Front Nine Verses Back Nine

I used to pray a controversial prayer when my kids were younger. I asked God for my boys to get caught early when they did wrong so that we could intervene and correct them while they still lived under our roof. God answered my prayer (sometimes too much, and I had to ask for a reprieve to regather my strength). I can wholeheartedly testify that the toddler and yearly elementary years were traumatic and that I almost felt guilty breezing through the teenage years.

My pastor introduced me to a golfing term for this: the front nine versus the back nine. If we can straighten ourselves out in the early stages (or front nine) of our lives, marriage, children, career, and spiritual life, it will make the back nine of our lives a lot easier.

In 2020, Ann Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham, gave a prayer at the National Capitol asking for forgiveness for our rebellious nature and for turning our backs on God. She prayed for God to hear, forgive, and heal our land. If we want America to continue to be blessed, it is our responsibility to stand in the gap and pray for the future of our nation. 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.”

I am a true believer in the power of prayer. I know that the prayers of my prior relatives have impacted my faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, and I have been praying for my children since before they were born, their future wives, and for my future grandchildren to know the Lord. I also believe it is the prayers of those who came to America seeking religious freedom and the prayers of our founding fathers that wrought God’s blessing and favor on our nation that we enjoy to this day.

Revelations 5:8 and 8:3 mention golden bowls filled with the sweet incense of the prayers of the saints and that they are answered in God’s timing. I do not know if the prayers of these bowls can be used up, or if the sweet fragrance of the saint’s prayers can fade, but I agree with Ann Graham Lotz that we must stand in the gap and pray for our great country, filling the golden bowls and asking for God to heal of our land.

Sometimes it can feel like too great a task, but Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom, where his nephew Lot resided. Abraham said in Genesis 18:23-24, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?” Abraham whittled the number down to ten, and God agreed.

We must unlock the chains of passivity and plead for our nation, our families, and our future through prayer. Even the men of the Revolutionary era had to be extorted by Ben Franklin to come out from underneath their comfort and pray for God’s intervention in the formation of our country, and when they did, the miracle of a nation governed by its people, under God, with liberty and justice for all began.