Praying Pillars
By: American Decency Staff
Our nation was founded on two great pillars, religion and morality. These are not accessories; they’re necessities for the vitality of any society or nation which dreams of liberty and success. For that matter, the Father of our Country wisely stated, “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.” To drive our nation without morality would be like trying to drive your car without an engine; to do so without religion, would be the equivalent of your car not possessing a frame.
With the great pillars of religion and morality under attack today from our “civil” society, how will we ever stand? It’s no wonder that our national character and the character of this generation is faltering at best. We need to be brought back to the strength and framework of the religion and morality upon which we were built. It’s the strength of that character which has allowed us to stand firm throughout various wars and struggles.
John Adams is oft-quoted as saying, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” This statement was made when speaking to the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, in 1798. Please take a moment to read the context of this great and truth-filled warning.
“Gentleman, While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence. But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance, and displays I have received from Major-General Hull and Brigadier General Walker your unanimous address from Lexington, animated with a martial spirit, and expressed with a military dignity becoming your character and the memorable plains on which it was adopted. in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”(emphasis mine)
Friends, it’s imperative that we get back to seeking the face of God and leaning upon those pillars of religion and morality instead of leaning upon government, leaning upon institutions found within our society, and leaning upon ourselves.
Time and again our founding fathers gave recognition to and called upon Providence. With days of humiliation and fasting they would call upon God and our nation would witness weather changed, battles won, droughts ended, and the list goes on.
We are at a time when there is no other recourse; there is no real help except from the Hand of God. As the pillars of religion and morality have been attacked and pulled down, so has our nation and its light been darkened. We must turn to God once again; let us plead for another chance to please Him, serve Him, and give Him the glory which is so rightfully His, instead of stealing His glory as though it were our very own.
I strongly encourage you to visit www.americandecency.org/videos.php, and view at no cost our two videos of Terry Slachter on prayer.
Mr. Slachter spoke of the great evils that were persistent during different eras; although those evils were great, God was greater still. Although the evil that abounds in our nation is deep and wide; God is deeper and wider than all our sin! Praise God for His grace; O how we need it!
If you’ll take time to watch the presentation, you will find Terry Slachter to be like a faithful desert guide, who leads the group through the five stages of “Awakening,” starting in the vast wastelands of sin and apathy until they finally reached the oasis of God’s refreshing, anointing, and renewal; this by the grace of God ultimately leads to reproduction and a glorious evangelism that goes throughout the world.
What happens to move a people out of the desert and into the oasis land of God’s refreshing, God’s visitation, a “Great Awakening?” A remnant of people who desire to see Jesus lifted up and God glorified are burdened with prayer. It transcends denominations and cultures. It’s not about people who look, act, or think alike; it’s about being burdened by God to call out to Him in prayer, pleading with Him to visit once more with His grace and powerful presence, forgiving sin and healing a broken land and its broken people.
Are you a part of that remnant? Will you fervently pray? Mr. Slachter has written a 41 day devotional book, The Next Great Awakening, that will help you to that end. Only God can burden your heart but this book may very well put your heart in a position to be burdened. This well written devotional uses captivating examples and illustrations which lead the reader to important questions. Each day also shares a point of reflection as well as a Scripture passage. Not only will readers be encouraged to pray, their desire to pray will be strengthened as they begin to feel the urgency of fervent, personal, and “two or more gathered in Jesus’ name” prayer.
These are perilous and tyrannical times; Jesus and His perfect love is the only answer for this nation today. I hope that you all will join us in prayer, petitioning the one true God to come down among us once again transforming our society and our nation into the light which God had commissioned us to be. May He alone be glorified!
If you’d like to purchase The Next Great Awakening ($5.00 including S&H) or either of the videos mentioned above as DVDs ($5.00 each including S&H), you may either go to our store at www.americandecency.org or call ADA at 231-924-4050.
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photo credit: John Adams, Second President (1797-1801) via photopin (license)
