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FAITHFUL OBSERVATIONS: A call To prayer

by BOB SHILLINGSTAD/Special to The Press
| September 12, 2020 1:00 AM

“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God,” —Deuteronomy 8:11-14

William Penn said that “Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.” John Adams speaking to the Massachusetts Militia in 1798 made a statement that applies to our situation today. Adams said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Our country has a history of days of prayer and yet the vast majority will ignore these larger issues facing our nation. Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel observed that the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. After all, what can the typical person do about any of the crazy stuff going on these days?

John Stonestreet said, “Christians cannot succumb to hopelessness. We are never allowed to retreat into indifference. To love is the first and greatest commandment, first God and then others. We are, Peter wrote, 'born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' (1 Peter 1:3) We may not feel like this is true, but it is.”

Christians should be among those most deeply concerned about the divided state of our nation. Left vs. right, masks vs. no masks, reopen vs. stay-at-home, virtual school vs. in-person, race, politics, police, abortion, religious liberty, not to mention the remainder of what’s certain to be a brutal presidential campaign.

The great Jonathan Edwards, a leading theologian and perhaps America’s greatest Christian philosopher, served in pastoral ministry in the 18th century, during the height of the Enlightenment. Edwards argued that for the Christian to maintain this love for God and others, defined by hope while avoiding despair, regular prayer was essential. However, Edwards was clear that prayer does not bring hope to believers by guaranteeing that God will line up with our requests. Rather, prayer aligns the believers, and our requests, to the Kingdom of God.

Alexsander Solzhenitsyn spent many years in a Soviet gulag before being expelled from Russia to live in the United States. He was a Nobel Prize winner, novelist and historian and gave us in the U.S. a unique perspective. Here is a chilling quote from him: “But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some sixty million people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened…”

Is it too late? Isaiah 17:10 says, “You have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.” Let all of us not forget, we are in perilous times and our nation desperately needs to turn to God. When people see us as their enemies, it’s difficult to remember they aren’t our enemies. We can only, as Paul instructs, put on the full armor of God — faith, truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, and the word of God — “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication … keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

According to the book of Acts, the earliest church activity was prayer. Thousands of people, from completely different backgrounds, came together in one mind and one heart in prayer “with one accord” (Acts 1:14; 2:42–47). What happened? The Holy Spirit moved and the world was never the same.

Between now and the election let us all repent and pray for our leaders and our country. Franklin Graham has called for a prayer march on Washington on Sept. 26, marching from the Lincoln Memorial ending at the U.S. Capitol.

Another group called “The Return” has also scheduled events that weekend in Washington and state capitals around the country. In Kootenai County there will be an event at Stateline Speedway on that Saturday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. Most events are focusing on prayer, humility and repentance.

Our prayer cannot force God’s hand, of course. But, our only way forward is to seek His will together. Our prayers don’t control God, but rather invite Him in to change hearts and minds, including our own. God is always working in our lives whether we realize it or not, but something powerful and world-changing happens when people pray for God’s Spirit to move.

Paul tells us to pray for all things at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and specifically to pray for our leaders, both spiritual and secular. Every spiritual revolution in history started with this kind of unified, persevering prayer. From the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts to the Great Awakenings to the Businessman’s Revival to the Welsh Revival, in story after story, we hear the same thing. People prayed and God’s Spirit moved. On the other hand, every Christian in history who persevered in righteousness, despite temptation or persecution, did so through prayer.

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Bob’s religion columns appear Saturdays in The Press. Email Bob: bjshill@mac.com