A Passionate Prayer for America
A Prayer by Joe Wright
The great prayer reproduced below was written by Bob Russell who, at the time, was pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the nation’s largest churches. Pastor Russell delivered the prayer at a breakfast hosted by the Governor of Kentucky.
A year later on January 23, 1996, Joe Wright, who at the time was pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas, decided to deliver the same prayer, with some minor changes, before the House of Representatives of the Kansas Legislature. It garnered nationwide attention when the Democrat leaders in the legislature condemned the prayer. Later, when it was read by Paul Harvey on his radio program, it prompted the largest response in the history of the program as thousands wrote in requesting copies of the prayer.
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism.
We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
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 esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbors’ 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, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas and who have been ordained by You to govern this great state. Grant them your wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will.
I ask this in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.”
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