#2466 (10/21) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "God, Government, and the God of Government"

"GOD, GOVERNMENT, AND THE GOD OF GOVERNMENT" - October 11, 2018 | By Lea Carawan of the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundationl; https://www.ifapray.org/blog/god-or-government/

    Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Romans 13:1)

     All three (executive, legislative, and judicial) branches of our government are under attack like we have never seen in our country, in our lifetime. We have been watching the underbelly of the “beast” literally being exposed in many ways (we all know what “beast” we’re talking about). This is the battle we’ve been fighting, now, for a decade, as we’ve been a part of this Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation and we understand what’s happening here. But, now the country is starting to get a glimpse of the spirit behind what is happening here.

     We’re no longer two parties who are both basically going in the same direction with varying views on how to get there. We now have very divergent views on the end goal which is causing more and more division. This creates an environment where one side must win. Compromise is not a pathway anymore. I’m not even referring to parties, but I’m talking about ideologies. With 24/7 access to info, each side must get more and more shrill in order to break through all the noise to get their ideology out in front of it – and I mean both sides.

   We understand that the battle…that we’re fighting is between those who believe we are beholden to a Higher Power, to God, who is ultimately in charge, and those who believe that government is the highest power and is charged to make decisions for all the rest of us as they see fit. [They do this] often without a moral compass because they don’t believe that God is the highest power. You can see how some of that shift is.

   This is the epic battle, and we’ve seen it throughout history. But, in America, this is the first time that those ideologies, those worldviews, are pretty evenly split. And that is why this battle is raging. This battle has been here many times before – it has reared its ugly head – but the majority tamped it down and said “no.” But, now in this country we see something different. The Democracy Alliance efforts, many of the anti-God and anti-faith (agendas) have increased to a fevered pitch. The kinds of resources, the kinds of strategy they are employing to ensure that anti-God candidates are in positions of authority, and anti-God and anti-faith policies are implemented throughout our culture, is unparalleled.

   It is, literally, a David and Goliath situation! We wouldn’t even begin to touch the kinds of decades-long strategies and resources and money that they have put into, coming against everything that we are praying for… They have their hands in trying to stop with money, and strategy, and people, and organizations, and machines that they are implementing every single day… It’s Goliath, and we’re David – and God is on our side, like He always is when people stand in faith and stand for Him!

    We’re watching an increase in violence against our conservative lawmakers. Not only in their offices but in their homes and in the public square, restaurants, and baseball fields. (There are) letters being sent – yesterday to the White House, the Pentagon, Ted Cruz’s office…it’s crossing lines we haven’t seen before. Now this kind of violence is being called for by fellow lawmakers – crossing a line we’ve not seen before. The end is clearly justifying the means and there is no limit, anymore, to how hard-ball you can play or what you’ll do to make sure that you win, because it’s now about winning and losing. It’s not about compromising and finding just divergent tactics to get to the same end-game – just having a different way of getting there – it’s not like that, anymore. Which is why what you see in our culture, in our country, in our government, is divisive. We call for unity, but what you have to understand is, for our side, there is no place anymore for that kind of compromising unity because we just give in and lose.

   We need to understand what we’re facing and why this is so difficult, and why even some of the things we think should happen, or we’re calling to happen, is kind of impossible anymore, because things have gone so far.

    The impact of the midterm elections will be felt for years to come – whichever way they go. It’s imperative we have more leaders in Congress who stand for what’s right, what’s good, what’s fair, who fear God and know His ways. The chilling effect of these Supreme Court nominations and court hearings, whichever way they go – the chilling effect will have negative impact on good people choosing to serve. It’s already done.

   This is a dire threat to our country and we need God to intervene and turn this evil into good, somehow. Our leaders need the courage because many of them are going to have to risk everything to take a stand. In America, where we really have seen tidbits of this – you might face ridicule, you might face maybe some threats – but we are now at a completely different level, literally, as of weeks ago.

   The judicial system was never meant to have the kind of power that is has. But, now that it has risen to the heights that it has, the battle for control is incessant. A new tool is being devised – you can hear it if you listen for it – “If judges are not the judges we want, then we will impeach them.” That was not a tool that was deployed before. Just weeks ago, they started – they’re laying the groundwork.  If they lose this battle in getting someone in there, how do they win the next battle?  They begin to talk about – “If we lose control, how do we get it back?”

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

[Excerpted from Lea Carawan of the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, speaking to the National Prayer Assembly in Washington D.C. (Find video clip of this entire presentation at the website for this article)]
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Prayer Points:
*Pray for eyes to be opened to the spiritual battle (Jn 12:40, Acts 28:16, 2 Cor 3:16).
*Pray that the Church would rise above the divisiveness of political rhetoric and speak of God’s Kingdom and His government which is eternal (Ps 9:7-8, 22:28, Is 9:6, Jn 19:11, Acts 28:31).
*Pray for courage in the midst of conflict (1 Chron 28:20, Is 54:4, Jn 14:27, Acts 4:29).

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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:To learn more, please go to -https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

Praying for North Korea - For the last 17 years, North Korea has been #1 on the World
Watch List as the most dangerous place in the world for Christians. Yet the North Korean church, an estimated 300,000 members strong, continues to persevere. Throughout October, join us we pray for and encourage our persecuted family living in the face of oppression.

October 21 | TURKMENISTAN - Pray for a secret home church. During their last prayer

meeting, police broke in and searched everything. Please pray for our brothers and sisters who are now under “double pressure” from police and Muslim relatives.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.