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
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
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