I got this in an e-mail this morning and thought it was worth sharing.A Prayer For Our Nation
'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 selfesteem. 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!
One Nation Under God.
Blessings and much love,
Sue
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteI hate to disappoint you, but this is simply not true. Billy Graham did NOT say this prayer, and it is NOT true about Paul Harvey either. Please GOOGLE "Snopes.com" (the website that checks out all email stories, "fowards" and "urban legends" for truth and accuracy.
This "prayer" is a hoax. Sorry.
Best regards,
Cheryl
OK, this is the first time that I have ever heard of a prayer being a hoax???? It never even occured to me to check it out. To me the message was not so much about Billy Graham or Paul Harvey but about the message to repent that moved me and I thought might others too. Most days I need to be reminded.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheryl for the heads up. I will try to edit the false portions of the post.
S
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteI have innocently sent well meaning forwards to people MANY MANY times, and a few times I was embarrassed to find out they were false and a hoax. I always check out "SNOPES.com" for ANY stories I receive now.
I know your heart was in the right place, but I also love Billy Graham, and he is the least judgemental person I have ever known. Even if the "prayer" you posted contained issues we should all be aware of and pay attention to, something about the "prayer" just didn't sit right with me. I almost immediately felt that Billy Graham would not have said some of those things. He is always very very protective of the Christian belief system and he always makes efforts to stay away from controversial comments. That was what made me check out SNOPES.com in the first place. Just wanted to share with you this resource for verifying stories over the internet.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Blessings,
Cheryl
It doesn't matter to me who said it, I think it's a wonderful prayer. Thanks, Sue!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pearls, I think so too.
ReplyDeleteS
Sue,
ReplyDeleteI received this email sometime back and I forwarded it to 3 or 4 friends...one emailed me back with the Snopes.com and said Billy Graham did not write it....to me it states exactly what is wrong with our nation and I pray God will have mercy.....no matter who penned the prayer....
Blessings....Betty
That is exactly what I wanted to say too Betty. I'm glad you said it for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue,
ReplyDeleteWow, I checked back in tonight to see if my second response to your prayer was printed and I didn't expect negative responses. As I said, I know your heart was in the right place. I guess I am just protecting ALL OF US when it comes to representing something that is supposedly said when it really wasn't/isn't. That goes for you and for me too. I am just a stickler for accuracy when it comes to putting words into someone elses mouth.
Word for thought,.....what if someone "tampered" with a message Jesus said in the Bible....would that upset you if they "tweaked" the truth of what He meant?
Just food for thought.
Blessings,
Cheryl
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that you felt the responses were negative and appreciate that you know that my heart was in the right place. Thank you for protecting all of us when it comes to representing something that is supposedly said when it really wasn't/isn't. I understand that that goes for you and for me too, and appreciate that you are a stickler for accuracy when it comes to putting words into someone elses mouth.
It would/does cause me to be concerned when someone tampers with a message Jesus said in the Bible or they tweak the truth of what he meant.
Thank you for coming by and I hope you will always feel welcome here.
Hugs,
Sue
Thanks for your warm comments Sue. I appreciate it. I can see from visitng your site that you love the Lord, and that is why I guess I felt comfortable enough to address the inaccuracy of that forward. It was NOT your fault at all,..I have been in your shoes too many times to count! ;/ Some of my most trusted friends have innocently sent on forwards that at first appear to be correct and truthful, but later I get a reminder from a friend with a true eye for detail, and they show me my mistake. If it hapens to be something relating to Christian beliefs and it ends up being wrong, I feel like I just lost credibility for "the faith" when I send the incorrect email to non-believers or "seekers'.
ReplyDeleteSo many non-believers looks for reasons to attack Christians for their beliefs and comments/thoughts. I have always looked to Billy Graham as probably the Last Great Prophet of our time. He is the only world famous Evangelist that has never ever embarrassed the faith by publicly saying anything prejudicial or non-inclusive. He has such "gentle strength". In fact, it is sometimes what he DOESN'T SAY OR DO that sends everyone such a strong, firm and respectful message. Do you agree? Example,... why is he not meeting with Barack Obama as our new President? There are very reliable reports that he has chosen not to meet with him... Hmm. Why?.you have to ask yourself.. He has ministered to every living president that we have had since the 1950's. Perhaps it is because of Barack's liberal views on abortion, or some other reason??? only time will tell. So far, the only reason given (that I have read) is that it is merely due to his health issues. Rather than me speculating irresponsibly on Billy's behalf, I just wanted to explain why I have such love and respect for him and why I tried to come to his "rescue" yesterday. Please forgive my extreme enthusiasm when it comes to Billy. He really is my hero! :)
Thanks again for your kind and understanding words Sue, and I do love visiting your website. Your decorating ideas, and the many other wonderful ideas you share on your blog are truly enjoyable to me and to many others I am sure. Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,
Cheryl