There

probably is no force known to mankind more powerful than

prayer, so why don't we use it more often?

I received an e-mail this

week which I am told has been circulating for four years

now. With the message came the following request:

"If possible, please pass this prayer on to your

friends. `If you don't stand for something, you'll fall

for everything!'"

You are my friends. So,

after calling Wichita, Kans., talking with a secretary at

the church where Joe Wright is senior pastor and

confirming the facts of the message, here is the e-mail

message for you to ponder and pass it on to your friends.

"When minister Joe

Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas

Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities,

but this is what they heard:

"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 confess that.

"We have ridiculed the

absolute truth of your word and called it pluralism;

"We have worshiped

other gods and called it multiculturalism;

"We have endorsed

perversion and called it alternative lifestyle;

"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

self-esteem;

"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. Guide and bless these men and women who have

been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask

this in the name of your Son, the living savior, Jesus

Christ. Amen.'

"The response was

immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the

prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian

Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than

5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding

negatively. The church has received international

requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and

Korea.

"With the Lord's help,

may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly

become our desire so that we again can be called one

nation under God."

There is little or nothing

I can say to add to this prayer, except to ask, if you

believe with me that there is no force known to mankind

more powerful than prayer, then why don't we use it more

often?

There are those of us who

often claim that prayer does not change things; it

changes us. It changes the one who prays. The one who

approaches the throne of almighty God and cannot walk

away unchanged. And that's true. One cannot talk to God

and not be affected.

But prayer also changes

things. I know that it does. I cannot prove that it does.

I cannot convince any other being of the power of prayer.

Even when one hears a prayer being offered up to God and

watches events unfold in direct answer to that prayer,

even then there are those who will rationalize the whole

scenario. I've been there. I know.

I've also prayed, that is,

communed with God, and watched miracles unfold after

participating in such a powerful act. And I have stood in

absolute awe and indescribable wonderment while observing

the forces that come into play when prayer is the

catalyst. So, again, I know.

Please pass on to others

the words of this prayer prayed by a courageous Kansas

minister in 1996, but do so only after you have prayed

them yourself, and added to the force. Perhaps this

little prayer can be like a little windstorm that picks

up more and more force as it blows around the country and

the world. And maybe, just maybe it can make an impact

during this election year.

Remember, and remember

well, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall

for everything!"