I recently received, via email, a prayer that was aired on the Paul Harvey show a few years ago. The email attributed the prayer to Billy Graham but it was actually a prayer written in 1995 by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. The prayer earned its fame when the Reverend Joe Wright, pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas recited it when giving the opening prayer for the Kansas House of Representatives in January 1996, (but he recited an edited version of the prayer). It's reported that it so incensed some of the legislators that one Democrat walked out and several other legislators denounced it as a message of intolerance. My question is, "How can the truth be intolerant?" The truth is what it is. Winston Churchill summed it up best when he stated, "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."

Our warped sense of values and morals today has allowed us to become tolerant of that which we know to be evil in the eyes of God. The reflection we see in the mirror is not one we want to gaze upon so it's easier to just turn away and pretend the ugliness doesn't exist. But it does exist and we as Christians must make a stand against it. There is no shame in being on the side of righteousness.

I've included the prayer below in its entirety for you to read and reflect on how accurately it describes our society today. Although this prayer was written over a decade ago it would seem, in that short amount of time, we've only gotten worse. But there is hope. Hope in knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is with us. Waiting on us to call on Him, to repent and ask for His forgiveness, and walk in His ways.

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ''Woe to those who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; 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 political savvy; 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, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.

I ask it in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ


May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you always,

Russ