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Troy Borst
A NATIONAL PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. On January 23, 1996, He was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer.
The controversy didn't end there. Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.
Paul Harvey got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program. He got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Here’s what he prayed:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your
will... Amen
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/kansasprayer.htm
Martin Luther prayed: Lord, although I am sure of my position, without your help I cannot maintain it. Help me or I am lost!”
Ken Dillingham
Not long ago we took a Christmas trip to my home in Illinois. We witnessed a wreck outside Marshall, TX. When I got to the scene, the man was unconscious and unresponsive. What do you do? All I knew to do while all the people were gathering around this dying man was to pray. And as I prayed, a single tear trickled down this man’s cheek. Unable to signal me verbally, unable to tell me who he was or if he had a wife and children, unable to tell me where he was going, unable to tell me if he was a believer ... he signalled a message.
My Message: Signals Of The Soul.
That singular tear was a signal … a message from within the shell of a human broken body. Unresponsive yet signaling.
Unconscious yet signaling. (The plea from within!)
I recall the story of the sea captain who was a Christian and given to much prayer. A great storm was blowing and someone came the wheelhouse where the Captain was. It was a great storm. A man shouted to the Captain, "Why are you not praying?" The Captain said, "I pray during the calm and when the storm...
PRAYER JOURNAL ENTRY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
When George Washington was about 20 years old he wrote this in his prayer journal: "O most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins, but so coldly and carelessly, that my prayers are become my sin and stand in need of pardon. I have heard thy holy word, but with such deadness of spirit that I have been an unprofitable and forgetful hearer, so that, O Lord, tho’ I have done thy work, yet it hath been so negligently that I may rather expect a curse than a blessing from thee."
[George Washington’s Prayer Journal From William J. Johnson George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35. From a sermon by David Scudder, Prayer is Seeking Our Father, 9/11/2011]
The story is told of a man who once went to Alexander the Great and asked for some financial help. Alexander told the man to go to his treasurer and ask for whatever he needed. A little later, the treasurer went to Alexander and told him he was hesitant to give the man what he asked for because he asked for an enormous amount. Alexander replied, “...
One blistering hot day when they had guests for dinner, Mother asked 4-year old Johnny to return thanks. “But I don’t know what to say!” the boy complained. “Oh, just say what you hear me say” his mother replied. Obediently the boy bowed his head and mumbled, ...
