SWEET MOMENT OF PRAYER

“Meet me in your prayer chair or on your knees at nine.” All across the country, believers are pausing for one minute of prayer at nine p.m. every night.

Most of you know of the great chorus of prayers that is lifted up each evening at nine for the safety of our nation and its return to the Lord God. Like golden ribbons of melody, our prayers for our country waft up to the ear of God and wrap their threads around our heart where the Spirit of our Lord resides.

It is at this time in our history that prayers are most urgently needed. I will not presume to tell you how to vote or which side of the issues on which you should stand. I only ask that you learn the truth of the political positions and use that knowledge in casting your vote in eight days.

Our founding fathers laid the foundation of our great country with a Bible in one hand and the sword of freedom in the other. We are a Christian nation as long as the words of Godly recognition and supplication in our constitution remain at the core of our country. Please, prayerfully study the people who are seeking office in your state and vote as you believe God leads you. Remember, whomever we send to Washington to represent us, only has the power we give them, unless we give them all the power that belongs to us as citizens. The words are, “They represent us,” not “They dictate to us.” The only right they have to govern, comes from the governed. It is an awesome responsibility to select our political representatives. Please pray before voting, then vote with an open heart. Let us pray:

“Oh Father God, you chose the first King for your chosen people. We, as your children, have chosen you to be our king. We pray that your kingdom of truth and love will come today so that our country may be healed. Guide us next week as we cast our vote for this country you have gave us. A beautiful, blessed republic like ours may not come around again for hundreds of years if this one fades into history. If we don’t speak out for our bright, precious jewel on the Potomac, we may be cast into darkness where choice is no longer ours to claim. Give us discernment to know your ways that we may choose our leaders in keeping with your will. In the name of Jesus, your son, we pray with humble hearts. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2010 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

DADDY'S HOUSE

“Is that a Hudson River painting?” I look up at a large, framed landscape hanging in George Washington’s Mount Vernon home last week. Hudson River paintings, with their depiction of eastern America at a time when the country was just born, all fresh and new, with virgin forests and untouched streams, had always spoken to me.

“Yes, it is,” the guide smiled.

“Amazing,” I whispered. I marveled at the connection I felt to our first president through his choice of art and my sense of being home, in Daddy’s house, the father of our country.

As we move through the splashes of Fall color in the October meadows and woods all around us, let us never forget that we are walking through “Daddy’s house” - the creation of God and the kingdom of God. Jesus said, the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is on our right and our left and surrounding our every step. Yet, we live as though we were in a foreign country, where nothing makes sense and all seems unfamiliar. That’s because we are looking for the kingdom we have built, the lands we have acquired, the things we have stockpiled. The kingdom of God is His domain, where the gold we have gathered is in the precious souls of all those we touch for His sake. The only type of collecting that has value is “people gathering” - new residents for the Kingdom of God, finally finding a home in Daddy’s house. Let us pray:

“Holy Father, how easily we call on that name with no awareness that you are truly Abba, Daddy. Forgive our blindness, our arrogant independence that says, “Old man, we don’t need you anymore.” Yet, in spite of our rebellious nature, our narcissistic self-love, you call us from the winds of life that blow old character flaws away and breathe new life into each heart. Blow a little harder this day, oh Father. Blow in like a mighty wind and touch your people once again. We are a proud, independent people. But, our pride has falsely convinced us that independence means a turning from you rather than the truth of independence as a turning from man’s lies. To depend on you is wisdom. To climb up, like a child, on the lap of God, is to finally know who and whose we are. We are truly your children and we can only find our home at last, in our Daddy’s house. Thank you for opening your arms each new day. Praise be to you, God the father, through the life and blood of your son, our brother and savior, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2010 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

THE NORTH WIND DOTH BLOW

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

Mother used to recite this16th century poem to my sister and me in the Fall when the wind was beginning to blow and the leaves started rustling in the field beside our home. I have often quoted it to my children and grandchildren. The words were originally intended to remind a child of the safety of their own home, while at the same time, telling of the plight of the robin.

For me, there was never sadness that the robin was not in our warm home, laying on the floor near the hot air register listening to my parents talk or listening to the radio. I saw the beauty of God’s world in which even the robins have a dry and warm place to spend an Autumn evening.

I wonder how often we take the time to give God thanks for the simple things of life, the song of the birds, a roof over our head, the happy sounds of family. The secret to life is not in the big house on the hill. It’s in the sweet, fragrant drafty barn, where we are needy enough to depend on God. Let us pray:

“Oh breath of life, Holy is your precious name. May we come to the stable often where we can be protected, nourished, and loved by you. Forgive us for not trusting you to lead us, so that we may be privileged to witness your miracles in our lives. When we stay out of the wind for fear of being blown and pummeled about, we miss the blessing of being touched and steadied by your mighty hand. Loving Father, today, we venture to the barn, where you can keep us warm, where we can hide our head under your wing, blessed thing. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2010 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”