I want to take a moment to recommend some good reading material which you can order and read online. You will find some very interesting articles, and for me, it serves as a reminder to pray for Great Britain and Europe. The publisher is my friend Peter Wreford, who has a God given passion, which is manifest in his commitment to lift up, “The God Who Is Always There For You”.
I have found great inspiration in the magazines, papers, and journals for which he is editor, I know you will benefit from them as well. What they have enabled me to do, through these publications, is keep my finger on the spiritual pulse of the nation.
I am reminded that there is always a remnant that God deals with, and it seems that even God is left to wonder from generation to generation where the remnant may be found. A friend of Billy Graham, the American Evangelist, once wrote a friend asking him about the new pastorate in a major city. His friend responded by mail, “It is a won- derful church, but if I don’t find the church within the church soon I will have to resign.” He was speaking of the remnant who would bond with the burden God had given him to reach his city.
You can contact them on line, read over the publications and subscribe. For preachers who would like to: BUILD YOUR REVIVAL LIBRARY and those who love inspirational stories of moves of God, you will find HEROES OF THE FAITH of great value to you. Here is an excerpt from the October to December edition, 2016.
HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR NATION
Peter Marshall was a Scotish born emigrant who served as United States Senate Chaplain from 1947 until his sudden death of a heart attack two years later. He had not only a sincere concern for the basic virtues of honesty, integrity, and righteousness, but also to give us a Biblical pattern of prayer for our nation and its leaders.
“Our Father, bring to the remembrance of thy people thine ancient time honored promise, ‘If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
May all America come to understand that right living alone exalts a nation, that only in thy will can peace and joy be found. But, Lord, this land cannot be righteous unless her people are righteous, and we here gathered are part of America. We know that the world cannot be changed until the hearts of man are changed. Our hearts need to be changed.
We therefore confess to Thee that: Wrong ideals and sinful living have cut us off from Thee. We have been greedy, we have sought to hide behind the barricade of selfishness. Shackles have imprisoned the great heart of America. We have tried to isolate ourselves from the wounds of a blundering world. In our self-suffciency we have not sought Thy help. We have held conferences and ignored Thee completely. We have disguised selfishness as patriotism; our arrogance has masqueraded as pride. We have frittered away time and opportunities while the world bled. We have bickered in factory and business and sought to solve our diffculties only through self-interest.
Lord God of hosts! Forgive us! Oh God, by Thy guidance, Thy hand, and Thy power may our beloved land once again become God’s own country, a nation contrite in heart, confessing her sins; a nation keenly sensitive to all the unresolved injustice and wrong still in our midst.
Hear this our prayer and grant that we may confidently expect to see it answered in our me, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
1. For God’s Grace in our helplessness
2. For the President and Vice-President of these United States
3. For the Leaders of Our Nations.”
This is a small portion of a prayer Peter Marshall prayed in the United States Senate during his short time as Chaplain. People would pack the galleries just to hear him pray for America.
“Save our leaders, Oh God, from themselves and from their friends as Thou has saved them from their enemies.
Let no personal ambition blind them to their opportunities. Help them to give battle to hypocrisy wherever they find it. Give them divine common sense and selflessness that shall make them think of service and not gain. May have they courage to lead the people of this Republic, considering unworthy the expediency of following the people.
Save them from the folly of man-made schemes and plans. Give to them the faith and the courage together to seek God’s inspired plan; and finding it, to propose it, knowing when it is God inspired, Thou will open the way for it through all obstacles.
As Thou has made and preserved us as a nation, so now mold us into a people more worthy of a great heritage. In Thy Strong Name, we make these prayers. Amen.”
Proverbs 14:34 - “Righteousness [moral and spiritual integrity and virtuous character] exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.” Amplified Bible
I believe in you!
Your loving pastor,
Cleddie Keith