Prayer.

Adopt a Liberal
suggests you pick from the following list.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Congressman Barney Frank
Director John Holdren
Mr. Barry Lynn
Secretary Janet Napolitano
President Barack Obama
Senator Harry Reid
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Senator Olympia Snowe
The "Unknown Liberal"

and that you:

"Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy."

I think they are forgetting Jesus' admonition

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

Matthew's rules for prayer beginning with 6:6.

1. Go into your room. (v. 6)
2. Shut the door. (v. 6)
3. Pray to your Father in secret. (v.6)
4. Do not heap up empty phrases. (Be brief, v. 7))
5. Follow the standard model. (Pray like this: . . . v. 9-13)
6. Forgive men their trespasses. (vs. 12, 14, 15)

I think that "public prayer" and admonitions like the "liberty" counsel are advocating are just wrong on so many levels. We do a lot of praying in our society. I really think there is a place for prayer but, with Jesus, I prefer it to be private. I prefer prayer to be like the Lord's prayer one of self improvement for me. One that puts me "right with God" and "grounds my being" - I do not believe that I can pray to God to ask him to give me "things' -

In the Church I attended for about 30 years the Lord's Prayer was important. There is a "spiritual interpretation" of it and I share it with you here:

Silent Prayer, followed by the Lord’s Prayer with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science Textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Our Father which art in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Adorable One.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know – as in heaven, so on earth
God is omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread;
Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.

This prayer, with or without the spiritual interpretation, is the most powerful prayer ever written. And it does not ask for anyone to change others but to recognize that God is in charge. That the Father-Mother of all is and has given us everything. It asks us to recognize this and to reflect God's Love in our love. To recognize that it is God's kingdom and to leave things in His hands. We need to bring ourselves into line with God, not tell God what to do or to pray to change liberals into conservatives. To me the arrogance of these people who think that they have the only "road to heaven" is just so wrong.

When you think of what Jesus taught and how he treated others and the way he lived he was probably much more liberal than the conservatives of today. One of the complaints the Liberty University Web site has against the "Liberals" is that they are for the separation of Church and State.

Remember this? "Render unto Caesar"

The Pharisees (Conservative of their day) were trying to trap Jesus into blaspheming, and asked if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Rome. Jesus held up a coin and asked whose picture was on it, and the Pharisees replied that it was Caesar's picture. So, Jesus told them to give to Caesar (secular authority) that which was his (ie taxes) and give to God what belonged to Him (praise and worship).

I think that pretty much says that Jesus was advocating the separation of Church and State.

Now back to public prayer. I think it should serve one purpose. To remind us of our dependence on the Creator, to give thanks for all that has been given to us and to acknowledge that God is in charge and that is enough. As for what the Liberty Counsel is advocating they are just free to do what they want. But I really don't think that they will accomplish much. Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, j