A Sesquicentennial Call to Duty

National Day of Prayer
May 2, 2013
 

Whereas, the Senate of the United States devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation: 

And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. –National Day of Prayer Proclamation, March 30, 1863

One hundred fifty years later, the sesquicentennial year after this proclamation was given, we convene again for the National Day of Prayer.  The above words spoken so deliberately at a transitional time in our Nation’s history give us a roadmap for this year’s Day of Prayer.  We have a duty—both national and individually to own our dependence upon Almighty God.

The State of Kentucky has fulfilled that duty this year in beating back the American Atheists lawsuit against the state’s Homeland Security Statute, which declared that the people of the Commonwealth are dependent upon Almighty God and His protection which is vital to the security of the state.  Colonel Ron Ray along with First Principles Press and the Institute for Moral Law represented 35 Kentucky Senators and 96 State Representatives in defense of this historic and Constitutional reference to God.  FPP continues to support and uphold the Declaration of Independence from which we are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights, and over four hundred years of organic utterances of American statesmen, laws, and historic records affirming America’s dependence upon Almighty God for our safety and security.

This year we would request that our friends and supporters pray specifically for the freedom to pray for all Christians in the military.  Obama appointed leaders in the Department of Defense have reached a new level of hostility in silencing our chaplains, and labeling Catholics and evangelicals as religious “extremists.”  This week the Pentagon announced it would consult with an organization to develop “religious tolerance policies.”  That organization has published statements identifying Christians as “gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans.”  They accuse Christians of “spiritual rape,” “lust,” “tyranny,” and “treason.”  This open hatred of Christianity is being propagated in the highest ranks of our military.

How far we have fallen from the honor and submission given by the men and women who founded the Colonies that would unite as the most powerful and blessed nation on earth!   The Virginia charter reads,

We, greatly commending and graciously accepting of their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God…

And the Charter of Pennsylvania, written by William Penn, directed that Christian leaders would guide the affairs of the colony:

All persons living in this province, who confess and acknowledge the One Almighty and Eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and that hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no wise be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice.  And that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, shall be capable to serve this government in any capacity, both legislatively or executively.

It is still the duty of all patriots on the National Day of Prayer “to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history:  that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

The Army and Navy Service Book of 1917 gave inspiration to our servicemen during WWI, and gives us a prayer model to fulfill our duty to pray for our nation.

Teach me, O Master, the courage with which Thou didst face Thy every duty and trial, the consecration with which Thou didst make Thy every sacrifice, that heartened by Thy blessed example, I may never waver in duty, danger or sacrifice, but as a good soldier of the Cross be enabled the better to serve the Country that I love; Who livest and reignest, etc. [1] –Army and Navy Service Book, 1917

Let the sesquicentennial call to duty incite you to pray today.  May the Lord, the Just Ruler of the Universe, grant us forgiveness and favor as we call on His name on the National Day of Prayer this year.