A Prayer For Our Nation

I have just been informed that, while this is a great prayer, it was not by Billy Graham. My apologizes. 11/7/08
Anita, the prayer you quote on your blog is not by Billy Graham. It was by Joe Wright. The story is below. Thought you would appreciate the facts. Love, bro.


Pastor Joe Wright’s Shocking Prayer
Not what the Kansas Legislature expected

This event took place in the Kansas state House of Representatives in Topeka on January 23, 1996. Joe Wright, pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita was guest chaplain that day and was asked to open the session with a prayer. Everyone was expecting the usual bland prayer, full of generalities and fluff. But instead, what they heard was a prayer of repentance written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. The legislators were not ready for what they heard. This is the prayer.

Heavenly Father, We come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know Your word says, ''Woe to those who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done.
We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it pluralism; we have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; we have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; we have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; 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 political savvy; 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 expression; we have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by you, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.
I ask in in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ.

The response was immediate. One member of the legislative body walked out in protest and others were very critical. The controversy didn't end there. Later, in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.
Newscaster Paul Harvey aired the story and the prayer. He got such a large response that a special phone number was set up to handle the calls. He's aired it a couple more times since.
In six short weeks, Central Christian Church logged more than 5,000 phone calls of which only 47 were negative.
Isn’t it amazing how refreshing the unvarnished truth can be?
Adapted from news reports

As it came to me:
'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 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 expression. 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. Amen!'

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.'