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Gutsy Joe Wright
OPENING PRAYER - KANSAS STATE SENATE
It seems prayer still upsets some people.
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of
the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities,
but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your
forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.
"We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good,"
but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium and reversed our values.
"We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of
Your Word and called it Pluralism. We have exploited the poor
and called it the Lottery. 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 politics. 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
speech. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers
and called it enlightenment.
"Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse
us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and
women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will
and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out
during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian
Church, where Reverend Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000
phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
The church is now receiving international requests for copies
of this Prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program
"The Rest of the Story" and received a larger response to this
program than any other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation
and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called,
"...one nation under God..."
If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. Think
about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail
list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world.
God Bless gutsy Joe Wright!
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