Ital Pot

2 Chron. 7: 14 If my people…pray…I will hear…and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Have you ever been cooking and forgot to put salt in the pot? How did the food taste? Pretty yucky, right? There are people who choose to cook without salt – ital cooking, but they have special seasonings to substitute for the salt. Salt is important to the flavour of the pot. It is also a good preservative and a healing agent. That is what makes Jesus statement in Matt. 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth” so meaningful. (More attention is paid to this text in another devotional.) However, the idea is that the presence of Christians in any community or country should make a big difference.

One of the ways in which Christians make a difference in their society is when they pray. In our country we have problems of crime and violence, poverty, broken families, corruption, immorality, irresponsibility and godlessness. Christians, especially, should be concerned about these things because these are signs that Satan has taken a hold of our society. We know that no person, organization or government can fix those problems properly by themselves. We need God’s help. When Christians talk to God He hears and answers and He expects that we should be the ones to talk to Him about these things. Like salt in the pot, we will then seriously change the “flavour” of our society. Listen to the words of the Bible:

I urge you first of all to pray for all people. As you pray, plead for God’s mercy on them and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God, our Saviour. (1 Tim. 2: 1-4 , NLT)

Today’s text gives us God’s promise that He will hear and answer our prayers. Doesn’t this give us hope as a people? Jamaica can be better. When we do our private devotions and when we have family worship we should pray for our country. We should never worship God in church on a Sabbath without praying for our country and our leaders. When that happens we are failing to be good salt, failing our country and failing our God. May God help us to be faithful in this duty.

Dear Lord, help never to forget to intercede for my country and my people because this is my duty to them and to you, in Jesus’ name, amen.