Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street.

Lamentations is a sad funeral song for the capital city of the Jews. God had warned His people that destruction would come if they turned from Him. Only when the people see their own ruin do they realize their sinful condition. This verse is a clear call for the people to pour out their hearts to the Lord in prayer, confession of sin and intercession for their people. The people needed to sincerely turn from their sin and mourn over their rejection and rebellion from God.

There’s a call today for God’s people to rise up and stand in the gap for a world that has gone it’s own way in sinfulness and rebellion. What is true for the people of Jerusalem is also true for the people of today. All who turn in repentance and confession of sin will receive grace and forgiveness from the Lord. There’s a call for God’s pastors and leaders to lead the way in challenging God’s people to cry out to God in prayer and intercession on behalf of a country that is morally bankrupt and has lost its way.

There is also a promise here that with anything that is bothering us, we can bring our requests to God and trust that He will hear and answer prayer as we surrender to His will.

I am challenged by these words of Jeremiah to be a leader who responds to the call to pray and cry out to God on behalf of our nation and our world. I need to be diligent in crying out to God each day and each night for the people I’m pastoring, for the people in my community and for this nation. This is a great reminder of how important it is for me to be an example of intercessory prayer and to lead the people I pastor into a deeper commitment to pray for their friends and relatives. This includes a call to pray for this country, that we would turn to God and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Dear Lord Jesus, help me to be faithful to pray and cry out to You on behalf of this community and this nation. Stretch my heart to pray more often for other countries and to ask that You would use your people to bring multitudes to a saving knowledge of your grace and mercy. I cry out to You this day and I repent on behalf of our nation who, in many ways, has forsaken You and forgotten about your loving grace and provision. Help me to be diligent in prayer for the people I pastor and the people You want to reach in this community.