Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

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  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 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. Amen!'
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  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..'

What Manner Of Love . . .

From BLESSAY, Number 210, December 6, 2008

Denial is setting in like concrete in the minds of millions who are sick and tired of . . . they don't know what. I believe it is because world events that affect our lives are happening so fast that it is confusing and frightening. The world is out of control and there is no force of a gyrocompass to keep it on course. And . . . I need a hug!

Denial is a “cop out.” It is a naive cover-up for issues that won't go away. Denial cannot stop the spread of cancer or killer stress build-up. The most dangerous result of denial is refusal to prepare sensibly to fight . . . whatever it is that's bothersome. The initial sting of bad news is useful in making one take action to prevent more killer stress, and to keep a clear head to find reasonable remedies.

The world does not know what it means to be “connected” to the God of all creation and to feel the warmth of His love, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to receive His mercy and grace. I cannot imagine a world without Almighty God looking down on the sons of men and hearing our pleas.

I come from a railroad family and when I think of connection I look back at the images of long freight trains standing in the yards ready to take their load of materials to Texas. I see the conductor at the back wave his lantern to the engineer and off they go . . . that is, just the engine and the first ten cars. The last 75 cars don't move an inch while the front end goes speedily away. Whoops! The brakeman assumed every car was connected.

There are many gods men worship, but there is only one God, the Lord God, and Jesus is His name, who is connected in a personal way in the hearts of believers. Men make assumptions in regard to their eternal state, but an assumption is a form of denial. It keeps them from having God in all their thoughts so that they cannot visualize the truth of the Bible in regard to eternal life. Without God in his thoughts and the Holy Spirit of Christ in his heart, man cannot think beyond his Day Planner.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not (1John 3:1).”

Who can describe the love of God that exists in the hearts of believers? Does "joy unspeakable" or "peace that passes all understanding" do it? Well, it is adequate for right now until we see Him face to face.

It is a love the world does not have nor does it know how to get, because it comes by faith through grace and it cannot be manufactured by our own efforts. Yet the Bible says “For God so loved the world . . . just think of the price He paid to redeem us to Himself.

Whoever assumes the love of God without accepting it is not connected and when the promise that we will be caught up to meet Him in the air occurs, they will be left behind on the tracks. Better check those lynch pins. Assumption is without knowledge and brings on denial.

There is a remnant of the world's population that the Bible calls "sons of God", and sets us apart from "the sons of men." The “sons of men” find deep faith in the one true God, whose name is Jesus, to be revolting. They resent believers for what we have that that they say they have. They have faith, they say. But to what and to whom is their faith aimed? A positive outlook assumes faith, but there is no connection through grace by faith, and they are left standing on the tracks.

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright (Illustrator, 1876-1944)

What they do not have is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. They see no reason for their atonement. The Christian faith is the only belief system that is based on grace through faith, not of works of righteousness. All other religions are require some form of works for purification and atonement. But faith is a gift from God and it comes by hearing the gospel and the gospel comes by the word of God. "Aye, there's the rub."

The sons of God live by faith in and from God (Romans 1:17), but the sons of men live by their faith (works, Titus 3:5), which is self-righteousness, not the righteousness of God. They live in denial with no connection.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1John 3:2).”

Lorica of Saint Patricck

Lorica, fr. Latin meaning "body armor (of Roman soldiers)," describes the evangelist priest and Bishop, who was born of Scottish and English parents. His early life in the 14th century was hard, having been kidnapped by raiders, when in his teens, twice, and sold and made a keeper of sheep. During his first escape from slavery, he was sold back into slavery in Ireland, escaped again and spent seven years in Europe. Having found Christ as his master during his sheep-herding days, he wanted to further his education and study the Christianity at the Lerin Monastery in France.

After becoming a priest and returning to England, he had a dream that the Irish people called out to him to return to Ireland to minister to them. He did and by his deep faith that the Lord was ordering his steps, he preached “Christ and Him crucified, buried and risen from the dead,” to pagan Druids. This fiery priest was made a Bishop in 432 AD. The term "lorica" or breastplate is similar to the Apostle Paul's admonition in Ephesians.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:11-17). "

Patrick and his band of dedicated followers, were responsible for many conversions. His zeal to drive paganism, symbolic of snakes, from Ireland, motivated him to write many breastplate prayers, like this one from the 4th century, attributed to St. Patrick.

I bind myself today
The power of God to hold and lead
His eye to watch, His might to stay
His ear to hearken to my need
The wisdom of my God to teach
His hand to guide
His shield to ward
The word of God to give me speech
His Heavenly Host to be my guard.

Patrick tried hard to see to the conversion of the King of Tara, who gave him freedom to spread the gospel throughout the land. He plucked a Shamrock from the ground and told him that there was but one stem, but three branches representing the Holy Trinity. It impressed the king greatly, but there is no evidence of his conversion, much like Paul preaching to King Agrippa, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian (Acts 26:28)."

Nevertheless, Patrick and his followers were free to spread their faith throughout Ireland and did so to great effect. He drove paganism (symbolized by the snake) from the lands of Eireann.

"Patrick died on March 17th in the year 461 at the age of 76."
Source: Ireland Information
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Chuckle: When we think of Ireland, we also think of Limericks. My favorite is as follows:

The Reverend Fiddle from Tralee,
Received an honorary degree,
But he reeled in dismay,
When he heard people say,
Here comes The Reverend Fiddle, D.D.
(Author: don't know, don't ask)