A Prayer from the Valley of Vision

O Lord God, who inhabits eternity,

The heavens declare your glory,

The earth your riches,

The universe is your temple;

Your presence fills immensity,

Yet You have of your pleasure created life,

and communicated happiness;

You have made me what I am,

and given me what I have;

In You I live and move and have my being;

Your providence has set the bounds of my habitation,

and wisely administers all my affairs.

I thank You for your riches to me in Jesus,

for the unclouded revelation of him in your Word,

where I behold his Person, character, grace, glory,

humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection;

Give me to feel a need of his continual saviourhood,

and cry with Job, ʻI am vileʼ,

with Peter, ʻI perishʼ,

with the publican, ʻBe merciful to me, a sinnerʼ.

Subdue in me the love of sin,

Let me know the need of renovation

as well as of forgiveness,

in order to serve and enjoy You for ever.

I come to You in the all-prevailing name of Jesus,

with nothing of my own to plead,

no works, no worthiness, no promises.

I am often straying,

often knowingly opposing your authority,

often abusing your goodness;

Much of my guilt arises from my religious privileges,

my low estimation of them,

my failure to use them to my advantage,

But I am not careless of your favor or regardless of your glory;

Impress me deeply with a sense of your omnipresence,

that You are about my path,

my ways, my lying down, my end.

An Incredible Prayer for the Lord’s Church (part 1)

There are some incredible gems in the first chapter of Colossians. One of the most amazing things about this letter is that the church at Colossae was not known personally to the apostle Paul. Evidently Epaphras had founded the church there and Paul had only “heard” of their faith (verse 4) and had “learned of Epaphras” (verse 7) about their situation. So, in light of this detachment, it is surprising that Paul did “not cease to pray” for them (verse 9). He is connected in his heart and spirit to this congregation that he never personally knew.

This is a great admonition for us to remember Christians and ministries in far away places with which we have no direct personal knowledge. This is not to imply a recklessness in our support of ministries, even our prayer support. We only have so much time that is devoted to prayer, and certainly when it comes to financial support, we need to know a ministry is worthy of our support. Epaphras had validated for Paul the Colossian church, and the report had gripped his heart. How beautiful the bond between Christians! The Holy Spirit binds our hearts together. How we must depend on God to direct even our praying.

And notice that Paul’s praying is spiritually focused. While we do well to pray for each others’ physical, tangible needs, we also do well to remember that effective praying focuses on the eternal. Too much of the church’s prayer life is centered on recovery from physical ailments and too little time is spent on the things that can debilitate and cripple the spiritual man. Not so with Paul. He prayed for this church, a congregation he had never met, that they would be spiritually victorious. What a great prayer to imitate.

Pray for America

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. If you’re a Christian, it is essential that you spend time interceding for our nation. Tomorrow, we’ll do what Americans have always done in times of great need—pray and ask God for help with the issues facing our country. Perhaps those issues don’t seem quite as pressing as they did when Ben Franklin reminded the Constitutional Convention that “God governs in the affairs of men… And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” During the early days of our existence as a nation, we knew we needed God. And during the darkest hours of the Civil War, a minister said to President Lincoln that he hoped the Lord was on their side. Lincoln thought for a moment before replying, "I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right...but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I--and this nation--should be on the Lord's side." I must confess I share some of Lincoln’s “constant anxiety” about our nation being on God’s side. In fact, I have to conclude that America, for the most part, is a nation that has set its face against God. That’s why this Thursday is so important. It is vital for Christians to stand in the gap—between our Holy God whose ways are just and our sinful nation whose ways are sinful. On the National Day of Prayer, let us as Christian citizens do our part to talk to our heavenly Father with urgency and passion about the things we face as Americans.

National Prayer Breakfast -- More About Politics Than Prayer

I just read a few blurps of Secretary of State Clinton's remarks as well as President Barak Hussein Obama's remarks from the National Prayer breakfast.

Not surprisingly, their comments were political, not spiritual, though they took some shots at "organized religion" encompassing true, gospel Christiianity I suppose. All comments were devoid of the issue--that America has departed from its worship of the one true God. Jesus wasn't even mentioned.

Still, God in His mercy averts His judgment on a stiff-necked and arrogantly rebellious nation. May He give us repentant and humble hearts!

I was surprised to learn the history of the National Prayer Breakfast. Interestingly, a watch group called Citizens for Responsbility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) had asked the President and others not to attend. The letter is here.