PLUS

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, preached his last message on June 7^th, 1891. Illness would keep him out of the pulpit until his death a few months later. Though he didn’t know it at the time, he would close his entire preaching life with the following poignant thoughts (continued in the next post):

“Those who have no master are slaves to themselves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Saviour. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains.”

Life can be hard, our burdens weighty, and our path arduous. As we plow through the challenges of life, we face stiff resistance and strong toil. Yet, we were never designed to struggle alone; similarly, our nation was never designed to struggle alone. God allows us to let him do the heavy lifting.

There is indeed heavy lifting to be done, in our lives and in our nation. In the name of pride and enlightenment, we have chosen to bear the burdens alone. Instead of being servants of a God who can shoulder our heavy-laden loads, we have become slaves to sin, self, Satan, and the world. All have revealed themselves to be hard masters, yet we plow on in our own strength with determination, defiance, and self-will.

We must step back and realize that in our self-sufficiency we are still serving a master, one requiring far more toil and drudgery than Christ with no results other than restlessness. PLEASE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER TO BEAR OUR INDIVIDUAL AND NATIONAL BURDENS. Otherwise, we will continue serving a hard master instead of a magnanimous captain.

Colossians 1:9 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Dr. Daniel Kim, long term pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Seoul Korea, said the following:

“How can I say ‘I love you’ and not pray for you?”

Great truth is contained in that short rhetorical question. If you are burdened for someone, then you will naturally pray for him. If you are troubled by something, then you will naturally pray for it. If your heart is touched by someone, then you will naturally pray for him. Prayer is an indication of your affection; it reveals the inclination of your heart.

Similarly, how can we say we love our country and not pray for it? If we are truly burdened for our nation, then we will naturally pray for it. If we are truly troubled by the direction of our nation, then we will naturally pray for it. If our heart is touched by our nation’s need for revival, then we will naturally pray for it. If we don’t pray, then we neither care for it nor do we love it.

There are several Christians who say they are burdened for our nation, troubled by the direction of our nation, and touched by our need for revival. Our prayer life belies a true passion about these issues.

PLEASE DEMONSTRATE YOUR LOVE FOR OUR NATION BY PRAYING FOR IT. Where are the Christians who would pray for America? We need them! We need Christians to pray for it.   Otherwise, how can we say that we love it?

REMINDER ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF PLUS: The PLUS ministry is all about getting people to pray as they should. Prayer for our nation and its leaders is the least you should do and the most you can do to make an impact. It is the most basic act of fulfilling our Christian citizenship responsibility. Use the PLUS website if it is helpful; use the PLUS social media tools if they are helpful; set your alarm to remind you if you must. Most importantly, put PLUS into practice by praying. Be burdened to pray for America and her leaders, and spread that burden to others by challenging them to pray as well. If we are to have hope that this nation will return to its Bible-based foundation, then we all must pray!

James 4:2-3 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Evangelist and pastor RA Torrey said the following:

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.”

American Christians need God’s power. We need activity that yields accomplishment. We need services that yield conversions. We need machinery that yields results.

Instead we lack power. We are active without accomplishment. We have services without conversions. We attend to machinery without results.

We are too busy to pray, and wonder why we lack power and accomplishment, conversions and results. We are perplexed, though the formula is simple … pray! Pray regularly and fervently. Ask often for God’s power. Prayer is a far better use of our time than relying on ourselves for meaningful results.

PLEASE MAKE THE WISEST USE OF YOUR TIME BY PRAYING REGULARLY AND FERVENTLY FOR GOD’S POWER. If we are too busy for prayer, then we are too busy for power. Our busyness will self-perpetuate activity and self-prevent accomplishment.

NOTE: Please share the PLUS ministry and the need to pray for our nation and its leaders with others. We must spread the message that the power to change our country comes from stepping aside from life’s busyness to beg for God’s power.

II Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Chief Justice Warren went on to proclaim the following (see the previous post for more context):

“I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people … I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”

While America was founded on God’s Word and God’s spirit, and while 60 years ago we were still living in the spirit of the Christian religion, it is difficult to see that foundation or that spirit in our nation today. It is not evident in our courthouses, our statehouses, or our schoolhouses. Though our nation’s rights and our nation’s structures were based on the Bible, we have steadily and at times quickly drifted astray since 1954. In doing so, we have removed ourselves from God’s protection and from the basis of our rights.

We began, as a nation, throughly furnished. We existed through the decades, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. We endured the difficulties, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. We thrived, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. Yet, since 1954 we have found our furnishing in ourselves and this furnishing has been far from thorough. In doing so, our successes, our endurance, and even our existence are at risk. It is time to return to the spirit of the Christian religion, upon which our entire form of government is based.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN AMERICAN RETURN TO THE THOROUGH FURNISHING OF THE WORD OF GOD. We have gone from a nation that is throughly furnished to one that is marginally furnished, and should all desperately yearn for the former.

II Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

At a prayer breakfast recorded in Time Magazine (February 15, 1954), Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren said the following:

“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses … Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia … or to the Charter of New England … or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay … or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut … the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles” (see a continuation of his remarks in my next post).

Warren was anything but a strong conservative. Nominated by President Eisenhower, Warren may be best known for being far more liberal of a justice than anyone expected. Yet, he recognized one important fact – our nation’s foundation was undeniably built upon Christ.

Foundations are important, and Chief Justice Warren had no qualms about expounding upon what the American population already knew to be true – we were a Christian land governed by Christian principles. That was the objective of our founders, and they succeeded in building upon a foundation that standeth sure. It wasn’t a nation built upon human geniuses. It was a nation built upon guiding geniuses, the Word and the Spirit of God, that were far superior to anything else. He unabashedly declared that important truth, and as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, saw no problem with doing so.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR NATION TO RETURN TO ITS TRUE FOUNDATION. We are daft to depart from the guiding geniuses of this land.

For related thoughts on foundations, please see the four-post series beginning with:  https://prayatlunch.us/none-other/