Where to start...

This letter from Dr. Charles Stanley speaks my heart as well. I invite you to pray with me at the end.

Dear Friend,

When the United States of America was founded, it was unlike anything anyone had ever seenbefore. Never throughout world history had there been a country of the people, by the people, and forthe people—with religious liberty, freedom of speech, and confidence in the common man. This was because out of the fifty-six signatories to the Declaration of Independence, fifty-four of them were believers—men who understood the powerful influence the Savior could have on each and every person.

They sought God’s wisdom in creating the framework that would become the great nation we know and love today. They sowed faith, prayer, trust in His Word, and obedience to His commands—and the Lord blessed them because of their faithfulness to Him. America’s Founding Fathers were not perfect— they were people just like you and me—but what God did through them was absolutely astounding.

As we consider the future and where our heavenly Father is leading us, it is normal to think about the spiritual condition of our nation and what role we have in it as believers. Will our culture continue its drift away from the Lord and continue to struggle against the church? What kind of country will our children and grandchildren inherit? Will they enjoy the religious freedoms we are accustomed to?

It is difficult to predict where a nation is headed—and perhaps more challenging to alter its course. Is there really anything we can do to steer the United States in the right direction spiritually? Do we have any hope of returning our great country to its biblical foundation?

I want to encourage you today with an important principle that the Father has given us in Scripture. Galatians 6:7-9 tells us, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due
time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

In other words, you reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow. Ask any farmer, and he or she will confirm this principle. You cannot plant beans and expect to harvest peas. If you put tomato seeds into the ground, you are not going to raise an apple orchard.

Why is this important? Because as believers, we need to be very intentional about sowing godly values and being His representatives in our society. Just as our Founding Fathers had an incredible impact on our nation, imagine what would happen today if Christians in America would drop to their knees, seek the Father’s will, and obey Him without reservation. There is no telling how powerfully He could transform our culture.

How do we do this? First, we need to return to the Word of God. When the United States was founded, churches across the nation were faithfully teaching the truth of Scripture. Unfortunately, as time went on, liberal theology began influencing the messages coming from the pulpits. Pastors began questioning Jesus’ deity and shied away from preaching the gospel—and our culture began to deteriorate spiritually. For our country to return to the Lord, we must return to the truth. We as believers need
to be honest, courageous, and steadfast in living out the godly principles we profess to believe.

Second, we need to pray. The apostle Paul instructed, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:1–2). The leaders in this nation are in the hands of God, and He can change their hearts and minds (Prov. 21:1).

If as a country we choose to turn away from the Lord, He will allow us to face the consequences of our decisions. But if we turn to Him in prayer and fight the battle for the soul of this nation on our knees, He has promised, “I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

Third, we must stand firm and be counted. We cannot afford to be cowards—we have a responsibility to preach the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with conviction and obey Him with confidence. The spiritual core of our country needs to be repaired, and we must begin our mission with the household of God (1 Pet. 4:17). If we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that the church is no longer the example to the world that it once was. In order for the Lord to restore us to the beacon of hope we once were, we must be willing to humble ourselves before Him and be the light He has called us to be (Matt. 5:14-16).

If we truly want to correct the spiritual course of this nation—sowing godliness so we can reap a country that honors God—we need to look at our lives and ask, “Lord, how am I contributing to how this nation views You? Is my life reflecting what You want it to? Am I making a difference for the sake of Your kingdom? Am I sowing the attitudes and actions that honor You?”

We need to return to the life-changing truth of Scripture, pray, and live out our convictions. We must sow the godliness we hope to reap. Because if we do, God has promised to hear our cry and restore our land—leading our fellow Americans to repent and trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Will we listen to His call and trust His promises? The eternal futures of the unbelieving citizens of our country depend on how we respond.

Prayerfully yours,
Charles F. Stanley

Pray with me-

Father we pray that your people will return to You and to your Word. Deposit in our hearts a deep desire for your truth and a deep desire to pray your will. Help us to push "our will" out of the way and show us your will for us- as your children and for us- as a nation. May we pray your heart, may we see with your eyes, hear with your ears and love with your heart.

Help us to live "lives changed", standing FIRM and being counted. Give us wisdom and bravery to preach the word to those you send us to, to those we have influence over. Give us the conviction to obey You with confidence and uproot the fear of man from our thinking. Father, help us to truly repent from our individual sins (show them to us), and repent from the sins of our nation (show them to us as well).

We repent now in humility and ask for your forgiveness and grace! We ask for your forgiveness and grace over our country- the United States of America. We ask You to repair the spiritual core of our country, turn the hearts and minds of our leaders to You (all of our leaders in every field of influence- government, education, spiritual, commerse, military, business, arts/sports/entertainment, media, and families). Restore our hope and faith in You. Heal us, Father, and heal our nation.

We glorify Your Name, we thank You for hearing our prayers and petitions and answering them. We thank You for your Word, and we put You in rememberance of Your word now and thank you that You hear us from heaven, You forgive us our sins and You are healing our land! (2 Chron. 7:14) Praise You, Father! Praise Your Son- Jesus in whom we live! We ask that You multiply this prayer and the desire to pray across this nation! Amen and Amen!

Dependancy on God

It is telling how prayer has come to have an impact on the lives of all Americans
in some very profound ways. When our Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia, for example, prayer played a significant role in their daily deliberations and in motivating the colonists to support the revolutionary cause.

Coming together for the first time in September 1774, most of the delegates had never set eyes on one another, let alone worked with one another, before. Rumors from Boston were rife that the British army had fired on the homes and families of the delegates from Massachusetts. Realizing the need to bond as quickly as possible and to ask for the guidance of Divine Providence, the delegates agreed with Samuel Adams that before any substance was discussed they needed to turn to God. From that day forward they would begin their daily gatherings in prayer and would continuously pass resolutions, urging Americans to fast and pray for their collective cause.

Little more than 50 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. experienced a life changing epiphany through prayer. Having taken the lead in the cause of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he, his wife, and their new baby girl had gone to bed early on New Year’s Eve 1955. In the middle of the night the telephone rang and a white racist told Dr. King that he and his family would be killed the next day if he did not leave Alabama immediately. Shaken, he quietly walked into the kitchen and began to pray. He asked God to lift the burden of leading the Civil Rights Movement and to pass it on to someone else. As a young husband and father he did not want to put his family in harm’s way. Suddenly, he experienced a moment that he had never confronted
or would ever confront again. Referring to it later as his “kitchen conversion,” Dr. King realized that he had no choice but to lead the Civil Rights Movement. Through his prayer he resolved never to retreat from what he saw as his mission in life.

And so we must ask ourselves, how different would our history have been had America’s
leaders and people, Americans of every generation, not been able to turn to prayer at critical moments in their lives and in the life of the country? Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that American prayer is not just static history. Belief in the efficacy of prayer has continued to be an essential element of our nationhood. It is invoked every time our Supreme Court is called to order, our House and our Senate begin their daily sessions, and when our President holds a Cabinet meeting. I view PRAYER IN AMERICA as a testament to the spiritual dynamic of our country. It speaks to our past, our present, and our future, providing us with a unique perspective in the way we live.
http://www.prayerinamerica.org/wp-content/downloads/get-involved/PRAYER-IN-AMERICA-Outreach-Guide.pdf

But has prayer in our nations capital as powerful today as it has been in the past? At the moment I think not. It seems to me that the prayers prayed before the House and the Senate begin their daily sessions are more of a routine nature, a "religious" nature instead of from the heart. Powerful prayer is prayed from the heart. It is prayer that cries out from dependancy on God then from a "religious" incantation. The "religious" routine prayer is now rooted in a dependancy in man. We don't look to God to help us in our decisions we look to ourself and our indepence from God, making our "religious" routine prayers moot and of no effect.

I'm encouraged knowing that our nation is rooted in prayer! We can tap into these roots anytime with real and powerful prayers from the heart dependant on God and God alone. We recognize that God is our only hope, the only hope for our leaders and for our Nations future.

Father, we pray for dependancy to You and You alone. We value our independance only as it is dependant in You. Continue to lead us and help us to pray compassionatly and wisely! Amen

Pray for our Country

Hi,

My goal is to get information out to as many people as possible and pray for our nation. The border that we share with Mexico has been heavy on my heart so this is where I will begin our journey together.



Consider the Facts
-In 2008, The U.S. Justice Department said recently that Mexican gangs are the "biggest organized crime threat to the United States."

-Until January of 2009, any smugglers carrying under the threshold of 500 pounds were often not prosecuted. Smugglers began purposely carrying smaller loads or coming in just below 500 pounds to try to escape prosecution.

-In 2009, Phoenix had more than 370 kidnapping cases last year, turning it into the kidnapping capital of the U.S. Most of the victims were illegal aliens or linked to the drugs trade.

-Narcotics prosecutions in Arizona have risen 202% in 16 months and that is still not handling all of the arrests that are made according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
1,080 prosecutions will be refused this year in Tucson sector alone. This represents over one third of all unprosecuted cases in the Southwest.

-According to Phoenix Police Department, there have already been 95 home invasion robberies in 2010, following 398 in 2009 and 376 in 2008.

-An estimated 5 to 10 % of all marijuana produced in Mexico is transported by highly organized and compartmentalized Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations each year through the Tohono O’odham Reservation, which accounts for less than 4% percent of the U.S.-Mexico Border. Source: National Drug Threat Assessment 2010

Read the letters from Governor Brewer to Washington that were never answered.
Read letters from Secretary Napolitano to Washington when she was Governor of Arizona
Letters from 2006-2008
Letters from 2005
www.securetheborder.org/border-facts-and-news/

http://immigrationcounters.com/ -This link is an up to date counter

A Senator form California address congress- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqd9WFOZH3g this is worth watching!

http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/Illegal_Immigration_Facts_&_Statistics/index.shtml

http://afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147494674 - Here is an insert from this post... Please read my comments at the end.

"I was asked by a caller Thursday whether Jesus would, if he were governor, sign the Arizona immigration law. "In a heartbeat," I answered.

Why, I asked rhetorically? "Because of his compassion.

"This compassion is for the citizens of Arizona who are subject to home invasions, out-of-control drug trafficking, human smuggling, the constant threat of kidnappings, and a $2.7 billion price tag for all the social problems caused by illegal aliens. The costs of education, welfare, medical care and law enforcement may wind up bankrupting the state. The compassion of Jesus goes out to Arizonans who live with constant social disruption and suffer a steady drain on resources which should be available to take care of their families. And all because politicians have failed to use the authority God has delegated to them to "carr(y) out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." (Romans 13:4)

About 1/5 of American teenagers use drugs, and the vast majority of those drugs - up to 90% by some estimates - comes into the U.S. across our southern border. Drug abuse is a plague being driven by heartless cartels who move their drugs, whether cocaine, methamphetamine, or marijuana across the porous perimeter we share with Mexico. The compassion of Jesus goes out to teenagers and their parents whose lives are ravaged by illicit drugs.

Law enforcement officials in Phoenix had to deal with 316 kidnappings last year alone, almost one a day, one kidnapping every 35 hours. Phoenix is now second only to Mexico City as the kidnap capital of the world, and somewhere between 70% and 90% of those snatches are perpetrated by illegal aliens. The compassion of Jesus goes out to the families and neighborhoods living with the constant fear of being grabbed off the street and held for ransom.

One caller to my program yesterday told of an incident recently in which a coyote busted into his home, armed to the teeth with an automatic weapon, and ordered him at gunpoint to feed the illegal aliens the coyote was transporting, about 15 in all. Then the coyote shot up the caller's home on his way back out into the darkness. And this 20 miles inside sovereign United States territory. The compassion of Jesus goes out to families living in constant fear of home invasions.

One rancher, Robert Krentz, was killed in cold blood on his ranch earlier this year, a ranch that had been repeatedly vandalized and trashed by illegals. Apparently he ran into a runner for one of the drug cartels and paid for it with his life. This likewise 20 miles inside sovereign U.S. territory. Krentz had always taken care of the physical needs (for drinking water, for instance) of every illegal alien he apprehended on his ranch and treated them with civility until law enforcement showed up. The compassion of Jesus goes out to the family of Robert Krentz, who have lost a husband, father, brother, uncle and friend.

Illegal aliens destroyed the property of rancher Roger Barnett, killed his calves and broke into his home. They tore up water pumps, tore down fences and gates, and stole his trucks. Some of his cattle died after ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by illegals, and he installed a faucet on an 8,000 gallon water tank so they could get water without damaging the tank.

The immigrant trails that cross his property are littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty one-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil (used to pack the drugs coyotes give to their "clients" to keep them running).

He was forced to spend $30,000 on electronic sensors and has to spend valuable time patrolling his own property. All told, he has turned over 12,000 illegal aliens to the Border Patrol in the last 12 years. For his trouble, he is now being sued for $32 million in actual and punitive damages by 16 illegal aliens he detained on his own ranch. The compassion of Jesus goes out to this man, his family and the rest of Arizona's ranchers who live near the border.

Although illegals comprise nine percent of Arizona's population, they are responsible for 22 percent of all felonies committed in the state. Illegals are responsible for almost 17 percent of violent crimes, almost 19 percent of crimes against property, over 33 percent of drug crimes, and over 44 percent of crimes of fraud and forgery. The compassion of Jesus goes out to every victim of a senseless crime committed by someone who has no legal, moral or ethical right even to be in this country.

Three Border Patrol agents, on average, are assaulted every day. The compassion of Jesus goes out to them and their families who wonder every day if they will come home again.

Would Jesus sign the immigration bill? He'd sign it so fast it'd give you a nosebleed. He has far too much compassion for innocent victims not to."

I agree with him, but I also believe Jesus would have compassion on the illegal that is trying to honestly cross the border to make a better life for him/her and their family. Jesus has compassion on the illegals that are being taken advantage of by coyotes (a smuggler that promises help to navigate the illegals across the border for a price). And Jesus has compassion on those dieing in the desert.

Insert from 2005- Record numbers of illegal immigrants who cross into the US from Mexico have died in the heat of the Arizona desert in the past year. At least 229 immigrants are known to have died since 1 October 2004, the US Border Patrol said.

Many died while wandering through vast desert areas where summer temperatures regularly soar past 40C (104 Farenheit).

In one Arizona county, a refrigerated trailer is being used to store up to 70 extra bodies as the morgue is full.

Temperatures in the western US desert regions have remained unceasingly "brutal" throughout the summer, Border Patrol spokesman Jose Garza told the Reuters news agency.

"The smugglers continue to bring these people to the vastness of our western deserts... and we cannot control the elements."

Temperatures in Arizona have peaked at 44C this year, with the mercury in Tucson staying at 40C or above for 29 consecutive days in June and July. An estimated 81 immigrants died during that heatwave.

Arizona serves as the main crossing point for some 1.1 million immigrants who make the journey into the US from Mexico each year. Border Patrol officers have carried out about 700 missions to rescue immigrants stranded in the desert region this summer.
http://www.workpermit.com/news/2005_09_02/us/immigrants_die.htm


We have reviewed some of the facts, please be encouraged to research more... now Lord, I am asking You to help us pray wisely and compassionately about our border with Mexico. Amen!

This is my prayer for today! Talk to you soon....