Present Your Requests to God

 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

We are living in very troubling times. Not only are there "wars and rumors of wars" all over the globe as the Bible foretells there will be at the end of days, but we are seeing our own nation in upheaval.

Instead of appreciating a nation that is established on freedom, many of our citizens are determined to tear it apart and replace it with -- Venezuela?

Our schools no longer teach history from an honest perspective. It is touted in our textbooks that all cultures and all religions are equal. It fails to be mentioned that America has played a unique role in sustaining lofty ideals that have been assailed -- that patriots like Patrick Henry proclaimed, "Give me liberty or give me death!"

We have forgotten the words of Benjamin Franklin that, "If we don't hang together, we'll all hang separately."

Our memories fail to recall that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in his prime because he led this nation in a war that fought to assure, "all men are created equal."

We could quote the heroes of our history endlessly, but until we realize that our ultimate freedom is from JESUS, we will never apprehend the full meaning of the word.

Until we appropriate HIS, "peace that passes understanding to keep our hearts and our minds" in troubled times, we will not know true freedom from anxiety.

May we open our Bibles and there find the promises of the Living, Holy God who loves us. May we delve into His Unshakable Truth on which our founding fathers established this good land.

May we turn from looting and rioting to live the peaceful lives our forbearers gave so much to attain for us.

May we pray for our leaders as the Holy, Righteous One admonishes us to do.

May we go forward into the election season with prayerful, reasoned determination that this blessed land that has welcomed so many oppressed from so many lands for so many years will not be destroyed from within but will, as Abraham Lincoln said, "long endure."