The Love Dare - Day 4

When I think about the fact that today is only Day 5 of the 40 days, I start to wonder and to hope that my hubby and I, and our married friends will not give up on this challenge but follow through to the very end, so help us, GOD!

Yesterday, while at work, I found myself telling 2 of my colleagues, a lady and gentleman about the Love Dare that we had committed to. The lady seemed very excited and encouraging about it. The gentlemen however, turned and looked at me with something close to surprise on his face and asked; “Do those things work?” Well, I would like to find out if it works. This is why I signed up!

Back home, we kinda got into a discussion with my hubby, after I had shared with him the events of my day. We both realised something profound: The Love Dare isn’t meant to change our spouses or to ‘work’ as most people would like it to. The main purpose of this dare is to change us, the individuals; to teach us to control/ lead our hearts to love.

Contrary to popular opinions that push people to ‘follow your heart’, the love dare asks individuals to lead their hearts. According to the authors, “Following our hearts would be so good if our hearts were always loving, in tune with God and desirous of the right thing. However, since as humans we are self-centered, prideful, and often deceived, following our hearts may not always lead us to do the right thing. Following our hearts means chasing after whatever feels right at the moment. Our emotions and feelings can be deceptive, leading us down the wrong path. Proverbs 16:25 cautions: ‘There’s a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death.’”

There! Now you have it! If you want to use this to manipulate your spouse into loving you, stop! Wrong path! Change your heart, attitudes, etc first and all the rest will follow. Like I shared yesterday, my first resolution is to try and go for 40 days straight without allowing my joy and peace to be stolen/ lost of petty issues, no matter what. One day at a time. Devil, back off! I command you, in the Might Name of Jesus Christ, to go right back to hell where you belong!!!

Back to Day 4’s events: love is thoughtful

How precious also are Your thoughts to me… How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. Psalm 139:17-18

Day 4’s dare required us to contact our spouses sometimes during the business of the day, with no agenda other than asking how he or she was doing and if there was anything you could do for them.

Again, we did this, but you see this is what we had been doing every day with my hubby, though sometimes when we fought; it was very hard to even pick up the phone, let alone, dial his number. What struck us, again, was that it wasn’t really about the calling or the kind gesture, but about the fact that we had to be very ‘INTENTIONAL’ about it all. Love is an intentional decision. To love something has nothing to do with the butterflies in your stomach, or the hibijibis, as one of our friends likes to call them. It is an intentional, conscious decision you make, with a conscious mind, to commit to loving someone, irrespective of their response to your love. You chose to love. From the day you chose to love, literally everything you do is intentional.

May God teach us to love right!

The Love Dare - Day 3

Love is not selfish

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. Romans 12:10

The day's dare was: Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. Its hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today."

So, the positive thing with Day 3 was that I knew exactly what I wanted to get for my husband, and I had actually got it on Day 2 out of excitement, but spent my evening yesterday looking over it just to be sure its in the best condition, wrapped it with a lot of care and love and wrote sweet messages literally all over. I enjoyed doing this. I usually really enjoy wrapping gifts for the people I love.
My husband was very happy to receive his present, and he too gave me a very beautiful pair of earrings that I am actually wearing today:-)

But something comes to my mind... I don't want to finish this 40-days' dare only focusing on the gifts I receive or the sweet things my hubby does for me (keeping a tab on him)....No! But more on what lessons I can get out of this whole thing. Yesterday, while wrapping the gift, I felt like, well.....I always love giving gifts to my husband and leaving him small love notes here and there, and it also felt pretty superficial, coz I know....ah! he will get me something too! There's just no element of surprise in it, if you get what I mean.
But, bottom-line: what is this helping me achieve? At least I have already begun to work on some amazing resolutions for particularly my life. I want to not get angry at all - or rather, to NOT LET THE DEVIL STEAL MY JOY AND PEACE for these next 40 days. No matter what!

The LORD who says He is the I AM, I want to see HIM as my GOD OF PEACE AND JOY this time round. I am asking Him to manifest Himself in my life as the God of peace and joy. And I know He will. HE NEVER FAILS. He says "Ask, and you will receive." "No good thing shall He withhold from those who walk upright before me."
He will not withhold His peace and joy from me. This I believe in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen!

The Love Dare - Day 2

Like I wrote yesterday, I will be sharing my experiences of this amazing Love dare as my husband and I work hard at making our marriage work, filling it with Love.

Day 2:

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4.32

The dare required us to do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness, in addition to saying nothing negative to each other.

I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to find a kind gesture to do for my husband. You know, I have got into the routines of doing my usual things around the house - cooking, cleaning, nurturing our baby, and my usual wifely duties...nothing out of the ordinary, that when I was required to think of an intentional act of kindness, until 6pm, I hadn't even come up with one!

My husband on the other hand, kept doing all sorts of small gestures which, went unnoticed by me of course, not intentionally, I assure you....hehehe! till he actually started pointing them out at the end of the day, and I was so embarrassed for failing to notice these things.

I wondered: how many times has my husband actually gone out of his way to show me kindness and I failed to notice? It hurts to be kind and only receive complaints from the intended recipient. I am ashamed of myself. You have no idea how many times I have complained of feeling unloved, unappreciated, etc. by my husband. Now I know why: my mind has been closed off to only the things I wanted to see, not actually to what he was doing.

I know there are so many women out there who are guilty of the same...so if you are one of us, we really need to stop and start looking out and appreciating our loved ones for every single gesture of kindness that they have gone out of their ways to show us, not just focus on our preconceived ideas of kindness.

Anyways, I thank God so much for availing opportunities for us to accomplish a lot yesterday in relation to the dare verse. We opened up a lot with the help of wonderful friends in our marrieds group, and were able to forgive each other for past hurts, understand each other more, and am looking forward to us being the best of friends.

NO WEAPON FASHIONED AGAINST US SHALL PROSPER AND NO TONGUE OF THE ENEMY SHALL PREVAIL AGAINST US; IN JESUS' MIGHTY NAME.

AMEN!

I was also, finally, after a hectic day of thinking, thinking and thinking....I was able to find something really kind to do for my husband, and he was grateful. After his long tired day, I gave him a much needed massage!

So, day 2 down! Now, lets get back to day 3. updates will come tomorrow.

Stay blessed!

Living Life the LOVE way

As I drove home from work last evening, a discussion on the radio - Capital FM, to be precise caught my attention. Lucky, one of the presenters was disappointed at how Ugandans have lowered their morality. Her example: In the past, if a guy or woman was hitting on you and you told them you were married, they would apologize and give you space. Today, you tell someone you are married, and they will be like; "I don't want to marry you. I know I cant have all of you, but at least you can give me a little of you on the sides." How awful? Have we become so immoral? Has marriage lost meaning and respect this much?

In my church's marrieds cell group, we, on sunday, started a Love Dare Bible study based on the movie FIREPROOF. This is a 40 days' dare with lots of activities that each of us is supposed to do to learn how to love our spouses and nurture love in our marriages.

According to the introduction:
"The Scriptures say that God designed and created marriage as a good thing. It is a beautiful, priceless gift.  He uses marriage to help us eliminate loneliness, multiply our effectiveness, establish families, raise children, enjoy life, and bless us with relational intimacy. But beyond this, marriage also shows us our need to grow and deal with our own issues and self-centeredness through the help of a lifelong partner." Don't we all long for this?

I want to love and to be loved. We want our marriage to be respected for all its worth. We want to live a life that EXALTS the Name of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY at all costs. And we shall work hard, INTENTIONALLY to ensure that our marriage doesn't go into those statistics of marriages that have lost meaning.
This is why we signed up for this Love Dare thing, and I promise to share our experiences as much as possible. I pray that God will give both my hubby and I, and the 6 other couples who have signed up for this dare thing the grace to finish all the 40 days unscathed, strong, celebrating, full of praise, and that we shall harvest the fruits of our labor and the Name of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY will be exalted beyond measure through our marriages. So help us , God!

Day 1:

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

 

The first part has been easy. All I needed to do was to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to my spouse at all.
There was nothing eventful. We were both very positive all day, which felt kinda superficial, but I liked it. we tried so much not to offend each other, etc. The day went well.
Today is the second day, and I will write its outcomes tomorrow.
Ciao!!

Uganda's Selfish MPs

Today, while driving back from a meeting at the Uganda Child Rights NGO (UCRNN) in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, I heard on news that even the midwives are requesting to be exempted from paying national taxes. Well, considering the work that the midwives do - helping mothers deliver their babies....a matter of life and death, and considering the peanut salaries that they receive, particularly those working in government hospitals....etc, maybe the midwives can be exempted.

But....back to our selfish MPs...seriously? These guys first of all promised their voters all sorts of things, and never fulfill them claiming that there are no available funds in government. Now, if that is the case, what are they doing to ensure the government has more funds? How many trillions does Uganda spend annually? Where do these trillions go, because, they are not in hospitals, and neither are they in schools - given the horrible education standards at UPE/ USE schools (Government funded)? Well, Ugandan road network has improved greatly, so, yeah, we can say that its money well spend.
I really shouldn't talk much here considering my usual lack of interest in Ugandan politics.

But, these MPs have pissed me!
Their selfish suggestion will cause Uganda a loss of how many billions annually?...UGX49.464Bn! And how or where do they think this money will come from? are they aware of the already escalating national debt? Why do we even vote them in parliament? Weren't there other smarter, more people-focused candidates available? No wonder our president thinks Ugandans are stupid. If those are the best we can come up with, truthfully, then who is smarter than who? Where are all the smart, caring, people-focused leaders hiding?

Our dear Members of Parliament, while you fill your fat bellies with our hard earned monies, please remember that the people who voted you into that office can't even afford one meal a day for their families on average. This realization should motivate you to work hard to develop your communities and the nation at large. But if it doesn't, then you are truthfully the most selfish ......ever created! Sorry to say this.

This time round, am totally not impressed!

Oh God, please uphold our nation in your hands, and please defend the oppressed.
Like Mordecai told Esther in the Bible "Do not think that because you are in the King's house you alone of all the Ugandans will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Ugandans will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Oh Uganda, May God uphold thee!
For God and my Country!
 

International Day of Sttreet Children

Its been a very very long while since I last blogged. A lot has changed in my life, including the fact that at the moment, I am working for a Christian NGO called Dwelling Places, one of the most credible organizations I know in Uganda. Dwelling Places provides holistic care services to children formerly living on the streets, high risk slum families and abandoned babies. We follow a 4Rs module; Rescue, Rehabilitation, Reconciliation and Resettlement to achieve our vision “Until every child has a chest to rest his head on and a place to call home.” We also support these children to acquire education, while their families are empowered economically and spiritually enriched in order to enhance sustainable resettlement. Since our inception in 2002, we have supported 1,244 children, with 535 children currently on the program.

 

In the 12th of April; Dwelling Places along with many other organizations under the Children at Risk Action Network (CRANE) gathered at Mulago Hospital Play ground to celebrate the International Day for Street Children with the children living on the streets of Kampala. Besides the many organizations and children, there were officials from Police (Family and Children’s unit), government, and the media. It was a very good platform for the children living on the streets to speak up for themselves.

A former street child shares her story - how her life has changed

Police re-assures some of the children

A child shares his story on TV

The day started off with a march around Mulago on the outskirts of Kampala, to create awareness for the celebrations and also mobilize children on the streets to come and celebrate together.
The march was led by the Officer in charge of Family and Children’s unit at Kampala Division, Katy Nandy. Having police Officers marching with the children was a good change from the usual, with policemen chasing and beating them which makes the children afraid of the people in uniform. The march got attention from the general public and many people followed the group to show their support.

As planned, there were many activities on the agenda for the day. There was a group of children living on the street that presented a short play about how they end up on the street. Their story line was on irresponsible parents and child abuse. It was good to hear from the horse’s mouth the reason why there are so many children on the streets. Some children that had been re-integrated into society gave live testimonies about how they were saved from the streets and how their lives have been transformed, to help inspire the ones who are still living there. The medical team was there treating wounds, testing for Hepatitis B, Malaria, and many other medical conditions. There was hair trimming, nail cutting, aerobics, counseling and rescues. There was a lot of food for all the children to eat and drink plus ice-cream for desert.

Some of the children living on the streets get a free hair cut

Aerobics

On this day, we ran into one of the boys we had rescued two years back and had been resettled with his family. However due to continued mistreatment  from his caregivers, he had ran away again and came back to the street. The first words out of his mouth when he saw Martin Kityo, the social worker in charge of Rescue were “Uncle Martin nze nkoye ebbala, njagala kugenda ku home nsome. Muntwale! (Uncle Martin I am tired of the streets. I want to go to the home and study. Please take me!)

Martin was determined to bring him back to the home that day however he lost track of the boy in crowd and is currently following up on him. We lost Ben* (not child's real name) that day however we managed to rescue three young boys, ages 9, 11 and 12. They are our first male rescued children this year. They were very excited to come into the Transitional Rehabilitation Home; saying good bye to their friends from the streets that were staying behind and promising them that their turn was coming soon.

Among the boys was another one called Suleiman. Because of the war in Congo, Suleiman’s family dispersed. He was only 9 and alone. He tried looking for his family in vain. When he saw a bus traveling away from the war zone, he jumped under the bus. He traveled under it for 10hrs, only getting out of there when it stopped for a toilet break or at a fueling station. This is how Suleiman ended up in Kampala. He knew no one, didn’t understand the language and had no money on him. For 2 years he lived on the streets of Kampala, fetching water for local restaurants to get a meal or some small money.

 On the International Day for Street Children, he saw a group of people marching, and even though they were wearing clean branded T-shirts, he recognized some of the boys from the street like him so he went and just joined in. He got a T-shirt and just like that he was part of the celebrations. He says he had never had so much fun in his entire life. Martin made contact with him on this day and identified him for rescue. When Martin found him, like many other children on the streets of Kampala, he was wearing his branded T-shirt from the International Day for Street Children. He says it’s warm and cleaner than any cloth he has had on the streets. Suleiman just wants to go back home. He wants to find his family. He says “I know very well where I used to stay in Congo; I know my father’s name, my mother and all my siblings. Will you take me to them?”
That is what we are here for, to see that children like Suleiman are with family. People who love and care for them.“UNTIL EVERY CHILD HAS A CHEST TO REST THEIR HEAD ON AND A PLACE TO CALL HOME”
We cannot fail to appreciate all those who were part of the celebrations in different ways. Those who prayed with us, donated, the organizations under CRANE network for planning, the media for covering the children’s stories and airing on TV and radio so that the world can hear their views, the Chief guest Mrs Katy Nandi for standing with the children and re assuring them that police is and will be on their side always, you our supporters who liked, shared, re tweeted and commented on social media, we all fed in to the success of the celebrations.

Every child needs an identity. they want to be heard. Will you listen? Will you support them to get an identity in life?

 Visit Dwelling Places' facebook, twitter and instagram pages to see more

 

 

 

 

Praying for our Leaders:

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
1 Tim 2:1-4 (NIV)

William Penn on January 1, 1701 stated, “If man is not governed by GOD he will be governed by Tyrants.” The Bible in Psalms 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord...”
As a country, our short history is tainted with a very interesting mix of leaders. We have had several wars, being the 3rd most corrupt country in the world, very high population, high levels of unemployment, etc, that have left the country wanting in terms of leadership. However, we have to recognize the fact that all leadership comes from God, and that it’s our responsibility as Christians to continually pray for those in positions of leadership above us for many reasons: -
• The decisions made by leaders influence large numbers of people in very major ways. Most of us greatly under-estimate the extent of their influence upon us.
• Secondly, though our leaders have to tackle numerous complex problems which are totally baffling, they are often rather ordinary men placed in extraordinary positions of responsibilities. Therefore, they need super-human wisdom and strength to tackle these problems.
• Thirdly, leaders often do not get the correct information to make wise decisions because they receive flatteries rather than truthful feedback. Therefore, we need to pray for them to be able to discern the right information to base their solutions on.
• Fourthly leaders are faced with dangers that others are less likely to encounter; e.g., they are targets of envy, slander and unfair criticism. If they are doing a good job, they also become prime targets of Satan - who hates to see men blessed by good government.
• Lastly, they are often victims of temptation because of their positions of power and wealth. Because of their power they often over-estimate their- true abilities and become too proud to listen to feedback or advice. They also tend to become unfeeling for the weak; and cruel, or they may abuse their power, or they may be tempted to grab more and more wealth or even to think that they are –“god.”
Prayer can take care of all these because "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Pro 21:1).
On the other hand, Christians also need to pray for and with each other. But we particularly need to support Christian leaders, whether in the church, or in society. Church leaders face many challenges - balancing the roles of pastor, priest, preacher, church leader, and administrator, besides other roles they may have such as husband or father. Those Christians in secular leadership positions face the challenge of remaining true to the gospel in a complex and difficult world. Like it or not, Christian pastors will have cast upon them heavy burdens of expectation, with society ready to condemn any weakness or mistake.

It’s our responsibility to pray "for all that are in authority" whether they are Christians or not. When Paul wrote this advice, the Jews were under Roman rule and all the kings in and around Israel were not only unbelievers but also persecutors of Christians. Logically, the more anti-Christian the ruler is; the greater the need for us to pray for him. Jews had all along prayed for heathen rulers that ruled them (Jer 29:7). However, four years before Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jews stopped praying for the Roman emperor. This was probably the human cause of why Jerusalem was destroyed. Jews who had converted to Christianity obeyed Paul's command to pray for their (Roman) rulers and were largely spared from suffering when Jerusalem was destroyed.

Paul writes that the benefits of praying for our rulers are that "we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” This refers primarily to freedom from religious persecutions (which greatly tormented the early Christians); so that Christians can practice their faith unhindered.

May our rulers lead us to aim for the simple quiet pleasures of a contented life (I Tim 6:8) of home and family, to a peaceable life of peace with God, with our loved ones, our neighbors, our circumstances and our own consciences. May our rulers continue to allow us to seek a life of godliness and honesty and not lead us to one of godlessness and greed. Let us pray that their sincere quest for the "greatest good for the greatest number" be indeed the true "greatest good".

Government Leaders: Christians must stay informed and communicate with their officials. Do not forget to praise them when they vote right and take correct stands.
"Don't withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it." Proverbs3:27

Pray that our leaders will:
• Love the Truth: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
• Have Wisdom: "Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you." Proverbs 4:5-8.
"Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts." Psalm 119:98-100.
• Display Courage and Integrity: "The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." Proverbs 10:9.
"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." Proverbs 11:3.
• Be Sharp in Insight and Quick in Discernment: "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."1 Thessalonians 5:21-22.
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1.
• Surround Themselves with Good Staff Members and Advisers: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers." Psalm 1:1.
"If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials become wicked." Proverbs 29:12.
"…for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors.” Proverbs 24:6.
• 2 Chron 1:10 -- supernatural wisdom
• Prov. 4:11 divine guidance
• I Cor. l6:13 supernatural spiritual strength
• Ps. 18:1-2 "
• Ex. 15:2 supernatural physical strength
• I John 2:10 leadership that does not stumble
• Ps. 119:66, 169; Prov. 2:1-15, 22; II Sam. 22:33-35
• Ps. 35:1-10, 22-28
• Ps. 91 Reassurance: Ps. 27 through 31; Ps. 37
Enjoy God's Protection over Themselves and Their Families: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3

“Every man must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an angel of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.” Romans 13:1-6 (NIV)

In Psalm 20, the Psalmist prays for the King:

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you held from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the King! Answer us when we call!

The psalmist didn’t just ask God to bless the king; the psalmist blessed the king as well. He was also quite specific. If you were to meet the President face to face, would the first words out of your mouth be “May the Lord answer you when you are in distress?” What about in our prayers? Do we ask God to answer our Leaders’ prayers? Do we ask God to give them strength? Do we ask God to grant our Leaders the desires of their hearts and do what they ask him to do? Do we even stop to realize how good it is that our Leaders have lived through another day? Do we ask God to protect the lives of our Leaders? Do we encourage our Leaders to trust the LORD for victory in battle rather than putting all their trust in the awesome power of our military?
It is a simple thing to know that we should pray for our leaders or even to word a short one sentence prayer for them. What may not be so easy is for us to take the time to follow the biblical example of how we should pray for our leaders and to bless our leaders by calling upon God to hear their prayers, provide for their needs and grant their desires.

A prayer for our Leaders: By Sue Hess:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for our country, our Constitution, and our leaders. I pray for our President and for every elected and appointed official who serves with him.
I pray that You will build a spiritual wall of protection around the marriage and family of every national, state and local official.
I pray that You will rebuke Satan for the deception of his lie that we can be “as gods” in deciding for ourselves what is right or wrong.
O Lord, may our leaders cast down every law, policy and personal example which weakens marriages, families, or Your moral standards.
O Lord, I pray that You would protect and guide the men and women of the armed forces that are fighting in foreign lands to uphold the sanctity of the founding of this country.
I pray that our leaders will understand and follow the principle of Your Word. May they realize that all authority comes from You, not the voters, and that one day they will stand before You to give an account of the power You gave them.
I base this prayer on the promise of Your Word, that if I will humble myself, pray, seek Your face, and turn from my wicked ways, then You will hear from heaven, forgive my sin and heal my land.
In the name and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray.
Amen!


“The Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16






References and related pages:
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?id=88170
http://www.timothyfish.net/Articles/Article.asp?ID=16
http://www.abetterhope.com/prayer/leaders.html
http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/
www.apibs.org/sermons/sglcc980809.htm
www.prayforourleaders.org/
http://www.entourages.com/barbs/howtopray.htm
http://www.prayertower.net/Cal/Primer.htm
http://www.teal.org.uk/ep/pastor.htm