Pray it Again, My Friend...Pray it Again

You can say that again! That is a statement you are apt to use when someone says something that bears repeating. A friend used to say: "Say it again, my friend, say it again! I am sure my uncle's rendition would be: "You can say that again. Yes you can. Yes you can!"

The other day, in the waiting mode, I was listening...well, maybe just hearing...the constant drone of yet another talk show, in the background. I was more than a little tired, and annoyed at the fact that I was in a position where I could not choose silence over seemingly worthless, 'informative babble'.

Today, our fingers, not only "do the walking", but through twitter, Face Book, Chat, Bing and Blog, and so much more, our "fingers do the talking". It seems that it is even more important that we repeat, or say again, only those things that really are worthy of repeating. So, when I came across this prayer, while cleaning my office, I thought: "You can pray that again! Yes you can!"

"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 have 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 pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; 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 self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; 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, 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 this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will."

I ask in in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen."

Pray it again, my friend. Please pray it again. In our nation "under God", you can pray! In fact, prayer is not only our privilege, and our unending duty, but it is our power! It is our hope!

(In the Kansas House, in Topeka on January 23, 1996, Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita and was guest chaplain of the day. He prayed this prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer. The controversy didn't end there. Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.   The story was aired a few times by Paul Harvey.)