True Story - A Prayer
When minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session
of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this
is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your
forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil
good," but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our
values.
We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of
Your Word and called it Pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it
multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative
lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it
building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it politics;
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it
ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and
called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers
and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today;
Cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to
direct us to the center of Your will.
We ask this in the name of Your Son, the living Savior,
Jesus Christ. Amen.
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked
out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church,
where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of
those calls responding negatively.
The church is now receiving international requests for
copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on "The Rest
of the Story" on the radio and received a larger response to this program
than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep
over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be
called one nation under God.