A Prayer of Repentence for our nation

This particular prayer is very pungent, especially if you are as concerned about our countries future as I am. In various e-mails it has been attributed to Billy Graham and Paul Harvey. In truth, this prayer was delivered by The Rev. Joe Wright, senior pastor of the 2,500-member Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas in 1996 when he was invited to offer the opening prayer at the session of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Unlike the present popular e-mail which is titled a "Prayer for the Nation," the original title was a "Prayer of Repentance". As is true for most pastors we have a tendency to “borrow” from each other and Pastor Wright did on this occasion. This particular prayer was his variation on a prayer written in 1995 by Bob Russell when he was invited to offer the opening prayer at Kentucky’s Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.

Pastor Wright's prayer:
“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!'”

I believe that Pastor Wright hit the nail-on-the-head with this prayer. Many within the House of Representatives didn’t think so – one walked out, much debate was held on the floor, the national media picked up on it and Pastor Wright was widely interviewed. Phone calls started to come into his church to the point that his staff stopped answering the phones after the number grew to over 6,500.

In a later interview, Joe Wright said, “I thought I might get a call from an angry congressman or two, but I was talking to God – not them. The whole point was to say that we all have sins that we need to repent – all of us. The problem I guess, is that you’re not suppose to get too specific when you are talking about sin.” Or, you are not to get too specific about those actions that you have supported or taken just those decisions and positions taken by the “other” party.

Well, today we begin another series of primaries and the debate is heating up concerning the “sins” of the other guys. Where is the acceptance of personal responsibility in all of this discussion?

I’m just wondering …

Quote for today: Many people use mighty thin thread when mending their ways. Daily Walk