Independence Day 2014

          We live in a great country. The United States of America is a great country. In 2008 we had a dramatic financial setback as a country. Today many people blame the original problem on the current administration. I disagree.

Today, people say the ongoing problem lies in the current administration’s policies.” I disagree.

Today, people say this is the worst financial crisis our country has ever seen and we probably won’t recover from it. It needn’t be so.

After July 4th, 1776, chaos broke out in this country. In 1787 our country was in such chaos that the thirteen colonies thought they were going to go down. The economy barely moved. Inflation was high triple digit. Jails bulged with debtors, criminals in those pre-credit card days. States waged vicious trade wars against each other. The total federal income in 1785 was less than a third of just the interest on the national debt. Printing presses flowed rivers of worthless paper money.

Many around the world believed that this was the end of the great experiment called the United States of America. A constitutional convention was formed. When these thirteen colonies came together, they were so disjointed that there was only one thing that could save them—God's Spirit.

Benjamin Franklin knew this. He was 81. He rose and spoke to the convention. He said, "I am convinced that scripture is right when it says in Psalms 127:1: 'Accept the Lord. Build the house. They labor in vain
that build it.' Gentlemen, I have lived a long time. I am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If the sparrow can't fall to the ground without God’s notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without God’s aid? I move, gentlemen, that prayer imploring the assistance of heaven be held every morning before we proceed with business."

Prayer is what this whole country was based on. It began with a dream—a dream to come to a country and be able to worship as you want to worship, to pray as you want to pray. It began with a dream to become whatever you wanted to become. After July 4, 1776, what happened to that dream? What is happening with it today?

Here we have a nation after July 4, 1776--disbanded, going down. America was looked at by other countries as buzzards fly over a dead animal.

Today when people throw up their arms and say, "This will never work. Our country will never succeed now," realize that God's Spirit is in the mind of every person in this great land. As hopeless as things have seemed in the past, when we allow God's Spirit to be working in our minds, the miracles come… and prayer activates our awareness of God’s Spirit working in our minds.

Author Lindsay Ferrigo says this, “We should work as though it all depends on us, and we should pray as though it all depends on God.”

God will give us the inspiration through prayer.

We will give the inspiration form through work.

Asking in prayer is important. Listening is too.

I have a relative who once said to me, “OK, you’re the minister… how come my prayers don’t work out?

“What do you do with the “information” you receive after prayer?”

“Waddaya mean?”

“After you pray, do you take time to stop and listen? After prayer are you alert to the thoughts that pass through your mind… ae you alert to listen for your answer… or to see a “sign” that gives you the answer you’re looking for?’

“No. Isn’t God just going to take care of it?”

Prayer is powerful. Listening is required.

Medical doctor, and author, Dr. Larry Dossey, conducted a 400-patient study in a coronary care unit on the power of prayer.  One group received traditional, state-of-the-art care.  The other group received the same care with one difference:  they were prayed for as well, he assigned the names to various Protestant and Catholic prayer groups throughout the country.  The study was a double-blind study.  Neither the patients, the doctors, nor the nurses knew who was being prayed for.

At the end of the study, the differences were remarkable.  The group prayed for, excelled in many ways—fewer deaths, fewer cardiac arrests, fewer requirements for mechanical respiratory support, a lesser incidence of pulmonary edema (the filling up of the lungs with fluid), and a decreased need for antibiotics.

Medical author Dr. Larry Dossey, has stated firmly that if prayer was a new pill being brought out by a drug company, it would be touted as the greatest discovery in the history of medicine.

Dossey thinks that the doctors probably should not only give out prescriptions for pills, but should also give a prescription out that instructs the patient to pray three times a day.

Doctors have pads of paper that have Rx on it. It says:  “Take three times a day.”  What IF there was room for a prayer or positive prayer affirmation, in your life, three times a day? Would things be different?

Dossey reports, that we do not have to be close to the person we pray for—praying in absence, works as well as praying in person.

Prayer does not lose its strength over great distances.  Everyone is right in the middle of God’s help.

Everyone is right in the middle of God’s help.

I would like to share a story with you. Dolphins and killer whales are natural enemies. They will avoid each other, but when they come in contact with each other, they will fight. They have a natural hate for each other. Yet, when the killer whale is giving birth, that hate is set aside. Dolphins, in an instant, realize there is a need, and they become midwives to the killer whale.

They form a circle around the killer whale during the birth process. The dolphins come together underneath the killer whale and lift her to the surface to breathe, when labor is so intense that she does not have the strength to lift herself. They keep sharks away that have been drawn to the scent of blood; and they lead the newborn whale to the surface for the first breath of life, and back to the mother for nourishment. When they see the killer whale in need, everything changes and love becomes the answer. They come together — in a gift of friendship.

In order for our country to rise out of this economic condition, the left and right must stop fighting each other and realize the need to let the spirit of God residing within their minds be what directs them; stop the close-minded fighting, let go of the idea that their ideology is the only way, ask in prayer for an answer as to their part in, “what to do next,” listen for that answer, do the work necessary to bring that inspiration into form. I believe our politicians need to come together through prayer and love of country as a gift of friendship and be the impetus to move this great country forward.

We, too, as individuals, must do this; stop the war within ourselves and let inner peace prevail. We, too, need to set aside our deeply held beliefs and listen for the guidance of the spirit of God, the guidance that is initiated in prayer and heard in meditation.

That inspiration, from prayer, will guide us on how to lead our lives.

What if an overwhelming majority of our citizenry affirmed in prayer that all is well in this great country because God is present and then allowed God’s Spirit to be active in our lives?

What if you prayed that all is well in your life because God is present and then allowed God’s Spirit to be active in your life?

Praying for others is powerful. Praying for guidance for ourselves, listening, and then following through on that inspiration is also powerful.

Peace follows prayer, acceptance, and application.

Let’s close with prayer: “I behold God’s Spirit in others, however challenging the circumstances. Everything and everyone is my teacher, and I open myself to the divine lesson I am to learn. If I am upset or disturbed, I pray: “Help me see this differently, God.” I patiently await divine guidance on what to say and do. I trust the still small voice within me to guide me in right ways to express myself honestly and lovingly, and to listen with an open heart. All is made clear and my relationships come into perfect order and alignment. Thank you, God, for the wisdom that leads to compassion and understanding.” Amen.

This is a great country, and you are a great soul living in the middle of God’s Spirit.