Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Prayer Initiative

Prayer Initiative
The General Welfare

Suggested Scriptural references ...
It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 118:9

Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. Proverbs 27:10

Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. 1 Corinthians 10:24

Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24

Suggested prayers ...
Father, we ask for leaders with a true understanding of the founders' intent behind the phrase "promote the general welfare" in the Preamble to our Constitution, when welfare used to mean "well-being".
We ask You to guide our leaders in how to best promote the well-being of our citizens within the bounds of our God-given freedoms.

We thank you, Father, for founders who referred to You as Providence itself.

Help us, O God, to truly honor our national motto: In God We trust.

We ask You to help us reverse the trend to look to government to provide for us, take over for us, and then take us over.

As Your church, we deeply pray for Your guidance in how best to help the least of our neighbors.

Father, the question in America used to be, "Ask what you can do for your country." It now seems to be, "What have you done for me lately, country?" We repent from our tendency to look to "Caesar" for our daily bread. Help us to trust in You over any earthly or material source. And help us to be Your hands and heart in tending to the true needs of the least among us.

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“[We give] thanksgiving to Almighty God, for his mercies...and for the continuance of His favor and protection to these United States; [we] beseech Him that He would be graciously pleased to influence our public councils, and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness and success; that He would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory; that He would grant to his church, the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out His Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that He would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that He would smile upon the labors of His people, and cause the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance, that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy them...that He would graciously be pleased! to turn the hearts of our enemies, and to dispense the blessings of peace to contending nations; that he would in mercy look down upon us, pardon all our sins, and receive us into His favor; and finally, that He would establish the independence of these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue, and support and protect them in the enjoyment of peace, liberty and safety.”

Thomas Jefferson quoting from an act of Congress establishing a Day of Thanksgiving in 1779

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