Tuesday, June 5. Day 10 of 67 Days of Prayer

Today we are praying for the following districts:

• Tennessee State House District 28- Currently represented by JoAnne Favors
• Tennessee State House District 29 – Currently represented by Mike Carter
• Tennessee State House District 30 – Currently represented by Marc Gravitt
• Tennessee State Senate District  10 – Currently represented by Todd Gardenhire

Our call to Prayer

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10

 ^“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
“And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19.9-10

We in the church do a terrible job with the poor. The only institution that helps the poor to lesser effect than the modern church is our government.

A great deal of the problem is the completely unbiblical approaches to helping the poor that are taken by the state, and a big part of this is that helping those who will not work. Not those who cannot work. Those who will not work. 2 Thessalonians 3.10 clearly states that choosing to work is a prerequisite to eating.

The Old Testament spoke clearly to this issue in the mechanism that it provided for helping the poor and the sojourner, which was to make available food that they could eat  – but only with work. “Gleaning,” as it was called, was a prominent theme in scripture. Ruth gleaned to provide for herself, and Jesus’ disciples gleaned grain to eat in Matthew 12.1.

God made us to work. Our role in the Garden of Eden, before the fall, was to work. Work is wonderful – it builds the constitution of a person, inwardly and outwardly. In fact, the Lord says we are to work 6 days – and rest of the 7th.

And yet work is treated with scorn by so many in our society. Instead of seeing the dignity of working, we sometimes look down on those who labor and toil.

Much of what our government does with the supposed interests of the poor at heart leads these citizens away from work. We must pray that the Lord would move on the hearts of our elected officials such that they would stop leading the poor away from work.

And Christian – are you doing your job? Are you leaving anything in your life for the poor to glean?

A Prayer for Day 10 of 67 Days of Prayer

Lord, Your name is known in Hamilton and Bradley counties. Thank You for the strong Christian heritage You have given to Your people in these areas.

Father, you placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to work. When you finished creating, you said that your creation – work and all – was good. Lord, help our leaders to understand the role that work is to play in society. May our state’s leadership understand that work is truly a good thing, and may we as a state genuinely seek for as many to work as is possible.

Once more we ask: Father, would You cause a spirit of prayer to well up within the citizenry of Tennessee? Would You cause our state to once more seek Your face? Would you cause us to seek Your will as we vote – but not just in voting Lord, but in our daily lives? Would You move on our hearts and make our homes places of spiritual accountability?

Amen.

Please click here to download a printable guide of when to pray for each district. Please feel free to email this to other praying Christians, to insert this in your church bulletin, or to post it on your church bulletin board. Make sure you put a copy on your refrigerator or in another prominent place in your home. This guide may be freely reproduced as long as it is not modified.