Lord God its Independence Day
We give you thanks for the men and women
Who fought so this nation would be free
And with life’s blood split
They gave so that we might
Be embraced by freedom
A freedom that allows us to
Worship here today as we wish
We thank you mighty Lord for this!
We think of the soldiers of this land today
In countries far away – fighting
That we might be free.
Lord hold their families in your arms
Be in every maneuver they find themselves in
Place a canopy over them
A symbol of your hand upon their lives
Lord we ask that you be in this nation.
We have lived in the freedom that
Others laid their lives down for.
We thank them but wonder
Do we take the freedoms fought for apathetically
May the freedoms given be cherished again by
This nation
May the people of this Nation
Again walk with the Lord God Almighty
Like there forefathers
Who sought neither fame or fortune
But the higher things of life – FREEDOM
May we like our forefathers
On bended knee want the freedom
For our nation that Jesus Christ
Gave each one of us
And they in turn wanted for our Nation.
God Bless America.
thedailylily.com 
Yes Lord that is our prayer, also. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Ps. 33:12
And I agree in prayer with you, Rena. After reading your prayer poem, the scripture in 2 Chronicles came to mind. (7:14) Read with me: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land”. Now listen to the footnotes, for this verse: “In chapter 6, Solomon asked God to make provisions for the people when they sinned. God answered with four conditions for forgiveness: (1) Humble yourself by admitting your sins, (2) pray to God, asking for forgiveness, (3) seek God continually, and (4) turn from sinful behavior. True repentance is more than talk–it is changed behavior. Whether we sin individually, as a group, or as a nation, following these steps will lead to forgiveness. God will answer our earnest prayers.”
Father, forgive us as individuals and as a nation, help us to be like our “forefathers- on bended knee”, seeking You and turning from our sin. In Jesus Holy name, Amen.
Reading Rena’s poem and what Needles wrote brought this scripture to mind:
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6, 7
Looks like we are given a time frame/window of opportunity to follow the steps and change our behavior that Needles wrote of since we are to seek God while He may be found and while he is near.
In Daniel 9:4-19, Daniel lifts his voice to God iemploying the same steps that Needles has written above from 2Chronicles 7:14. He addresses the great and majestic but justice-minded God of the covenant.
He says, in part (para phrased)..”we have sinned and dealt perversely and done wickedly and have rebelled against You and Your commandments. We have NOT listened to Your prophets, the servants of the living God. You are righteous but we are shamefaced and confusion reigns among Your people and the nations because we have sinned against YOU. You are merciful and full of loving kindness but we have rebelled even against that, taking advantage of Your patience and Your mercy.
Just as it is written in the Law, those who do evil, it will come back upon our own heads and our own people and nation….so has this happened as the Word already warns us that it would. And we see it all around us!!
AND YET….we have NOT cried out as a nation in one accord and begged Your forgiveness and entreated Your favor so that You might grant us repentance and that we would turn from our wicked ways and become wise in Your Truth (which is Jesus Christ the living WORD of GOD)
O Lord, Listen now to the remnant of Your people who are crying out for forgiveness for Your own sake and that of the people You have called as Your own inheritance.
Lord forgive us and lead us by Your Holy Spirit to help us turn away from iniquity and calamity and to bring us back to being a God fearing nation.
Oh Lord God, help us to get rid of our idols.
I wrote a song a while ago that has these sentiments in it according to Acts 17 and Daniel’s prayer.
TURN AWAY
He’s all around you. Can’t you see the lovely works of His breath?
His love surrounds you. Sets you free from the bonds of sin and death
No temple that is in the earth can hold the one and only living God
No cathedral of any worth can contain the universal living LORD
(refrain) Turn away from your idols turn away, turn away
And turn to the only living God. Turn away from Your idols
Turn away ,turn turn away
And turn to the only living God.
He’s the Creator and in Him we live and move and have our being
Not of gold nor silver but alive is our God Who is unseen
Oh, He is a God of love and He came to break the chains apart
And to set the captives free, heal the sick and restore the broken heart
(refrain) mg (c)
HELP US LORD to TURN AWAY from our idols, from our sins and the weights that so easily beset us. Amen
Needles’ footnotes give practical steps to success in prayer. I understand practical steps, I think. Admitting your sins? How many people believe in such a thing? That leaves one in a lonely place. And, Seek God continually…that takes a lot of behavior modification…having to take a closer look at my lifestyle….time I spend alone and with others. Conversations and on and on.
I am not sure about Rena’s prayer poem on the line that our forefathers sought neither fame or fortune. Might have a rhyme to it but not sure I believe it. Not sure they were on their knees anymore than many are today.
I can only think on; ‘God is the same yesterday, today and forever’. He is in our day and I want to seek Him in our time for His time and way for today!
I love the scripture “My times are in Your hands…deliver me from my enemies or ( from the enemy) Psalm 31:15. That says to me that my life span and my comings and goings are in the hands of the Lord, as His child, and that I can yield to His Holy Spirit, IF I WILL, and He will keep me through harm’s way and He will direct my paths.
This came from facebook friends…..
Laurie Perry Vaughen commented on Blue-Smoke Coffee’s photo:
“Here’s a poem I wrote back during the centennial of the Statue of Liberty about the sculptor who created it ..Bartholdi. This was published in the Sequoya Review at UTC…I have only been to see the Statue of Liberty once, when I was 18 and our senior class from Tyner all went to DC and New York. I had never been anywhere outside Chattanooga much and seeing Lady Liberty was a thrill. The Emma Lazarus poem still gives me chills….and this to me is our best icon of America.
I though you all might like the poem in this conversation stream…thanks for listening…
Bartholdi’s Gift
On the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty
In France, the late 1800s,
a young girl with a torch,
or maybe a girl with a a stub of wax candle
dripping on pale hands, wandered
into a revolution.
About to sing a clear carol
to the evening sky, she was stopped
by gunfire. You watched her fall.
You watched from a nearby window,
your eyes tired from sketching
and burning from granite dust
chiseled from the feminine forms
you spent lonely evenings entertaining.
Was the scene your own shop light
shining on the wet glassy streets
of France? Was it loneliness
that sent you searching for a woman
to pose, to be that brave girl
you began supporting, offering her
a steel skeleton
as graceful as the Eiffel Tower?
How many women did you consider
before you chose Jeanne-Emilie,
the one who stood long hours
in a loose robe, trying to please you?
Her smile too seductive to be a martyr’s
so that the face you formed
was actually your mother’s, her strong
cheekbones more appropriate, or so
you thought.
Did she ever suspect you denied the world
her sad sensitive eyes
for the stoic?
I was just a girl myself when I first visited
New York Harbor,
Bedloe’s Island. I climbed with hundreds
of other people up spiralled steps
inside her copper skin: parasites,
tourists,
living off someone else’s dream
of freedom, not willing
to chisel our own faces
in the American sky.
Leaving, I turned and looked back
and I must have snapped
two rolls of film from the boat: Her image
thick and green but growing smaller
in every angled frame.
Today the banks are selling statues,
hollow milk chocolate in red, white, and blue
boxes. Each citizen can help
keep the torch lit,
as candy melts like wax in our mouths,
like easy words: Our gift
to other countries.
Today, immigrant workers cling
to the flanks of Miss Liberty,
still single,
homesick for France.
– Laurie Perry Vaughen (c)
This is an moving poem that paints an insightful portrait of the human heart and another perspective on freedom…its symbols, its reality. Thanks for sharing.
Laurie, your poetic prose gave me confirming chills as I read through your vivd descriptions and insights of your trip and then I remembered my sentimental journey to Ellis Island where my mother and brothers and I searched the ebony walls for our family name with MS LIBERTY in view. Yes, it conjures up some emotions and lumps in the throat.
Thank you for your excellent presentation and a trip down memory lane but furthermore, providing us a new and different outlook.