Posted on 10/06/2003 1:24:21 PM PDT by My2Cents
In these days of darkening gloom, swirling events, and political cynicism, there is one weapon of warfare which, sadly, many Christians have neglected in fighting the good fight. It's the weapon of intercession, or prayer.
Over the past 20+ years, with groups such as the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, and their many spinoff organizations, people of faith have been encouraged to vote their convictions. The weapons of our political battles have been, in all honesty, the weapons of the world: mailing lists, money, grassroots organizational abilities, media buys, newsletters, spokespersons on cable news programs, and the like. The one weapon of greatest power has, IMO, been neglected, and it is the weapon of prayer.
In California tomorrow, we have the unique opportunity of throwing out of office perhaps the most corrupt politician in America -- Gray Davis. As front-runner Arnold Schwartzenegger has repeatedly said, Gray Davis knows how to run slimey campaigns, but he doesn't know how to run a state. But this hasn't deterred Davis from his 11th-hour hit upon Schwartzenegger. While the charges against Arnold are serious, his admission and apology last week should have blunted the attacks. But Davis and the Democrats only spewed their slime with greater ferocity over the weekend. Their desire is to introduce such a coersive element into the recall campaign that people will respond with cynicism and either vote "NO" on recall, or derail the frontrunning Republican's chances of winning the "Part B" section of the ballot.
Regardless of what one thinks of Arnold Schwartzenegger, we have an opportunity to crush the "politics of personal destruction" practiced by Davis and the Democrats. It isn't in a last-minute media buy, or in a huge get-out-the-vote effort on Tuesday. It is through prayer -- bringing the resources of God down into the sewer of political dirty tricks, and bringing judgment upon their practitioners.
Today or tonight, please consider praying these verses into the recall election fight in California, and that God would defeat the primary perpetrator of lies, smears, and destructive spin -- Gray Davis. Pray the Scriptures!:
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit….There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, for they are rebellious against You. – Ps. 5:4-6
Do not slay them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be caught in their pride, And on account of curses and lies which hey utter. Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. – Ps. 59:11-13
Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, from the tumult of those who do iniquity, who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow, To shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear. They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, "Who can see them?'' They devise injustices, saying, "We are ready with a well-conceived plot''; For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep. But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded. So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head. Then all men will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done. The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory. – Ps. 64:2-10
How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult? They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; All who do wickedness vaunt themselves. They crush Your people, O LORD, And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger And murder the orphans. They have said, "" The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.''….If the LORD had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence. If I should say, "" My foot has slipped,'' Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up. When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. Can a throne of destruction be allied with You, One which devises mischief by decree? They band themselves together against the life of the righteous And condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD has been my stronghold, And my God the rock of my refuge. He has brought back their wickedness upon them And will destroy them in their evil; The LORD our God will destroy them.– Ps. 94:3-7; 17-23
Had it not been the LORD who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us; Then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our soul; Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. – Ps. 124:2-8
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong. Do good, O LORD, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel. – Ps. 125:3-5
Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. (i.e., don't emulate or imitate your opponents.) For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble. – Prov. 4:14-19
A worthless person, a wicked man, is the one who walks with a false mouth, who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers; Who with perversity in his heart devises evil continually, who spreads strife. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing. – Prov. 6:12-15
One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer. The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men. Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked; For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out. – Prov. 24:8-9, 19-20
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan….The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a man who takes bribes overthrows it….If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked. – Prov. 29:2, 4, 12
Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him; the beginning of his talking is folly, and the end of it is wicked madness. Yet the fool multiplies words. – Eccl. 10:12-14(a)
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The lovingkindness of God endures all day long. Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, Falsehood more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, And uproot you from the land of the living. – Ps. 52:1-5
In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil….Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. – Ps. 56:4-5, 9
Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go around the city. Behold, they belch forth with their mouth; Swords are in their lips, For, they say, "Who hears?'' – Ps. 59:5(b)-7
A wicked messenger falls into adversity, but a faithful envoy brings healing. – Prov. 13:17
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