From
the year 2001:
This
Pastor has guts!!
Thought
you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session
of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.
When
Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate,
everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly
Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your
direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil
good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the
absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We
have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
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 politics.
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, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us
free.
Guide
and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of
Your will and to openly ask these things 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 is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone
calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
The
church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from
India, Africa, and Korea.
Commentator
Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the
Story," 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."
If
possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. "If you don't stand
for something, you'll fall for anything."
This
really needs to go around the entire country....AMEN!!!