It is a question intercessors have wrestled with for years. God is not distant. His ear is not heavy. His hand is not short. So why does the Church so often cry out for revival — and feel heaven is silent?
This devotional begins with that question, and answers it from the oldest place in Scripture:
God will not sit on a foundation that has not been prepared for Him. And the Church in America has, for generations, built its prayer gatherings, its worship services, and its missions work — while leaving one foundation stone largely unaddressed.
God's Heart for Restoration is an invitation to lay that stone.
God's Heart for Restoration is a 40-day devotional prayer guide calling the global Church to pray first for First Nations — the indigenous peoples of America — as part of the USA 250 anniversary season.
It is, we believe, unique among all the prayer initiatives marking this milestone. While other guides rightly call for revival, awakening, and national dedication, this guide asks the harder prior question: What must the Church first reckon with, confess, and turn from, before God can heal the land He loves?
The guide is based on Justice and Judgment, a searching work by Ivan G. Doxtator, a First Nations scholar and man of God whose life's study has been the connection between the Church's unaddressed history and the unanswered prayers of its intercessors.
Daily devotional reflections — theologically rich, honest, and spiritually energising meditations on justice, repentance, and God's heart for restoration
Prayers of identificational repentance — specific, scripturally-grounded prayers confessing the Church's historic relationship with America's indigenous peoples, including the Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and the Boarding School era
Intercession by name — for First Nations peoples across the continent — from the Algic and Iroquoian nations of the northeast, to the Muskogean peoples of the southeast, the Siouan nations of the Great Plains, the Uto-Aztecan peoples of the southwest, the Athabascan nations, the Salishan and California tribal peoples, and the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut communities of the far north
The guide is a free PDF. Download it now and save it to your phone, tablet, or computer. Print individual pages, or read on screen — whatever works for you.
The guide runs from 25 May to 3 July 2026 — 40 days leading to America's 250th birthday on 4 July. You can begin any time, but starting together as a global community multiplies the power of prayer.
Every day includes a short Bible passage, a devotional reflection of 3–4 paragraphs, and a prayer. It takes around 10–15 minutes a day. Many intercessors will choose to sit longer.
Each day concludes with a focused prayer of repentance or intercession. Pray it as written, or let it become the launching pad for your own words before God. Add the names of people and communities you know.
Each week focuses intercession on a different group of First Nations peoples — with specific names, specific histories, and specific hope. This is prayer that honours the dignity of those for whom we intercede.
This devotional is based on Justice and Judgment, a book by Ivan G. Doxtator — a First Nations scholar, intercessor, and man of deep biblical conviction. Ivan's life work has been to help the Church understand the indissoluble link between honest repentance and genuine revival: that God's throne cannot be established on a foundation of ignored injustice. His writing is unflinching in its historical honesty, but never without hope. Every hard chapter in this guide points toward the same destination: the healing God has always promised to a people willing to humble themselves and turn.
God's Heart for Restoration has been compiled and edited in honour of America's 250th anniversary, drawing on Ivan's scholarship to create an accessible, daily-use devotional for intercessors everywhere.
This guide has been prepared and published by International Prayer Connect (IPC) — a global prayer and mission network with a reach of more than 100 million believers in over 200 nations — as part of IPC's USA 250 prayer mobilisation initiative.
Whether you are an intercessor of many years or someone beginning to discover the power of prayer, this guide will meet you where you are — and take you somewhere deeper. Download it now and begin on 25 May with believers across the globe.
Alongside this devotional, we invite you to read IPC's broader Call to Prayer for America — a prophetic document from IPC's North American Prayer Council, calling the global Church to intercede for the United States across this season of national significance.
© 2026 International Prayer Connect · www.ipcprayer.org
God's Heart for Restoration is based on Justice and Judgment by Ivan G. Doxtator, compiled and published with permission.