Proverbs 14:34
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.”
“Our Father, we pray for this land. We need Thy help in this time of testing and uncertainty…may we begin to see that true Americanism begins in being Christian: that it can have no other foundation, as it has no other roots. To Thy glory was this Republic established. For the advancement of the Christian faith did the Founding Fathers give their life’s heritage, passed down to us.
We would pray that all over this land there may be a return to the faith of those men and women who trusted in God as they faced perils and dangers of the frontier, not alone in crossing the continent, in building their cabins, in rearing their families, in eking out a livelihood, but in raising a standard of faith to which men have been willing to repair down through the years.
Thou didst bless their efforts. Thou didst bless America. Thou hast made her rich. Wilt thou also make her good?
Make us, the citizens of this land, want to do the right things. Make us long to have right attitudes. Help us to be Christian in our attitudes. Let all that we do and say spring out of understanding hearts.
Make us willing to see moral objectives together, that in united action this nation may be as resolute for rightness and peace as she has been during war.
Bless those who bear responsibility. May they be led by Thee to do that which is right rather that which is expedient or politically wise. Save us from politicians who see only their own selfish interests. Illumine the minds of management as well as labor, that there may be an end to selfishness and greed, to the stupidity of men who are unable to find in reasonable agreement solutions to the problems that plague us.
Bless this land that we love so much, our Father, and help her to deposit her trust, not in armies and navies, in wealth and material resources, or in achievements of the human mind, but in that rightness which alone exalteth any nation, and by which alone peace can finally come to us. This we ask in that name that is above every name, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.”
~ a prayer by Peter Marshall, Pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC; Chaplain of the US Senate 1947-1949.
~ painting by Cheryl Bartley
