Archive for December, 2009
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
The following Christmas address was given to all Americans at 5:15 pm on December 24, 1952. I hope this historical address blesses you and helps frame a perspective of the critical need to pray for America in 2010.
Merry Christmas from the Presidential Prayer Team
My fellow Americans, as we light this National Christmas tree tonight, here on the White House lawn-as all of us light our own Christmas trees in our own homes–we remember another night long ago. Then a Child was born in a stable. A star hovered over, drawing wise men from afar. Shepherds, in a field, heard angels singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” That was the first Christmas and it was God’s great gift to us. This is a wonderful story. Year after year it brings peace and tranquility to troubled hearts in a troubled world. And tonight the earth seems hushed, as we turn to the old, old story of how “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Tonight, our hearts turn first of all to our brave men and women in Korea. They are fighting and suffering and even dying that we may preserve the chance of peace in the world. The struggle there has been long and bitter. But it has a hopeful meaning. It has a hopeful meaning because it is the common struggle of many free nations which have joined together to seek a just and lasting peace. We know, all of us, that this is the only way we can bring about peace in the conditions of our time on this earth. Whether we shall succeed depends upon our patience and fortitude. We still have a long road ahead of us before we reach our goal. We must remain steadfast. And as we go about our business of trying to achieve peace in the world, let us remember always to try to act and live in the spirit of the Prince of Peace. He bore in His heart no hate and no malice–nothing but love for all mankind. We should try as nearly as we can to follow His example. Our efforts to establish law and order in the world are not directed against any nation or any people. We seek only a universal peace, where all nations shall be free and all peoples shall enjoy their inalienable human rights. We believe that all men are truly the children of God. As we worship at this Christmastide, let us worship in this spirit. As we pray for our loved ones far from home–as we pray for our men and women in Korea, and all our service men and women wherever they are–let us also pray for our enemies. Let us pray that the spirit of God shall enter their lives and prevail in their lands. Let us pray for a fulfillment of the brotherhood of man. Through Jesus Christ the world will yet be a better and a fairer place. This faith sustains us today as it has sustained mankind for centuries past. This is why the Christmas story, with the bright stars shining and the angels singing, moves us to wonder and stirs our hearts to praise. Now, my fellow countrymen, I wish for all of you a Christmas filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and many years of future happiness with the peace of God reigning upon this earth.
Posted in prayerupdates |
The President's Schedule
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
In the afternoon, President Obana will tape interviews with NPR’s Julie Rovner and Robert Siegel and PBS’s Jim Lehrer.
The first family will travel to (more…)
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Today's Devotional
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
By Charles Spurgeon
“I remember thee.”
Jeremiah 2:2
Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity “His delights were with the sons of men”; his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he viewed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. “In thy book,” he says, “all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, he was there, and he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before his incarnation, he descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man; on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Jos. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25), the Son of Man visited his people. Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart longed after them. Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names upon his hands, and graven them upon his side. As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ’s elect were his most precious jewels, and glittered on his heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray for grace ever to bear him in fondest remembrance. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of thy Son.
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Daily Prayer
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Heavenly Father, we come before you today asking you to give wisdom to President Obama and other leaders of the country and our financial institutions. As the President talks with lenders on a more local level, we ask you help him, regulators, and the bankers understand that capital must flow again to get the economy to recover. Please help a way to be found to start this critical element going again. Amen.
Posted in Daily Prayer |
Prayer Updates
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
President Meets with Community Bank CEO’s
Today President Obama will be meeting with community bankers from around the nation about how they can lend more but still carefully. A bank analyst said, “I think that banks are trying to lend in some ways but they also have big holes in their balance sheets that have to worry about.” Many community banks are struggling. The government reports more and more have fallen behind on dividends owed to the Treasury because of the bank bailout. Of course, It’s these banks small businesses often look to for loans. North Jersey Community Bank Chairman & CEO Frank Sorrentino said, “The President should sit, not only with bankers and jawbone them to lend more and also bring the regulators in with bankers and say hey, how will we get all of this put together…We’re never gonna to return to the days again a warm forehead you got a loan and nor should we.”
Pray for wisdom and leadership from our President in navigating policies for our economy to recover. Pray for families facing unemployment.
NATO Leader Commits to Afghanistan
The head of NATO said today there would be no deadline for the exit of allied troops from Afghanistan, as fears grow among Afghans that foreign forces will leave before their own troops are able to guarantee security. NATO allies have also promised to send around 7,000 more. Unrest has reached its worst levels in the eight-year war, and many fear that bombings and attacks may rise if their police and troops have not been well-enough prepared for their new responsibilities. There are currently around 110,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including 68,000 Americans.
Pray for our political policymakers to continue to support our military troops deployed in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and terrorism.
Unemployment Hits Obama Family
President Barack Obama says he and the first lady have relatives who are unemployed and suffering because of the economic crisis, but he’s confident that 2010 will be a better year for the American people. During an interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Obama said being part of the African-American community means that no matter how well you do, there is likely someone in your family who is hurting.
Obama says his first priority this year was stabilizing the economy, which is slowly starting to grow again. Still, the president says a full recovery is not coming as fast as he would like, particularly in the area of job growth. The country’s unemployment rate stands at 10 percent.
Pray for the safety and provision of unemployed families who are unsuccessfully seeking work all across America.
Posted in prayerupdates |
The President's Schedule
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
In the morning, President Obama will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing and meet with senior advisers in the Oval Office. Mr. Obama will then meet with CEOs of several small and community banks in the Roosevelt Room to discuss (more…)
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Today's Devotional
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
By Charles Spurgeon
“Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened.”
Isaiah 48:8
It is painful to remember that, in a certain degree, this accusation may be laid at the door of believers, who too often are in a measure spiritually insensible. We may well bewail ourselves that we do not hear the voice of God as we ought, “Yea, thou heardest not.” There are gentle motions of the Holy Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us: there are whisperings of divine command and of heavenly love which are alike unobserved by our leaden intellects. Alas! we have been carelessly ignorant-”Yea, thou knewest not.” There are matters within which we ought to have seen, corruptions which have made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being blighted like flowers in the frost, untended by us; glimpses of the divine face which might be perceived if we did not wall up the windows of our soul. But we “have not known.” As we think of it we are humbled in the deepest self-abasement. How must we adore the grace of God as we learn from the context that all this folly and ignorance, on our part, was foreknown by God, and, notwithstanding that foreknowledge, he yet has been pleased to deal with us in a way of mercy! Admire the marvellous sovereign grace which could have chosen us in the sight of all this! Wonder at the price that was paid for us when Christ knew what we should be! He who hung upon the cross foresaw us as unbelieving, backsliding, cold of heart, indifferent, careless, lax in prayer, and yet he said, “I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour … Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life!” O redemption, how wondrously resplendent dost thou shine when we think how black we are! O Holy Spirit, give us henceforth the hearing ear, the understanding heart!
Posted in devotional |
The President's Schedule
Monday, December 21st, 2009
In the morning, President Obama will receive his Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office and meet with members of the National Economic Council in the Roosevelt Room.
The president will then meet with (more…)
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Daily Prayer
Monday, December 21st, 2009
Lord, as we thank you today for the release of those persecuted in Pakistan, we remember one of the things we hold most dear in our own country: the right to worship freely. Thank you for this, too. Please help us to never take it for granted and act to fulfill the responsibilities that such freedoms afford. Amen.
Posted in Daily Prayer |
Prayer Updates
Monday, December 21st, 2009
Iran’s Dissident Cleric Ali Montazeri Dies
Iran’s most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who emerged as the spiritual father of its reform movement, died yesterday. He was 87. For years, Montazeri had accused the country’s ruling Islamic establishment of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam, and he persisted with his criticism after June’s disputed presidential election. His stance made him a hero to the opposition, and his criticisms were even more stinging because of his status. In a reflection of that veneration, crowds of people from the capital and other cities immediately set off to the holy city of Qom to participate in his funeral today. Authorities faced a difficult choice over whether to try to prevent an outpouring at the funeral that could escalate into another street protest by the government’s opposition.
Pray for our foreign policy leaders in managing the Iranian leadership. Pray for wisdom. Pray for peace in the Middle East.
Pakistan Releases Christian Prisoner
A Christian in Faisalabad district and his 20-year-old daughter were released last week after 14 grueling months in jail on false charges of blaspheming the Quran. Khalil Tahir, attorney for Gulsher Masih and his daughter Ashyana Gulsher (known as Sandal), said the case was typical of the way Pakistan’s blasphemy laws can be used to harass innocent Christians. “Christians are the soft targets, and most of the people implicated in these inhumane laws are Christians,” Tahir said. “We Christians are fighting for the same, noble goal – to provide justice to the victims of blasphemy laws.” Masih said that inmates beat him at least five times since he was arrested on Oct. 23, 2008. His daughter was arrested two weeks earlier, on Oct. 10. “These long 14 months seemed like ages,” Masih said. “There was one inmate, Ghulam Fareed, a rich man, who always harassed me, trying to coerce me to convert to Islam by saying he would make me rich and would send me abroad.”
Pray for Christians who must hide their faith in Arab countries at the risk of their safety. Pray for courage and safety for their families.
Major Offensive Against Taliban Planned
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen recently completed a trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq in order to him an opportunity to assess changes in strategy and meet the men and women who will carry out that strategy. Overall, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was pleased with the trip. In Afghanistan, Mullen visited troops in Regional Command “East in and around Bagram Airfield.
Pray for the courage and safety of our soldiers as they begin to deploy for President Obama’s declared surge.
Posted in prayerupdates |