July 25, 2022By The President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation
For a Day of National Humiliation
Fasting and Prayer
Whereas,
the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and
Just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has
by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for
National prayer and humiliation:
And whereas, it is the duty
of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling
power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet
with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to
recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all
history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:
And, insomuch as we know
that, by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to
punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the
awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a
punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of
our national reformation as a whole People? We have
been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved,
these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth,
and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in
peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly
imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were
produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with
unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of
redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess
our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore in compliance
with the request and full concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this
my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April
1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby
request all the People to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular
pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their
respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the
humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in
sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the
Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and
answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and
restoration of our now divided and suffering country, to its former happy
condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand,
and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Abraham Lincoln
Done at the city of Washington this thirtieth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
Welcome to the first issue of THE SCOOP. This newsletter will be a place of
encouragement, hope and honoring others for their faithfulness, integrity,
generosity, stamina and above all, their great love for God. Our obedience in
Christ is honored when we humbly bury ourselves and give God and others the
credit they deserve. There will also be times when I will also be writing
subjects that will test your faith. Our faith is tested and tried, not for God
to see how we respond to them as He already knows, but for us to see the truth
within ourselves during such a time.
The truth?
I believe, we are, “As in The Days of Noah.”
As we see our nation placed in the throes of those who
have an unquenchable thirst for practicing evil, we are reminded that it is a
spiritual problem that has made its way into the public helms natural realm for all the world to see. Many have traded their belief in God, for an
easier wide road for them to travel. Instead of swimming upstream, they simply
go with the flow. Compromising the word of God has become the norm, rather than
embracing truth. Words such as: blood, sin, repentance or hell are left out of
messages in fear of offending. That which was once shameful is now blatantly
bold and even recruited in every area of our lives and for some, even in the
assemblies. Today a myriad of perverted behavior and beliefs are widely
accepted. Few will accept the truth of
God that comes from the Bible. Nothing is protected and there are no limits to
their decadence. Lifestyles declare, “it is all about me.” Humility and forgiveness are strangers when
patterns of self-absorption have made them blind to the truth and believing a
lie. Feelings take the first prize over faith and love. Anything that impedes
the growth of the goodness of God and His truth brings an obvious opened gate
for seducing and lying spirits that whispers, “there are many ways to heaven.”
Unless you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and are full of the Holy Spirit, in
word, love and faith, how will you stand against those many spirits in these
present days? The spirit of fear? Presently, our nation is like that of a heavy
dark cloud blanketing over men’s souls today. Discouragement can harbor our
thoughts that say, “It is hopeless, what are we going to do?”
Did you know that the flip side of depression is
rejoicing? You can force yourself to rejoice in the Lord whether you feel like
it or not. Rejoicing means to jump up
and twirl around. If you can get excited over a football game, why not the
truth? We see these things coming upon
our nation and around the world and become horrified, and rightly so; but at
the same time, we can be filled with the joy in the Lord. As we breathe,
prophecy is being fulfilled. I ask you, if you knew that The King of Kings was
going to return tomorrow at 8:00 am, what would you be doing right now?
Pray with me:
Heavenly Father,
Together we thank You for
electing us to be here during such a time as this. In our hearts we know that
You have everything planned and are fulfilling prophecy even as we pray.
Together we choose to trust in You and your word with everything inside of us.
Thank You Father.
Your word tells us that You
do not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. We gladly agree to those words. We will love instead
of being fearful, we will walk in your Spirit with power and a sound mind. Your
Son Jesus has left us peace and we gladly seek it, for we have learned His
peace guards our hearts.
Your Son compels us to grow
good fruit while we are here. We ask that Your Holy Spirit continue to
help us to grow fruit so that we can give You glory and be pleasing in your
sight.
Together we ask that every
reader that believes that Your Son is Lord be filled with Your love and
Baptized by Your Spirit. We ask that You fill the needs of all of these readers, and they would be renewed by faith with your word. We ask that if they
need a job, we ask that this request be filled. If they need to be healed, or
have a broken heart, we agree together that You would fill this too. We ask
that every need would be met as they pray. Send a Spirit of Repentance where it
is needed and melt any hard hearts, send many words of kindness because your
word says that this leads to repentance. Those who have been praying for their
families, we ask that You send an encouraging word for them to know, You have
heard their prayers. Refill their holy faith with love for You, Joy in You and
Peace in You.
For those who are walking in darkness and need
You, we ask they would come to You and their eyes be opened with understanding
through belief. Bring these babies in Father. Lift up those who are seeking to do
a work for You and bring them into an, on the job training to speak truth into needy
hearts. Teach them by their experiences and by what they have learned by study.
Send them good honest friends that will help them with their new walk in You.
We send this prayer to You
Father in faith and love in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
