A Prayer For Our Nation...

“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 itself 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; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless the men and women who have been sent here by the people of this United States of America and who have been ordained by You, to govern this Great Nation. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will. I ask this in the name of your Son; The Living Savior; Jesus Christ… Amen.”

Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world. (It's worth a try!) One Nation Under God.

 

This prayer actually took place first, in the Kansas House in Topeka on January 23, 1996. Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita and was guest chaplain that day. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer did stir controversy and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer.

 

The last paragraph was was rewritten to cover the entire United States, it was originally: "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 the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen"

 

The controversy didn't end there. Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.

 

Paul Harvey also aired the story and the prayer. He got such a large response that a phone number was set up to handle the calls. He's aired it a couple more times since.