Prayer for Religious Liberty in America

           God Our Father, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us the right and duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ. Through the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society. We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church. and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.  Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that with every trial withstood, and every danger overcome- for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us- this great land will always be " one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

1.)Today, what does it mean for the United States of America to be "under God?" Under His judgment? His blessing? His guidance? Could we possibly delude ourselves any longer into thinking that it means He is "on our side" and that our "democracy" is divinely inspired and sustained? 

2.) Do the moral principles that originally formed the substructure of our American democratic system at its founding have any traction in today's Culture? 

3.) Is our country devolving into a form of totalitarianism? Is the State attempting to absorb the role of the Church in society?