But then I will remember that I'm commissioned in Scripture to preach the Word and to speak the truth in love, not just to say what itching ears want to hear. I remember what one ambassador for Christ said even from a prison cell,

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:19-20)

I hope you will pray for me, and for other Christians who have the opportunity to speak up for Christ, that we may be able to proclaim the Word of Christ boldly and clearly.

DO YOU PRAY FOR A NATION IN TROUBLE?

When your nation is in trouble, God's people need to pray.

God sent Jonah to warn the city of Ninevah of impending doom if they did not repent of their wickedness. Rather than scoff at the threat of judgment, the city in trouble prayed. The King of Ninevah sent out the following decree:

"Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." (Jonah 3:7b-9)

Their prayers were heard. God did relent and with compassion forgave the city of Ninevah.

AMERICA'S PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Former Governor of Kentucky, Brereton Jones, asked me to speak at the Governor's Prayer Breakfast during his final year in office in 1995. In my speech I mentioned that our nation has turned away from God. We have lost our spiritual bearings, I said, and we need to repent. I created a prayer we should pray as a nation. We should pray, I suggested, like this:

Oh, God, we know that your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we've 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 moral pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism and New Age spirituality.
We have committed adultery and called it an affair.
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 frugality.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn children and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children called it building self-esteem.
We have failed to execute justice speedily as your Word commands, and called it due process.
We have failed to love our neighbor who has a different color of skin and called it maintaining racial purity.
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 made the Lord's Day the biggest shopping and entertainment day of the week and called it free enterprise.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our parents 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 of every sin and set us free. Though our sins be as scarlet, may they become white as snow. Though they be as crimson, may they be as wool.6

A few months later I printed the prayer in my weekly column of The Lookout magazine. My friend Joe Wright, pastor at Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas, read the prayer and was moved by it. He was scheduled to deliver the opening prayer before the Kansas House of Representatives two months later. On January 23, 1996, Joe Wright stood before those legislators and prayed that prayer! You may have heard about the controversy his prayer stirred that day. It infuriated several legislators and one member even stormed out of the hall in protest. Several gave speeches critical of the prayer, and one even called it a "message of intolerance." Joe's staff stopped counting how many phone calls they received after the first 6,500! All but a small handful of the calls were supportive. Since then the church has been contacted by people from every state and many foreign countries asking for a copy of the prayer. I understand the chaplain coordinator in the Nebraska legislature read the prayer the following month and stirred up some more controversy there! Paul Harvey also reported on the controversy and read the prayer on the air. He has since repeated the story, claiming it is one of the most requested readings he has ever had. The prayer has been widely circulated by e-mail. One of our elders recently sent it to me and said, "You need to read this prayer — it's great!"