Do You Really Pray?

IT'S TIME TO PRAY. This has been a mantra call for Christians for a long, long time, but something that is seemingly seldom actually done. How many times have you had some good intentioned person say to you that they will pray for you and never does. How many time have you said the same thing to others. It's so easy to say those words, but it takes effort to follow through. Well, its time to pray. The state of our nation is critical. It has waffled further away from the biblical principles that it was founded upon, to the point that we can't even recognize a Godly horizon. We see violence increasing nation-wide. There are more and more teenagers being involved in pre-marital sex, even within what I call committed churches. We see an increased level of child rebellion and a courts system that wants to punish parents at the drop of a hat. The family unit has been de-valued and now the homo-sexual community wants to redefine what a marriage is. My government has gotten out of control trying to explode the spending limits and putting the tax burden on us. The truth be known, our representatives aren't even coming to our defense. I know this to be true. I have written my senators several times only to be told that what the government is doing is for my own good. To that statement I say, "bologna."

I say again, "It's time to pray." We don't need some influential Christian figure to call a national prayer assembly on the Capital steps. What we need is every Christian taking time every day to pray for our country and cry out in repentance. Repentance for our lack of biblical guidelines in our lives. Repentance for not being the godly responsible parents that we should be to teach our children the values of family and showing them what true love and respect is all about. Repentance for not teaching our children why pre-marital sex is wrong and above all a SIN. At the root of all the problems in this country today is the disappearance of the family and that family worshipping in a church that preaches the pure Word of God and live a Godly example before the community.

We have allowed the world to slip into our churches and it has eroded the teaching of Godly principles to a level of tolerance rather then separation from worldly compromise. Some may not like my next statement, but I have formulated my belief over the 30 plus years of my Christian life and years of ministry. "If you see children of Christian families that are rebellious and being involved in illicit sexual activity, running with other young people that have questionable morals and are involved in the use of alcohol or illegal drugs, the problem is with the father and mother. The family is disfunctional and has not truly taught their children what love and family is all about." The family unit is held together on four things. They are: a feeling of acceptance, a sense of self-worth, discipline, and a sense of protection. If these are lacking in the fiber of the home, the children will find it somewhere else. This is one of the reasons that gangs work so well. It is distorted, but they get that in the structure of the gang. Parents your children need to be loved and see that attitude of love in the parents in their relationship. I'm talking about open embracing and show of affection. They need to be disciplined when they are disobedient. None of the time out scenario. For goodness sake, take them to their room and span them. The buttocks have been created with plenty of padding and will not damage the child. They need to understand what behavior is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Also, in the administration of the discipline, always end the punishment with an outward sign of love. HUG YOUR CHILD AND TELL HIM THAT YOU STILL LOVE THEM YOU JUST DON'T CONDONE THE ACTIVITY.

Its time to pray. We need to pray for our elected officials. They are bombarded daily with decisions that must be made within our government process. We need to lift them up in prayer asking for God to lead them in what they decide. Pray that godly men and women will come around them to give them true godly information and not be wolves in sheep's clothing. Pray for the President of the United States. We may not like his policies, but we must keep him in prayer. The Word of God commands us to pray for those who are in authority over us. Pray that he will be open to the leading of the Lord in his decisions. Pray that God will shut the mouths of those who are only looking for self gain and would destroy the framework of the work of our founding fathers. Pray that the President would appoint godly men and women to our courts that will judge according to our Constitition and not try to change or water down our Constitution. We do not need someone who will attempt to legislate from the bench. Pray for our troops that are in harm's way overseas protecting our freedom everyday. Those men and women are there of their own free will willing to put their lives on the line to keep the evil of groups like the Taliban and other radical groups from trying to take away the freedoms that we enjoy in the U. S. Pray for your family each day. Thank God that they are serving the Lord and will be the next godly generation. Pray for our policemen that they will be covered and protected. I'm sure that you can come up with other areas that need to be covered in prayer. The important thing is that we actually pray. Don't allow yourself to flippantly say, "I'll be praying" if you don't mean it. And if you say that you will pray, by golly PRAY.

Finally pray for the restoration of the family in our society. The biblical standard of family, one man and one woman. Pray for our country to return to the biblical principles that we established at the birth of the great nation. We need them now more than ever.