcome to the Sunday night edition of “We are the People” prayer movement for America and the soul of the nation.  It is asked that you invest a minimum of 15 minutes between the hours of 6 and 9pm (all time zones) praying in agreement with the three focus points listed below.

We have been using the Sermon on the Mount as a guide for our daily prayer focus and tonight we are looking at the verses above dealing with swearing oaths.  In the Hebrew scripture we are taught in Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:2 that to swear by the name of the Lord was a sign of your allegiance to God rather than idols.  False oaths cheapened the Name of God and were forbidden – for that is taking the name of the Lord in vain.

Jesus raises the bar of righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount.  To do this Jesus prohibits oaths and vows.  He did this purposefully and we will pray according to those purposes of God.

Prayer Focus #1:  Followers of Jesus are to be trustworthy because of a pure heart not because of an oath.  Honesty needs nothing to “shore it up”.  Pray that Christians in America learn to “speak the truth in love” and fulfill the duty of doing those things expected of them in everyday life and not make excuses for their shortcomings.

Prayer Focus #2:  In Jesus’ day people tried to skirt around the issue of the name of God being holy.  They swore by the temple, the altar, heaven, and a number of other things with their makeshift oaths.  They alluded to God in their everyday lives but did not honor Him as the Lord of all and separate from all else created by God.  Pray in agreement tonight that people in America will place God where He belongs over all things in life.  After all, we call America “One Nation under God.”

Prayer Focus #3:  Jesus teaches us, “let your yes be yes and your no be no.”  Whatever is more than this comes from evil.  He goes on to say we will be held responsible for every word we utter.  Pray in agreement tonight that Americans understand that the words they use have the power of life and death in them and that they will speak truth and blessing.