5 May 2021, Anno Domini
National Day of Prayer
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LESSED is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)
The time is becoming later than ideal to pray for this great nation. In doing so, we must remember the great benevolent Lord whose hand was so instrumental in its founding. We thank the Lord our God for His Mighty care of us at our crucial moment of birth as a nation, and for His constant Providential preservation of our nation from enemies of freedom and liberty who, more native than foreign, have attempted, and still attempt, to destroy the principles and ideals upon which our government was established from our primitive past.
Thanking our God first for granting us men and women of courage who were willing to shed their own blood to preserve our liberties on many far-flung battlefields, and for the churches that have had the fortitude to stand when those liberties were assailed, we must march ahead with renewed vigor and patriotic fervor.
Today we are faced with the most crucial threat to Liberty in our history – not from without, but from men of low degree from within. Our freedom of speech is in jeopardy, our right to bear arms to protect home and our Constitutional rights are being challenged by not only political, but corporation interests.
It is sad to see so much of our youth being deceived by ungodly educators who are promoting Marxist ideals in our schools, colleges and Universities. But our Christian people have been silent too long. We have tolerated small violations of our rights and faith in hopes that each excess will be the last. But such appeasement with evil has never worked. It is time for us to stand upon our faith in God and His Word as expressed in Holy Scripture.
If we fail to not only pray, but to prayerfully act, during these perilous times, we shall awaken at a soon approaching moment when we shall realize our freedoms and rights have been abolished by an encroaching totalitarian power that brooks no descension and requires absolute obedience to the whims of rulers who have known not the God of our Fathers and who have little regard for the patriots who bled and died to preserve us the most exemplary nations founded on God’s green earth.
Time wanes as we abide the constant usurpation of our God-given rights declared in our Declaration of Independence and codified in the US Constitution.
To quote a leading figure of our American Revolution:
We shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston (Washington, today). ~ Patrick Henry
Heed the admonishment of God, so often cited but seldom heeded:
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F my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)
For Our Country.
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LMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1928 Book of Common Prayer)
In Christ,
Worldwide Anglican Orthodox Communion
JERRY L. OGLES, Presiding Bishop
Bishop of the United States
St. Andrew’s Parish
