The Shepherd Press Blog

Mini-Post: July 4th & Your Children

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. I Timothy 2:1-4

The Fourth of July is a combination many things – cookouts, fireworks, concerts, memorials to fallen heroes and to the birth of a nation. Tonight fireworks and explosions will mark celebrations all across the country. We can and should be thankful for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon the United States for the last 232 years. However, it is more important to remember why our country and indeed all countries exist. Our country exists by the sustaining power of Jesus Christ, to the end that God, his Father, will bring salvation to all those whom he has called. America does not exist for her own heritage, nor does she survive by her own will. America exists  and continues to survive because it pleases God for her to do so. We owe our collective breath as Americans to the purposes and pleasures of God. We will not survive one minute longer or shorter than what God sees as fitting. This may rankle the notions of the politically correct, but it is true nonetheless. (Act 17:24-28; Col. 1:15-20; Romans 13)

In the passage above, Paul shows us how to pray for our nation. We are to pray that our leaders will lead in such a way that we, the people of God, may be about the business of bringing honor to the name of Jesus Christ. Paul sent these words to Timothy while living under the tyrannical and decadent rule of the Caesars. Paul was not telling Timothy to lead a populist revolt against unjust leaders. Instead, Paul urged prayers of thanksgiving and intercession be made for them. Why? Because he wanted God’s people to be about God’s work. God’s work was not about saving the Roman empire, any more than God’s work today is about saving the United States.  Paul was a faithful and good Roman citizen who used that citizenship for God’s purposes, just as American Christians should today. But Paul’s focus was on his heavenly citizenship and adding others to the heavenly nation.America has eerily mimicked aspects of the Roman culture of Timothy’s day. As in the Roman world, spiritualism is on the rise. Sexual perversion has become normal and legal. Preaching the Constitution will not turn aside these pagan tides. Preaching the Gospel will.

On this election year Independence Day, don’t get caught up in the fear that each political party has of the other party’s presidential candidate. Teach your children why America really exists as a nation. In this moment of history, those of us who live in the United States have the mandate to declare the glory and message of Jesus Christ to a fallen and lost world.

 

A prayer at night on going to sleep

I lie down and sleep;
       I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. Psalm 3:5

O Lord God, who has given man the night for rest, as you have created a day in which he may employ himself in labor, grant, I pray, that my body may so rest during this night that my mind cease not to be awake to you, nor my heart faint or be overcome with apathy, preventing it from adhering steadfastly to the love of you. While laying aside my cares to relax and relieve my mind, may I not, in the meanwhile, forget you, nor may the remembrance of your goodness and grace, which ought always to be deeply engraved on my mind, escape my memory. In like manner, also, as the body rests may my conscience enjoy rest. Grant, moreover, that in taking sleep I may not give indulgence to the flesh, but only allow  myself as much as the weakness of this natural state requires, to my being able thereafter to be more alert in your service. Be pleased to keep me so chaste and unpolluted, not less in mind that in body, and safe from all dangers, that my sleep itself may turn to the glory of your name. But since this day has not passed away without my having in many ways offended you through my proneness to evil, in like manner as all things are now covered by the darkness of the night, so let everything that is sinful in me lie buried in your mercy. Hear me, O God, Father and Preserver, through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.

This prayer is taken from a collection of prayers by John Calvin recorded in The Christian Life, edited by John H. Leith.  The short prayer can have a tremendous impact on families. In the next few posts we will examine this prayer as it applies to young children, teenagers and yes, even to parents. But for now, read it carefully and thoughtfully. Ask God to help this be your prayer as you prepare for a night’s sleep.

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.