God Is Honored When?

The 4^th of July represents the birth of our nation. Besides remembering this we need to remember that Jesus was born God Incarnate. The 4^th of July gives us a date. But Christianity gives us the faith that our nation was built upon. In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today.

Today it reads: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." While some say this addition is later in our history or that all our Forefathers were deists, so that makes this clause out-of-place.

Our forefathers, who prayed on their knees more than once, who attribute battle victories to natural phenomenon sent by God, or who write that our Constitution cannot work aside from a moral Christian base, are not Desists. This clause was not always in the pledge of Allegiance, but it is a most accurate statement of the faith that has sustained our country for over two-hundred years.

So what does this have to do with me? I have enough trouble with my family, how can I effect the destination of a nation, especially when its obvious people aren’t listening? This is where we test our faith by believing we can move mountains or even more difficult – move government. But we forget we have connections – powerful connections. And we don’t have to pay huge lobbying fees either. God is already waiting to help us through the power of the Holy Spirit, who has a permanent residence in our lives.

So how do we pray? Does God know the issues we face? Do we? If we believe our government is by the people, for the people, and of the people – then we must start with ourselves. And we must get our direction from scripture. But what are we looking for – secure borders, a better way to provide health insurance, or how to improve the economy? God’s first institution among mankind was the family. Is there any question that the moral and functional breakdown in families is at the root of many, if not most of our problems?

And doesn’t our family life reflect on the church and in our verbal and lifestyle witness? I believe that revival in the family and the church is the only valid path to bringing strength and direction back to our country. We cannot help our country if our only action is to complain about the poor choices we have at the ballot box in November.

We must pray for our families and our church family. We must pray for more than good health and comfort. When we pray for what grieves the Holy Spirit, the loss of morality and forgetting our first love for God – then God is able to move this mountain of the United States back onto solid ground.

My preacher says the word "awesome" pertains to only one person - namely God. There are many Biblical passages that speak to Honoring God. The best list I've seen is at https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Glorifying-God. Psalms and Isaiah have many verses that emphasize giving glory to God. We naturally ascribe worth to those things or people we value the most. We spend the most time and thoughts on the person we ascribe the greatest worth to. And what we value the most will be evident to others - even we ourselves have not noticed it.

Effective prayers start with our personal worship and thanksgiving for God.

And we pray most effectively when we pray to bring honor to God. See Ecclesiastes 12:13, Psalm 23:3, and Matthew 22:36-39. Bringing honor back to God is essential if we are to gain any momentum on restoring morality and Christian principals to our country. We won’t elect a President directly. But a nation of believers who pray and put feet to their prayers, will discover by-and-by that we’ll have a Christian President.

Not complaining – just praying for restoration – JW