So I don’t usually like getting those mega forward e-mail chain letter yucky things! You know what I’m talking about. It’s got about 3000 e-mail addresses at the top and has about 30 little quips from hotmail/yahoo/aol adds, and it’s usually got some really stupid animated graphics. Now you know what I’m talking about… So with all that complaining fresh in your mind, I’ll say that what I’m about to post is a verbatim copy from an e-mail that I got, and of course the original author isn’t clear due to the way the e-mail chain happened. Without further ado…

When we were in Texarkana last week, there were signs in people’s yards that said, ” America , prayer our only hope” with 2 Chron. 7:14 underneath. We certainly need God’s help!

I have no idea who started this, but I certainly agree with this e-mail. I heard a preacher on TV tonight that said if we will pray for our nation that things will turn around

After a day of contemplation and soul searching, I have decided to reach out to my friends and relatives and ask you to do something that has been troubling me for a long time.

Our nation is/has been on the slippery slope for a long time. If you look around you will find corruption, greed, moral decay, and a steady move away from the things that made us great. The principles upon which this nation was founded are no longer our backbone. However, we can reverse this trend.

2 Chron. 7:14 In God’s word he states,”If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I am convinced that we must pray for our nation and its leaders and ask for forgiveness. So I ask you to join me in this plea to our Lord.

Would you please send this to people in your address book (send it to all of them); ask them to pray EVERYDAY. (25 to the only the 5th power is 9,765,625 people.) IMAGINE if each person reaches TEN others…or all TWENTY FIVE! If you do and they comply, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear us and in faith will answer.

Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are one nation under God! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people of this. ~ Have a blessed day!

So this brought to mind some other scriptures that also indicate the special character of America and the obligation we have as people who live here to worship the God of the land. Ultimately, we won’t enjoy freedom from other nations and prosperity among ourselves if we fail to remember the source of those blessings.

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.
Ether 2:12

Here’s a link to read more: American must serve Jesus Christ

I was reminded today of testimony given to a congressional committee sometime after the Columbine High School shootings nearly ten years ago.  In light of more recent, and seemingly more frequent, shootings in our schools, it seems appropriate to reproduce some of those comments here.  This is a poem written by Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, who was a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You’ve stripped away our heritage,
You’ve outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question “Why?”
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

Here is a complete copy of the e-mail that was circulating then: Link

I certainly think that the topic of prayer in school is one that should be revisited.