America was founded as a Christian nation, not a nation under a particular denomination, but a nation under the foundational principles of God’s Word, God-endowed (permanently given) unalienable rights, the right to govern one’s self expecting that public officials be public servants (not self-serving) obeying the same laws. Now that we are in the 250th anniversary of the war of the American Revolution, prayer is needed more than ever as our foundations have been under incessant attack.
The National Day of Prayer was instituted in 1952 by President Harry Truman, and set as the first Thursday in May by both houses of Congress and President Reagan in 1988. It was largely ignored during the Obama and Biden administrations while the socialist-marxist idolatry of government as the center of all needs prevailed. From colonial times on, American Governors and Presidents set aside days of prayer and fasting, particularly in times of crisis. Old Testament records show that when God’s people turned to kings and governments instead of Him, their goods were taken; they fell into corruption and idolatry and often were defeated and made slaves by other nations.
Besides praying for personal needs, we can pray for our nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The need for healing is evident every day in the chaos and violence in our streets, the divisive ideologies promulgated in our schools and media, the confusion and anxiety many suffer, and the lust for power by some who will use any means to rule over all. The root of it is spiritual and can only be prevailed over by spiritual means. You seek His face by studying His written Word and following its direction..
Pray for men and women with real world skills to rise up and steward the people’s money as a sacred trust, frugally using it only for the constitutionally mandated duties of that level of government. (Everything else can be done by private, voluntary giving as has always been the American tradition.) Pray for men and women with professional and business experience to bring a practical understanding of problem solving and what taxes and regulations do to business, innovation and job creation, to serve for short periods of time and then return to making their living under the laws they have passed. Pray for people to turn to God, Who can and will meet every need without requiring a payback nor robbing someone else.
Freedom is only maintained when Americans are self-sufficient, not government dependent. No other society in history was founded on the Biblical principle that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Most societies believed that some were more noble than others and set rights to rule on heredity rather than merit. Today, American marxists attempt to permanently control government at all levels by divisive ideologies such as critical race theory which reboots class warfare from bourgeoisie and workers to oppressors and victims (usually rooted in skin color or gender). That is not godly. God does not favor one person or group of people over another. What gets godly results and makes us more than conquerors in all situations is coming to His Word and finding out what He made available to us through Jesus Christ. Prayer is not mindless repetition; prayer puts us in partnership with the true Superpower, our Creator and Father. Studying His Word enables us to perceive when He has opened doors for us and follow through with the proper action.
Pray for people to come to the truth. “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13) Man’s systems are at best limited and unable to sustain constant demands for more. God is an unlimited source of supply, a doer of the impossible and the Creator of what has never been. “ Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” ( Isaiah 43:19)
God’s ways don’t diminish others to provide for someone; His ability is unlimited.
Thomas Paine said in Common Sense: government is at best a necessary evil, at worst an intolerable one. Americans have always taken the initiative to come together to meet community needs-so much so that Alexis de Tocqueville, who toured America in 1831 to see why the American Revolution built a peaceful and prosperous and free nation and the French Revolution, communistic and based on class envy was so brutal and bloody. He noted two major reasons: American’s commitment to “religion,” i.e. God and self-governing initiative and decentralization. Americans come together in a variety of associations around needs, causes, and interests, which builds community. This is a reflection of Biblical principles. In Exodus, Moses was told to delegate responsibilities among the people–not rule over every aspect of their lives, Authority was to be decentralized, close to the people. We get our principle of separation of powers from Isaiah 33:22 “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.” Judgments were to be made on the standard of law, not personal nor partisan advantage. Pray for our nation to return to these principles. Deuteronomy 17:18 required the king to write out his own copy of the Word of God in front of the priests. How much would our governments be improved if every official was required to write out a copy of the Constitution? Or more importantly, the Bible?
President Lincoln proclaimed at least three national days of prayer. Desperately trying to save the nation during the Civil War and abolish slavery, he spoke frequently of returning to our founding principles in the Declaration of Independence. Referring to Proverbs 25:11 “ A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver, ” he saw the Constitution as the practical framework for the godly principles of liberty and equality found in the Declaration. We are already in the 250th year anniversary of the war of the American Revolution, which began on April 19, 1775. Next year will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Let’s restore Americanism by praying to God and taking action (which includes reading His Word and our Declaration and getting back to our founding principles. ) You don’t have to be good enough to get an answer to prayer, but you do have to have enough spiritual understanding to see when God is opening a door and act. . Turn to God to restore our nation. The more you know and live the Word of God, the more freedom and abundance you will have.
Judith Niewiadomski, Yonkers
