Prayer for Wildfires

In order to pray for the wildfires in the West, we have to understand that the root problem of the wildfires is drought. There are many verses in the Old Testament that I like to use in order to pray for rain, but we have to understand that drought in the Old Testament happened as a result of judgment from God. According to the book of Job, God controls the weather. I love the following verses: "Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning, to bring rain on an uninhabited land, [on] a desert with no human life, to satisfy the parched wasteland and cause the grass to sprout? Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the drops of dew? Job 38:25-28 (HCSB) Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Do they report to you: “Here we are”? Job 38:34-35 (HCSB)

In the Bible, drought always happened as a result of sin and it was used as a form of judgment by God to get Israel’s attention. In 2 Chronicles, God tells us what to do when we see drought: “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chron 7:13-14 (NKJV)

God says in these verses that when there is no rain, we are to humble ourselves and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear our prayers. I am going to say a prayer and confess the sins of our nation. Moses interceded for Israel several times when they sinned and God relented from His judgments.

Lord, we thank you that you are a loving God who is longsuffering, merciful, slow to anger, forgiving and full of compassion. We pray on behalf of those living in the West where there are wildfires. According to Your Word, drought is a sign of judgment as a result of sin. We have seen many devastating judgments over the past few months as a result of our nation’s sins. Please forgive America for ignoring Your commandments. We have tried to remove your laws from our courtrooms and our schools. We have removed prayer and we now support abortion and homosexuality as a nation. Please forgive us for these sins. We also have much violence, abuse, neglect, sexual sins, anger, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and many other sins we are guilty of. Please send rain to the drought stricken areas of our nation to help quench the fires that are burning. I pray for protection over those who are being affected by these fires. We pray that you will protect the firemen who are trying to put out these fires.

We also pray for the families of all the fire fighters who died trying to protect the lives of those in Yarnell. Please comfort their families and friends as they grieve over the loss of their loved ones. We thank you that we have such brave men and women who are willing to serve this country whether it is as fire fighters, police or military. We pray for protection over all these brave people as they fight for our protection and freedom. In Jesus Name, Amen.

photo: http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m289/sqquires/Waldo%20Canyon/_MG_4541.jpg