The other day I received an email from AFA (American Family Association) about a recent lawsuit. Here is an excerpt from that email:
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a self-procalimed atheist group, has filed a lawsuit against Texas Governor Rick Perry for initiating The Response: a call for prayer for a nation in crisis.
Gov. Perry has proclaimed Saturday, Aug. 6th, as a Day of Prayer and Fasting to "seek God's guidance and wisdom" for America. The Response is a non-denominational, apolitical, Christian prayer meeting hosted by the American Family Association at the 62,000-seat Reliant Stadium in Houston.
The basic goal of the FFRF lawsuit is to stop and silence Christians from praying in public places, such as Reliant Stadium. If they win here, they'll take their anti-Christian lawsuits to other places.
Will you help us stand up to those who would try to completely silence Christianity in America?
The same day I received this email I had been reading through the Book of Daniel chapter 9. This chapter records a prayer by Daniel for his nation which was in exile in Babylon for their disobedience to God by turning away from His commandments and worshiping foreign gods. Read his prayer which is recorded in Daniel 9:1-19. This is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
In the first year of Darius, who was the son of Ahasuerus, was a Mede by birth, and was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans--in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70. So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:
Ah, Lord--the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commandments--we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.
Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel--those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where You have dispersed them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward You. LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by following His instructions that He set before us through His servants the prophets.
All Israel has broken Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him. He has carried out His words that He spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us so great a disaster that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of heaven. Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not appeased the LORD our God by turning from our injustice and paying attention to Your truth. So the LORD kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all He has done. But we have not obeyed Him.
Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made Your name [renowned] as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, may Your anger and wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the injustices of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.
Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of Your servant. Show Your favor to Your desolate sanctuary for the Lord's sake. Listen, my God, and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city called by Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You based on our righteous acts, but based on Your abundant compassion. Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for Your own sake, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.
We need some prayer warriors like Daniel! We need some leaders in our country that will stand up and pray for our nation. We need governors like Rick Perry who will make an effort to "seek God's guidance and wisdom" for America. Our nation needs prayer. There are a lot of things we could do without in our country, but prayer is not one of them! I encourage you to pray. Pray often, pray deliberately and pray hard! Pray for our country. Pray for our leaders, especially ones like Rick Perry who are trying to turn to God for guidance. Pray that God will send more leaders that will stand up for public prayer. Pray for this event in Houston, and if possible try to go to Reliant Stadium on August 6th! Let's not be silenced by these radical atheist groups like FFRF! If anything, let's take this as a wake-up call and pray more than ever before!
Remember that God's Word tells us---The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful (James 5:16)
All humanity will come to You, the One who hears prayer. (Psalm 65:2)
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
(Proverbs 15:8)
Pray constantly. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper