Prayer is critical to any nation, especially a nation that proclaims a connection to God. The United States historically had claimed such a connection. But things have changed. We are living in days that most call post-Christian. The drift from our Judeo-Christian foundation is evident in almost every aspect of our society. That leads us back to prayer. It’s time to pray for America.

For the next 40 days, this blog will provide the content of Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America.

Desperate for Change was written to help you focus your prayers in a biblical way.

Each day’s devotion is based on a passage of Scripture. The Scriptures used here must be used carefully. Sometimes a promise was made particularly to Israel as a theocracy (a nation whose leader was God). Because of this, you cannot just pull any promise made to Israel and automatically apply it to the United States or any other nation. But many of these promises are based on spiritual principles that can be carefully applied to our nation. I have attempted to do so, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

The last devotion—Day Forty—focuses on Esther 4:14, in which the young Hebrew queen is challenged to put her life on the line for her people. Her cousin Mordecai saying to her, “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” For such a time as this, we are all called to intense intercession for our nation.

I suggest you do not simply pray 40 days and then stop praying and move on. Please continue to pray for our nation. Perhaps purchase a copy of Desperate for Change and pray through it every 40 days!

I believe the Spirit of God can take this material and forge powerful prayers for the transformation of a nation as we pray the same Scripture day after day until the Lord turns us loose to move on to the next devotion.

--Dave Butts, chairman of America's National Prayer Committee