PLUS

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

I Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it is important to linger on this amazing human accomplishment.  The journey to this monumental achievement began in May of 1961 when President Kennedy challenged Congress and the nation to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”  It was an ambitious and bold move by a new president.

More than a year later, after a trip to NASA facilities in Houston in September 1962, President Kennedy addressed a large crowd at the Rice University football stadium.  In part, this is what he said about the moon landing endeavor:

“But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon…We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.” 

President Kennedy’s speech appealed to human nature and to American instinct.  We are willing to tackle things in part because they are hard, and love rising to the challenge.  There is an innate appeal to compete, and to overcome, and to win. With the landing on the moon, we tackled something that was hard and rose to the challenge.  We competed, overcame, and won!

Living a life of faith in a secular society isn’t easy.  Overcoming evil is a challenge.  It is a struggle to maintain our testimony and share the reason of our hope.  Yet, none of these things should drain our passion or hinder our resolve.

As Christians, we must harness the same nature and instinct that Kennedy appealed to in 1962.  We are to tackle the hard hurdles of this world. We are to rise to the challenges. The barriers are significant, but the stakes are eternal.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A RESOLUTE SPIRIT AMONG AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE CHRIST IN THIS LAND.  Let us fight the struggles of this challenge not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.

I Timothy 2:1-6 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

A few weeks ago, President Trump appeared at the McClean Bible Church with little notice during a Sunday service and asked for prayer.  Pastor David Platt met that request, and was attacked from both sides. One side proclaimed that the President doesn’t deserve our prayer.  The other side claimed that the pastor’s explanation of his actions was an apology for praying for our President.  The former is not Biblical and the latter is not true.  

Prayer for our leaders is not a political act, it is a practical and a theological act.  It is an act of faith.  It is an act that is good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord. It is an act that can foster our ability to lead quiet and peaceable lives.  It is an act that we do because we love our country and our Lord.  It is an act that we do because we want our nation to succeed and not fail.

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for President Obama.  We are wrong if we don’t pray for President Trump. 

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for the 115^thCongress with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and we are wrong if we don’t pray for the 116^thCongress with a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for a Supreme Court that included Justice Kennedy, and we are wrong if we don’t pray for a Supreme Court that includes Justice Kavanaugh. 

We are wrong if we don’t pray for our leaders at the Federal, State and Local levels, regardless of their political affiliation.  We don’t do so for them, we do so for us.  We do so for the Lord.  We do so because, as Pastor Platt stated, “we need Your wisdom in our country.”  

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PRAY DAILY AND FERVENTLY FOR OUR LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS. We need His wisdom in our country, and are wrong if we don’t seek it through prayer.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

The fighting on D-Day was only the beginning of the liberation of Europe during World War II. The war raged on until the spring of 1945.  Upon completion of the campaign in Europe, General Marshall wrote a letter to his friend and subordinate General Eisenhower congratulating him on his massive accomplishment for the cause of freedom.  Eisenhower’s response back was powerful and telling:

“Since the day I first went to England, indeed since I first reported to you in the War Department, the strongest weapon that I have always had in my hand was a confident feeling that you trusted my judgment, believed in the objectivity of my approach to any problem and were ready to sustain to the full limit of your resources and your tremendous moral support, anything that we found necessary to undertake to accomplish the defeat of the enemy.  This has had a tremendous effect on my staffs and principal subordinate commanders.  Their conviction that you had basic faith in this headquarters and would invariably resist interference from any outside sources, has done far more to strengthen my personal position throughout the war than is realized by those people who were affected by this circumstance … Our army and people have never been so deeply indebted to any other solider.”

What a powerful lesson on leadership and a power lesson on faith!

We must trust in our all-loving, all-powerful Lord and Savior!  By doing so, we shall be blessed.  We shall be steadied.  We shall be secure.  We shall be courageous.  We shall be known by God.

May we trust in His judgment.  May we believe in His wisdom.  May we embrace His sustaining power.  May we cling to his moral support.  May we accept His strengthening influence.  May we truly understand how deeply indebted we are to Him!

PLEASE PRAY FOR A TRUSTING SPIRIT THAT DEMONSTRATES A FAITH IN OUR ALL-LOVING, ALL-POWERFUL GOD.  He is our strongest weapon!

ADMIN NOTE: The Eisenhower quote was from Partners in Command

John 14:1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Chaplain George Barber didn’t just pray and preach for the men as D-Day approached.  He also waded into the bloody surf alongside of them on Omaha Beach on the 6^thof June 1944 as they charged the shoreline against a determined German military defense.  He later stated that “when we hit the shore they let down the ramp and I stood in front and led my men off” as shots were splashing into the water all around them.  As men were hit he urged them to trust in the Lord for salvation, and he quoted John 14 to them in their dying hour.

As they got established on the shore, he dug a trench to set up a proper defensive position.  He said that “I prayed as if everything depended on the Lord, and I dug as if everything depended on me … the Lord and me got that foxhole pretty deep.”  The faithful service of that single chaplain was a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men during the brutal fighting of that day and the many others that filled the calendar until total victory in Europe in 1945.

The faithful service of that single chaplain should be a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to us today.  His proclamation of truth through his words and his actions is unmistakable and unshakable. Through faith, we must stand in front and lead the charge for the cause of Christ.  We must urge those around us to trust in the Lord for salvation and remind them of the truths of John 14.  As we serve God, we must pray as if everything depends on the Lord, and work as if everything depends upon us.  If we do these things, then we can be an encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men around us.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A BOLD FAITHFULNESS TO SERVE GOD IN THE FACE OF A DETERMINED ADVERSARY.  Let’s get our foxholes pretty deep.

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer”

By the evening of June 6^th, 1944 the invasion of mainland Europe had seen an amazing first day of activity.  By the end of that day, over 150,000 Allied troops had landed on French soil, transported by thousands of aircraft and ships in a massive surprise military operation.  President Roosevelt spoke to the nation that evening, and shared the following:

 

“My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.”

 

President Roosevelt was wise to lead the nation in prayer to Almighty God.  After all, they needed heavenly power to sustain them through the brutal conditions upon which the history of the world hinged.  Freedom against tyranny hung in the balance.

It wasn’t to be a one-time prayer or a one-day prayer, but prayer without ceasing.  It was to be said that the nation’s “thoughts and prayers are ever with them.”  The American people were to “devote themselves in a continuance of prayer.” Americans were to “rededicate [themselves] in renewed faith in Thee.”  As we reflect upon that desperate hour 75 years ago, we must do the same today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A CONSTANT SPIRIT OF PRAYER IN THIS LAND.  Let words of prayer for this nation be constantly on our lips.