2 Chronicles 7:14
”…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
On September 15, 1940, the Reverend Peter Marshall gave a sermon entitled, “Why Should God Bless America.” With the war in Europe raging and fears rising that the United States might get pulled into the conflict, he offered these words that are as powerful today as they were then:
“The plea of the Church today is not that people shall call upon God to return to our democracy and bless it…but rather that we shall together cause our democracy to return to God and be blessed.
Let us remember that we are a republic under God…let us remember that on each of our metal coins we have stamped a statement which must not be permitted to become a lie or an infamous blasphemy.
‘In God we trust’…so speak the coins that rattle in our pockets.
What does it mean to trust in God? Certainly, no conception of trust in God can ever make any sense until we understand that He will only prosper our ways and bless us when our ways begin to be His ways…and we begin to keep the conditions He has laid down for nation blessing…”
• humility
• a commitment to pray
• seek God’s face
• turn from our wicked ways
“We cannot fool God…let us not be deluded into thinking we can fool ourselves.”
Dear Father in Heaven, how foolish we are these many years later, in assuming that You will bless our nation without any willingness or action on our part to take seriously what is required of us. We humbly beg your forgiveness for offending You and for our arrogance in thinking it doesn’t matter what we think, say, or choose to do. We acknowledge our wicked ways that go against your precepts. Turn our cold, hardened hearts into soft flesh to be molded into Christlikeness. And we commit to pray, in Your holy name, for our republic to return to You, to be blessed, and to bring You glory. Amen.
~ painting, “Patriotic Home” by Kathleen Parr McKenna
