I was Planning to Write about Community Prayer....

I was planning to post about the different events that marked the August 6 Texas Day of Prayer and Fasting proclaimed by Governor Rick Perry. While protesters against 'The Response' earned pretty much all the New Greek Chorus coverage, it was not in any way the only event supporting Christian solemn prayer for the day.

I thought I'd follow up on not only the number of attendees in Houston, but also the streaming connections, about how we first joined others locally in our coliseum for silent public repentance and prayer in a come-and-go event that continued all day (and that did not stream the Houston service, so is not counted in any official lists), how we then streamed The Response from home and together made intentional prayers for the rest of the day, how churches in other towns opened their doors for people to participate together.

I thought I would write about how all of these somber displays of faith and obedience to Jesus our Lord were made by individual people of sincere good will, who humbled ourselves to ask God's forgiveness for OUR OWN sins.

Humble, individual people of all backgrounds and walks of life, all of sincere good will, who lovingly asked God's help in hard times for our children seeking work, for our poor parched land, our cattle and fruit trees, for young and old struggling with uncertainty and financial insecurity, for our President and his family and government leaders without regard to politics or position.

Compassionate individual people of all ages and nations, of all backgrounds and walks of life, all of sincere good will, who courageously stood in public and confessed our full faith in God our Father, in the Holy Spirit the Comforter, and despite the ridicule we might face as a result, called upon our Savior Jesus Christ by name.

Grateful individual people of all ages and nations, of all backgrounds and walks of life, all of sincere good will, who were heartened and cheered in these troubled times to come together and pour out our hearts to Jesus.

I was planning to write about the graceful confidence such a designated day of focused and public prayer gave us all. About the strength we drew from constant intercession to go foward with renewed hope.

I was planning to write about the beauty of holiness that covered the day.

I was planning to write about these things and some other things, to help counter some of the misunderstanding, but then I remembered that scripture talks about this: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16: "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

And I remembered what Jesus said in Matthew 11:25: "At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

So, let this just be here to say thank you to all those who prayed along with us yesterday. Not in any way especially, but most certainly including, Governor Perry, who got the ball rolling for it. May God bless you all.