James P. Moore, Jr. provides a stirring chronicle of the spiritual life of our nation and its rich history of prayer in his book, “One Nation Under God”. In an engaging read, he takes us from the devoutly religious Christopher Columbus to George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, all the way through the 2004 presidential election. He documents why Benjamin Franklin moved to open each session of the Continental Congress in prayer and how General Patton called on his chief Third Army chaplain, Brigadier General James O’Neill for a special prayer to implore God for good weather and final victory during World War II. Mr. Moore shows that without prayer, the political, cultural, social, and even economic and military history of the United States would be vastly different from what it is today.
As a warm up for the National Day of Prayer, May 1st, I encourage you to be a prayer warrior for this one nation under God every day leading up to NDP and every day following. Here is an example of a prayer one small group of men have been praying religiously.
Prayer guide:
Our Father, hear our prayer,
We are burdened with the state of our nation, this one nation founded under You. We confess the sins of man today, including myself and my father’s house. We have been unfaithful to You, to Your calling for us as men, husbands and fathers.
We cry out to You, O Lord, to raise men up that will stand in the gap in Your name to repair broken homes and dysfunctional families, men that will exemplify the discipline needed to raise a godly generation.
We cry out to You, O Lord, to turn the hearts of fathers to You and strengthen marriage as a foundational relationship that points to You and is passed on to the next generation.
We cry out to You, O Lord, for an epiphany among the leadership of our nation at the local, state and national levels, that they would perform their role as servants to You, Lord.
And as men of You, we pray for strength to do our part to stand in the gap where you have us, to stay under the influence of Your word and live out a personal, passionate and growing relationship with You.
Boldly and expectantly we lift up this prayer in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
A faithful father is a prayer warrior for his family, his fellow man and his country.
