Hi Friend,
As I write, it is the National Day of Prayer—a day to call upon God to intervene for our nation. Throughout its existence America has observed days of fasting and prayer on many occasions. Presidents Washington and Lincoln called on Americans to set aside a day to pray and fast. It was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1952. Today it is required by law that the president issue a call to prayer on the first Thursday of May.
Early in his presidency, Abraham Lincoln issued the following prayer for the nation. “Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
It is important that Lincoln called on “Almighty God.” He acknowledged that He is THE God, who is the source of our national blessings. He prayed in God’s name when asking that those in whom “we entrust the authority of government” to lead us in justice and peace. And he concluded the prayer “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The remarkable thing about Lincoln’s prayer, is that there is no doubt to WHOM he is praying. The God of the Bible is real to Lincoln. This God blesses the nation that obeys, and He punishes the nation that breaks His laws.
Have you read the proclamation by the current president? There is a glaring omission. There is no mention of God. He talks about diversity, racial injustice, differences of belief and even climate change but not one time does he call on God.
God is the core of morality and justice. We look “up” to God for values—the values that are above politics and partisan interests. Absent of God a vacuum is left to be filled by men who govern by raw power. One might call Biden’s proclamation the atheists prayer.
An atheist thinks his values are superior to the one who created the world. Such people ignore the source of life and blessings. Like Adam and Eve, they’ve taken of the tree of their knowledge. The consequences for us will be like those of our original parents—being banned from the protected environment—the Garden of wealth, prosperity, health, and the blessings of nature. It’s too easy for man to reject the idea of God without thought of potential consequences. We make decisions about everything from clothes to cars based on what seems good to us. Then we reap the blessings or bear the judgment of decisions made without thought.
It isn’t as if God did not equip man with the ability to think through essential concepts. Richard Hooker, an influential writer for the founding of America, wrote in his landmark work “Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity” in 1593 that “A providential God must have equipped us intuitively with sufficient rational powers to comprehend our relationship to God, to our fellow man, to what the terms of political and social association should be.”
In other words, God is a real being who has outfitted humans with sufficient mental capacity to recognize His existence. He has every right, therefore, to expect man to recognize that He created the universe. It is not too much to require that man, who has received life from Him, and who has been given the gift of a rational mind, should use that mind to contemplate the source of life.
We’re not the first nation that has suffered from the ignorance of foolish leaders. Daniel was a man who succeeded even when Judah was taken captive by Babylon. God warned both Israel and Judah of the consequences of rejecting Him in favor of a pagan god. When God sent His people into captivity, Daniel was favored during the time of exile.
Abraham was blessed even while living among barbaric people. Jacob was protected when he was surrounded by uncivilized hoards and Moses was used to teach the Egyptians that the true God was universal to all men—even those who were not of Abraham’s DNA. The good news is that God is merciful. All of these great patriarchs were able to thrive while living as captives to enemy nations.
The Israelites were set apart from the Egyptians when the plagues came. Noah was saved from a flood that covered the earth. He will always take care of those who utilize the spirit to discern that God is real.
Until next time,
Jim O’Brien