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Pray for the President Pat Boone "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." Book of Romans 13:1, 2 "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior."
Book of 1st Timothy 2:1-3 I've just quoted directly from the Holy Bible, and though I realize not all who read this will necessarily recognize that scripture as a final word, I personally can't think of a more pertinent and timely prescription for the growing sickness that besets us as a people, a nation. I'm appalled more and more at the disrespect rampant in this country for our elected leader, our president. He's over half through his second elected term, he's recognized universally as the most powerful head of state on earth, and here in the country that he leads, he is denigrated, reviled and ridiculed, incessantly and publicly. Seemingly every comedian, commentator, talk-show host, and political writer continually find new ways to portray our own president as a hapless boob, an intellectual lightweight, a liar, and an incompetent puppet of a supposed monolithic military-industrial complex. Story Continues Below
And led on by a liberal media that squirms at any mention by an elected official of God or his guidance, the virus of unrestrained disrespect is seriously infecting the general public. Lost in the growing discontent and loud grumbling is any awareness of a burgeoning economy, lower taxes, lower unemployment, billions spent on the reconstruction of lower Louisiana, and greater access to medical care for most Americans along with lost awareness of the startling fact that since 9/11, our government has managed to prevent any second similar attack! The man and his associates have done a lot of things right! He, like anybody we choose to lead for four crucial, difficult years, deserves our encouragement, our help, our support and our fervent prayers on his behalf. And the reason I quote the specific scriptures above is the two-sided implication in both: God demands that each of us intercede for those in authority over us, for their sakes and our own! They need our support and respect, so they can discharge their responsibilities, and if we fail to grant them that, we "bring judgment" on ourselves, forfeiting expectation of "peaceable lives." Isn't that what's happening? To me, it seems that it is. As we publicly and broadly diminish respect for our leaders, we diminish confidence in ourselves, our future, and our ability to find dependable leadership. And simultaneously, other countries have diminished respect for us as a nation. President Lincoln himself quoted Jesus during his own time of intense trial and scathing criticism, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Proverbs 18:21 declares, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue"; scientific research has shown that even plants wither and die when spoken to harshly, over a short period of time! How can even strong leaders make good decisions consistently, when they're subjected to ringing choruses of derision from the people they're attempting to serve? I offer two things, hoping to prompt more widespread prayer and intercession for our president, whether we voted for him or not, whether we like what he's doing or not. The first is the prospect of almighty God actually affecting the president's judgment and decisions on our behalf. President Lincoln confided, "That the Almighty does make use of human agencies, and directly intervenes in human affairs, is one of the plainest statements of the Bible. I have had so many evidences of his direction so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above." And the second is a glimpse into the humanity, the soul, of the man who bears the responsibility of this impossible task, this unimaginable challenge of harnessing all our resources and charting the course our country will take into the foreseeable future. Like most of our presidents, he knows full well he's not capable on his own; he devoutly craves our support and the guidance of God. And we owe that to any man we put in that position, for his sake and our own. This is an eyewitness account, shared with me by Barry, an ABI officer who was paired with a secret service agent accompanying President Bush in Enterprise, Ala., just after the devastating tornado tore the town, and the school, apart just weeks ago. He said when they started walking through the rubble at the school they came upon four students waiting for the president. They were in an area where on the floor there was an emblem that read EHS (Enterprise High School) Class of '65. When the president approached the students, he asked "Which one of you is the president?" (I assume he meant president of the student body). One of the girls kind of raised her hand and said "I am" and then she hung her head and started to cry. President Bush wrapped his arms around her, and the other three joined them. Barry, the ABI officer, said President Bush started to tear up, and said, "It's tough being the president, isn't it?" He said the president talked to the kids a little longer, but he couldn't hear all that was being said. But he could tell that the president was quoting scripture. Then, as the president started walking again, he said he wanted the emblem EHS CLASS OF '65 preserved, whatever it took. The mayor spoke up and said they would take care of it. But President Bush turned to him and said, "I was speaking to the president." Then he said, "By the way, where are my children?" The four students who were lagging behind came running up to him and walked the rest of the way over to the church with him. The media were sent to a different area, Barry said. When President Bush got inside the church to meet with the families of those that had been killed, the secret service man turned to Barry and said "This is as far as we go. This is his time with them." Barry then asked him if the president was protected, and the secret service man said "Yes, he is protected, but not by us." Barry could hardly contain himself as he was sharing this account. He said he told the secret service man that he wished everyone could witness what he just had. "Then they could see that the most powerful man in the United States was just another human being, a father, a comforter, a friend and had true compassion for these people. However, the media does not portray thatbig surprise!" Big surprise, indeed. George W. Bush is just a man, a man chosen by a slim majority of 300 million people to lead them into their future. Surprise, he makes mistakes just like the rest of us, though he tries hard and wants to do the Herculean things the times call for. But there's a grave risk that he can't and God won't unless we pray.
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