PLUS

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Fifteen years ago today, Lieutenant Colonel Salty Watkins and Captain Boot Das lost their lives defending our country in the skies of Iraq.  On that dark night, and in the midst of heavy Iraqi fire, these two heroes and personal friends passed on into eternity.  In doing so, they left behind two widows, two kids, and a vast community of mourning colleagues.

This past week, we lost Major Cajun Del Bagno during a USAF Thunderbird training flight, and we lost Captain Samuel Schultz, First Lieutenant Samuel Phillips, Gunnery Sergeant Derik Holley, and Lance Corporal Taylor Conrad during a 3^rd Marine Aircraft Wing training sortie in southern California.

These tragedies provide us stark reminders of the bravery of our men and women in uniform.  While our Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen often make the defense of our nation look easy because of their skill and courage, what they do is inherently dangerous.  Whether it is in combat in an F-15E Strike Eagle over Iraq; in training in a CH-53 Super Stallion or an F-16 Fighting Falcon in the southwest deserts of the United States; or on land, air, or sea around the planet, these men and women are willing to lay down their lives for their friends.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM.  As they faithfully do their sacred duty for their country, it is our sacred duty to faithfully pray for them and the country they so bravely serve.

Hebrews 9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

In his biography on George Washington, Benson Lossing wrote the following:

“For in all the world’s history, we have no record of purer devotion, holier sincerity, or more pious self-sacrifice, than was there exhibited in the camp of Washington.  The courage of the battlefield dwindles almost into insignificance when compared with that sublime heroism displayed by the American soldiery at Valley Forge, in the midst of frost and snow, disease and destitution.”

For these past several months, I have written posts on the amazing faith and sacrifice of General George Washington and the American Continental Army at Valley Forge during that cold, long, harsh winter.  Our forefathers sacrificed greatly and prayed fervently.  They undoubtedly and undeniably deserve our awe, our appreciation, and our approbation.  Yet, make no mistake, Lossing’s quote above is dead wrong.

There is One in the world’s history who demonstrated purer devotion, holier sincerity, and more pious self-sacrifice than those at the camp of Washington.  Christ’s sublime heroism was vividly demonstrated in the midst of the brutal conditions of the barbaric cross.  The Creator died at the hands of His creation.  The One who should be exalted above all was abased beneath all.  God Himself perished physically because of the murderous clamoring of those He came to save.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A PASSION TO FULLY SERVE THE CHRIST WHO SACRIFICED FOR US BEYOND COMPREHENSION.  Make no mistake, it is Jesus Christ alone who is the undisputed model of sublime heroism.

I Corinthians 10:1 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea”

Hebrews 11:39-40 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

The National Memorial Arch at Valley Forge contains the following thought from Henry Armitt Brown that he delivered during a speech at the 100-year anniversary of the long winter of 1777-78:

And here in this place of sacrifice
in this vale of humiliation
in this valley
of the shadow of that death
out of which
the life of America rose
regenerate and free
let us believe
with an abiding faith
that to them
union will seem as dear
and liberty as sweet
and progress as glorious
as they were to our fathers
and are to you and me
and that the institutions
which have made us happy
preserved by the
virtue of our children
shall bless
the remotest generation
to the time to come.

A century after the great sacrifice at Valley Forge, Brown described the importance of that sacrifice with great passion.  He did so in order that we would never forget them, and that we would always remember our responsibility to live up to their sacrifice.

They endured a vale of humiliation and their own valley of the shadow of death.  Out of it arose America!  May we and our successors consider liberty as sweet and progress as glorious as did they.  May we preserve the institutions which have made us happy and can continue to allow this nation to bless the remotest generation in times to come.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US TO EMBRACE THE FAITH OF OUR AMERICAN FOREFATHERS.  Based on their faith and their sacrifice, they passed through the sea.  Out of it arose America!

II Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God”

President Ronald Reagan reminded us of the following:

“It’s been written that the most sublime figure in American history was George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge.  He personified a people who knew that it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness, that they must also seek help from God – their Father and preserver.  Where did we begin to lose sight of that noble beginning, of our conviction that standards of right and wrong do exist and must be lived up to?  Do we really think that we can have it both ways, that God will protect us in a time of crisis even as we turn away from him in our day-to-day life?”

General Washington turned to God in time of crisis at Valley Forge because he had an established relationship with Him.  Throughout his life, he recognized that it was not enough to depend on his own courage and goodness, but that he needed help from his Father and preserver.  It wasn’t enough to ask for protection in time of crisis, but the Lord was needed in his day-to-day life to live up to the standards of right and wrong.  His sufficiency was of God and not of himself.  That one picture of Washington praying personifies this important truth.

We must not wait for a crisis to pray, but instead should pray frequently as a part of an established relationship with God.  We need to recognize that was must not depend on our own courage and goodness, but instead on our Father and preserver.  It isn’t enough to ask for protection in times of crisis, but the Lord is needed in our day-to-day lives to live up to the standards of right and wrong.  Our sufficiency must be of God and not of ourselves.  May our time of prayer personify this important truth.

PLEASE PRAY PASSIONATELY FOR THE SUFFICIENCY TO LIVE UP TO GOD’S STANDARDS OF RIGHT AND WRONG IN THIS LAND.  May our prayers personify God’s important truths, and reflect our nation’s noble beginnings.

Psalm 107:28-30 “Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”

James 5:14-16 “Is any sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one of another, that ye may be healed.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Luke 11:9-10 “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

In light of the severe difficulties the men faced at Valley Forge, General Washington turned to the one thing that he knew could make a difference – he prayed.  The image of Washington kneeling in prayer has been described as the most sublime in American history (see next week’s post).  A Quaker named Isaac Potts described the prayer of Washington in this way: “Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man.”  His conclusion after seeing the fervent prayer of this founding father:  “it was the cause of God and America could prevail.”  Witnessing one man’s prayer convinced a skeptic that victory was possible.

Our fervent prayers can bring victory too!  They can calm the storm.  They can make still the waves.  They can bring us out of distress.  They can heal; they can save; they can raise.  The can bring forgiveness.  They can avail much!

We need such power in our land today.  PLEASE PRAY WITH FERVENCY FOR A REVIVAL IN OUR LIVES AND IN OUR LAND.  We need God’s power in all that we do, and with it we can prevail in spite of the distresses we face.