Capital Prayer Alert -- 1/28/24

As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary

The page has turned to a new year. The Christmas decorations are down and put away for next season. Here in suburban Washington, the first snows of winter have come and gone.

The cold snap that gripped the country resulted in two rounds of snow. It was a beautiful and peaceful sight to behold. But it soon melted and dissolved into an ugly slush. Now the uncertainties of the year ahead are beginning to take center stage.

I suspect you can relate. The post-Christmas weeks are eerily quiet after the rush of holiday activities, family events and travel. January always seems like a month to take stock, reflect and pray for the year and decisions ahead.

This year, sprinkled in with all this reflection, is a foreboding sense of unease. In general, people seem anxious, unsure of the future for the country and the impact of that uncertainty on their family and everyday life as they know it.

Yes, everyone can point to specifics - across the board inflation, an open border, problematic schools that have lost their way, too much social media influence on our kids, and a growing lack of confidence in the country’s future. You could probably add to this list from the challenges facing your own family. It is all too easy to become mired in anxiety.

As we start a new year together, let us instead pledge that the months ahead will be marked by prayer and thanksgiving and supplication. May we not lose sight of the extraordinary gift of being born in this country with all the rights and benefits that entails.

Together, let’s pledge that we will not take this for granted and instead see the opportunities before us to thank and praise the Lord.

Heavenly Father, these are days of personal reflection and worry for our country, its direction and the impact of the country’s future on those we love. So much of what we are experiencing makes us feel like things are out of control.

Walk alongside us and whisper to us that You know all we are experiencing and feeling and that You are right there with us. Let us be open to the balm you offer each of us just where we are. And prompt us to not only know you are right there with us, but to seek Your guidance and be open to following Your lead in our lives.

Bring us peace amidst the storms in our personal lives and the life of our country. Remind us that You are The God of All Comfort in each of life’s seasons.

As we take stock of our faith life and seek to strengthen our bonds with the Lord, I pray we will also be spurred on to make changes in our daily lives that will diminish feelings of helplessness. It is easy to say, “One person cannot have an impact, the problems are too big.”

And yet, if each of us was open to calm conversations, encouraging an unregistered friend or neighbor to register to vote, spearheading a voter registration table at our churches or any number of similar actions they could, together, change the trajectory of the country.

Recently, Washington was the magnet for an estimated 100,000 March for Life attendees on a bitter, cold January day. There were so many young faces! The next generation was happily supporting a precious cause with a clear voice and homemade signs. To see them in action was incredibly uplifting.

Their commitment was proof positive that there are many young people among us living the right values and willing to become activists to make a difference in the world they will inherit.

Dear Lord, take our hand and lead us away from a sense of feeling helpless. Plant in our minds the seeds of encouragement, purpose and initiative. Surround us with others of like mind that we may build up one another as Your word tells us (Thessalonians 5:11).

Prompt us to be strong and courageous and keep our eyes on You as we labor in the vineyards this side of heaven. Show us how to be happy warriors standing for You in a challenging culture. Amen.