Posted on 11/04/2008 6:36:49 PM PST by joanie-f
When I was a very young child, maybe two or three years old, my Dad hung the painting pictured above on the wall at the head of my bed. Through the years as I grew, I decorated my room with many photos, pennants, pictures, and the like, but that small painting always remained in place.
Many years later, for our tenth anniversary, my husband, Rick, had it re-framed for me (the frame had come to know its share of bumps and bruises over the years), and now, thirty-one years hence, it still hangs on the wall at the head of our bed.
My Dad passed away seven years ago last month. I miss him terribly, but I am thankful that he has not had to witness the devastation of his beloved country that has occurred since his passing. His heart would be heavy with grief and mourning.
Somehow, despite its long nearly sixty-year history, and the loving memories that history rekindles, the message that my Dad's painting portrays -- of the power of prayer, and the need to turn to His Word for guidance and direction -- has intensified in significance for us over the past few months.
Heavenly Father, forgive us for what we have done.
You have prospered our nation for more than two centuries. You have strengthened us when we were weak, provided for us when we were without provision, directed us when we were willing to follow your guidance, blessed us when we were undeserving of blessings.
We have walked far from the path you laid out for us. We have betrayed those who sacrificed so dearly for our benefit. We have become lazy, allowing ourselves to be easily ensnared by carefully-crafted words and empty promises, delivered by men who worship self, who seek to oppress and control their fellow man, and who place no value in truth and goodness.
We have transformed prosperity into decadence; allegiance and duty into indulgence and complacency.
We have taken the gifts that only you can bestow (Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you ... 2 Tim 1:14) and placed them in the hands of men whose will is arbitrary and whose agenda is tyranny. The road ahead is dark, and steep, and fraught with danger –- made intentionally so by those who intend to ‘lead’ us, deceptively, through the fog they have created, and over the minefields they have laid.
Help us to continue to have faith in our own individualism, to insulate ourselves from the cacophony that surrounds us, and to listen for your gentle whispers. For we know that it is in heeding those whispers that our future security lies.
We cling to the knowledge that you work in miracles, when it is your will to do so. We pray that, if it not be praying against that will, you would help us to acknowledge what we have lost, muster the courage to reclaim it, and look to you once again in that endeavor for the strength, wisdom, and guidance and that only you can provide.
Amen.
Pray for America.
God is in control. Watch and pray. God has a plan for you. A plan to prosper you, not to harm you. HE IS IN CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!
Consecrate yourselves.
Get your households in order.
Purify yourselves and the Church – casting out apostates, wolves in sheep clothing, and those living in unrepentant sin in your midst.
Wake up – Bride of Christ – cease living as though tomorrow is just the same as yesterday.
Tell everyone of the coming wrath. If they will not listen, shake the dust off your sandals and move on quickly. Leave the “calling out” to the LORD.
Do not fear; be of great courage and boldness.
Pray for there to be ears to hear and eyes to see….the Truth. Thy Word is Truth.
Prepare the way of the LORD.
Praise the Worthy Lamb, for His Kingdom is near.
Thank you. I needed those words more than you could know.
Lord help us all.
Thank you so much for this beautiful and powerful post.
WIth a heavy heart I am praying that it is God’s will that The United States of America remains united however ignorant her dumbed down citizens have become.
We have no one to blame for the state of our culture but ourselves and our silence.
If you didn’t put a McCain/Palin sticker on your car out of fear of someone “keying” your car, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
If you sat politely by while the television sponsors you support continued to malign conservatives, Christians, violate FCC rules regarding usage of the people’s airwaves for state sponsored propaganda, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
If you sat silently supporting McCain/Palin in fear of being called a racist by an Obamatron, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
If I hear one passive republican crying over their beers I will curse them and demand they get off of the pity pot of their own making.
A word to the wise...If you did nothing to help McCain/Palin win this election, the next campaign begins on Wednesday.
GOYA and quit complaining.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Attributed to Edmund Burke
Elections are potpourri. God is in charge.
None of our lives is dependent on who is President.
Between those identifying themselves as Catholic and those who consider themselves “Evangelicals”, we see a total of over 140 MILLION people. Even if only 1/3 of that number were eligible to vote - we still see some 45 million votes. Had all eligible voters who CLAIM to be Evangelical Christians or Catholics voted for what they claim as their religion, this election would not have even been close.
But we are seeing a far different outcome.
You go right ahead. Can’t hurt. Until we educate the voters and do something with the media nothing changes.
Good night all. We’re all still here, it’s no time to give up.
Thank you, Joanie, for that beautiful picture and the story that goes with it. What you had from your father I got mostly from my Aunt and from a few people at the prep school I went to. I will always be grateful for that gift.
But we are seeing a far different outcome.
I saw some exit polling on Fox tonight that reported that 29% of those who identified themselves as 'evangelical Christians' voted for Obama.
Let's just take one of Obama's countless stands that are an abomination, working against His word: his support of partial birth abortion. How, exactly, do those 'evangelicals' justify their support of such a man?
It defies comprehension, and certainly re-defines the term 'evangelical Christian' to include people who cannot in good conscience apply that label to themselves.
~ joanie
Amen.
Thank you for the kind words, and best to you and yours in these troubling times.
~ joanie
True and heartfelt words, every one!
Thank you.
~ joanie
It is those 'intangible' gifts, that remain with us for as long as we are living, that are the most priceless we ever receive.
Best to you and yours in these troubling times ...
~ joanie
From an e-mail sent about last night and today:
This event actually happened in the Kansas House in Topeka on January 23, 1996. At the time, Joe Wright was the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita and was House guest chaplain that day.
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new House session, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
Heavenly Father,
We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, ‘’Woe to those who call evil good,’’ but that’s exactly what we have done.
We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it political savvy;
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.
I ask in in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ.
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright was pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church has received international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on “The Rest of the Story” on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.
With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called one nation under God.
Logan’s Prayer Warriors.....
Absolutely beautiful.
I have saved this story, and will be forwarding it to many.
Thank you, Joe.
~ joanie
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