Editor’s Note: The follow is a prayer presented by Kenda Bartlett, Concerned Women for America’s Executive Director, in the United States Capitol building for the Washington: A Man of Prayer event on May 8, 2013. To watch CBN’s coverage of this special Congressional event, click here.   

Our Heavenly Father,

With humble heart we thank you for our country, for our Constitution based on the blueprints provided to us in your Scriptures, for our strong military, and for our political representatives.

Too often, Lord, we elect our leaders and then we neglect them. But You call on us to pray for our national leaders. For Paul, inspired by You, in I Timothy 2:1-4, tells us, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.”

Our national leaders need prayer. Because no matter what side of the political aisle they might align themselves, our representatives alone are incapable of settling conflict on a world stage, preventing the deterioration of the family, saving the lives of the innocent unborn, turning around a downturned economy, providing jobs for the unemployed, being a comforter to the grieving who have lost loved ones in recent national atrocities and tragedies. Lord, only with Your help can those in authority accomplish these things. May they never forget that.

The presidency of the United States is one of the most difficult and important jobs on earth. So we take time to pray specifically for President Barack Obama. Please give President Obama the wisdom he needs to confront the complex daily challenges within domestic and foreign political affairs. Please grant him endurance to manage the daily pressures within his executive duties. But above all, we pray that President Obama may know You in an intimate way. And in every responsibility, we pray that he will make decisions that are pleasing in the eyes of You, and not the eyes of men.

We pray for the first family. We pray that the physical demands of long hours and extensive travel do not put a strain on his family, but instead strengthen the Obamas’ love, commitment, and support of one another. Bless each member of his household. For the president’s wife, first lady Michelle Obama, we pray that You would build a wall of protection around their marriage. May their strong marriage help them to recognize the sacredness of marriage as You defined it. We ask that You bless the president and first lady’s family. Please give them wisdom and guidance as they raise their two young daughters, Malia and Sasha, and protect the Obama family from hostile threats.

We pray also that you would surround President Obama with Godly counsel. So also for each of President Obama’s cabinet. Lord, for each one of these cabinet members, we ask that you strengthen them through Your Word and grant them the wisdom to cast down every law, policy, and personal example which weakens marriage, families, the sanctity of human life, and Your moral code.

As our nine Supreme Court Justices make complex decisions on laws that impact the entire nation, we pray that You give them wisdom and courage to uphold our Constitution, which establishes a republic based on Your absolute laws and not a nation based on the changing opinions of man’s own reasoning. For Isaiah reminds us that, “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.”  May they realize that all authority comes from You and understand that one day they will stand before You to give an account of the authority You have given to them.

For our local and state leaders, God, we ask that you grant them wisdom, discernment, and hearts that are open to Your leading.

We lift up leaders in the United States House of Representatives, in the Senate, and in the military. We know you have chosen these leaders for such a time as this. We pray that our government houses profess your authority and acknowledge Your will, so that every citizen, every leader, and every country knows that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Not only do we pray for our national leaders in authority, but we pray for those Christ followers who work on staff in the Obama Administration. Please embolden every Christian working in the White House, clerking in the Supreme Court, or providing staff support to every government agency and member of Congress. Please provide them opportunities on a daily basis to act as a witness for Your Truths. Lift the veils on every non-believer around them, so that they might recognize their need for Your goodness, mercy, and saving grace. Please do not let the devil get a foothold in these men and women’s lives. Prune every believer of everything that does not align with Your absolute truths. As they represent You, may they be blessed with favor from their superiors, dignity, courage, and strength.

Father, may You continue to be glorified in the our Capitol, 50 states, and world throughout the ages. In the name and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

How can Senate Democrats blatantly snub women this way?

A Senate resolution to honor Lady Margaret Thatcher was supposed to be passed Wednesday night. Nevertheless, per a Senate source, the resolution fell subject to partisan politics. It’s no secret in Washington, D.C., that both sides hold different measures to antagonize the other side. But it’s petty and disgraceful to use a measure like this for political gain. Not only did Margaret Thatcher make the history books for being appointed prime minister of Great Britain, she also helped the United States wipe out communism.

We aren’t talking about some one-trick pony like Sandra Fluke. We’re talking about a foreign leader who held one of the most powerful offices in the world — a leader who conquered overwhelming odds.

Despite one’s political leanings, you can’t dispute the accomplishments of Margaret Thatcher. In only highlighting one of her accomplishments — being the first and only female prime minister of Britain to this day — those of others seem dismal by comparison. So why, then, do Senate Democrats seek to degrade her by blocking a resolution honoring her achievements (achievements, I might add, that have done more for women’s rights then any left-leaning feminist)?

Where’s the cry of “foul”? Where are the Senate’s progressive women, and why are they not standing up for such a remarkable female who made feminine history?  Oh, that’s right; she was conservative, so they’re silent. Talk about pushing women’s rights back!

A woman such as Lady Thatcher deserves respect and honor for her great achievements. Instead, her legacy is mocked and blocked by hypocritical sycophants. I leave you with Lady Thatcher’s own words “If they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”

Wife and warrior Naghmeh Abidini testified at a Congressional hearing last Friday to raise national awareness for her husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini, and to urge the State Department and President Obama’s Administration to take long-overdue action. Saeed is an Iranian-born U.S. citizen who was arrested in Iran last July and imprisoned in the notoriously brutal Evin prison.  The Islamic Regime of Iran claims that Pastor Saeed is a national security threat, and yet, even they have stated that the real reason for his imprisonment is his Christian faith.  Saeed converted from Islam to Christianity in 2000 and subsequently started an underground church movement.  He and his wife have been living in America as U.S. citizens and have traveled back to Iran many times.  This past July, Saeed made another trip to Iran in order to gain final approval for the orphanage he is building.  This project had the full approval of the Iranian government, and he has complied with all of their past demands with regards to his activities in the country.  However, he was arrested in July 2012 and, at the beginning of this year, he was sentenced to eight years in Evin prison.

The U.S. State Department and the Obama Administration have been glaringly absent in this case.  In fact, they have done more in the past for non-U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran than they have been willing to do on behalf of Pastor Saeed.  They were notified about the hearing, but their response was that they had no one available to attend. Quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer during the hearing, Naghmeh said, “Silence in the face of evil, in itself is evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak; not to act is to act.”  The State Department’s shameful lack of acknowledgement of this issue, especially their refusal to send a representative to the hearing, is absolutely appalling.  Congress has acted on this issue, but it is the State Department and the Obama Administration’s responsibility to lead this case and demand Saeed’s release.  While White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has made mild comments in response to media questioning on this issue, President Obama has remained entirely silent. Likewise, the only comments that have been made by the State Department have been in response to questions from the media or from Members of Congress.

During the recent U.N. meetings, the E.U. spoke out specifically on behalf of Pastor Saeed, and yet, when it came time for the U.S. delegation to speak, they made no mention of his name.  “Imagine you’re a U.S. citizen detained for your faith abroad, and the E.U. is speaking out, but your own country is remaining silent,” said Jordan Sekulow, attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and Nagmeh’s legal counsel.

However, thanks to the tireless efforts of Naghmeh, the relentless work of the ACLJ, the extensive and regular coverage by Fox News, the over 100 Congressmen who signed a letter to the State Department, especially the specific leadership of Congressman Trent Franks (R-Arizona) on the Hill with this issue, Congressman Frank Wolf’s (R-Virginia) leading of the Congressional hearing, and the 538,000 Americans who have signed the petition and called their representatives, a State Department representative did finally agree to meet with Naghmeh to discuss her husband’s imprisonment and torture.

Congress has done what it needs to do. Americans are doing their part, as the petition for Saeed’s release increases by about 15,000 signatures a day; it is now at nearly 600,000.   Many public figures, including several Christian recording artists and politicians, have spread the news about this issue to their audiences. Now is the time for the State Department and the Obama Administration to get their act in gear or face the growing outrage of the rapidly increasing number of Americans who are following this case.  Naghmeh and her ACLJ attorney, Jordan Sekulow, appeared on Fox News this morning setting this Friday as a deadline for the State Department to make a clear statement demanding Saeed Abedini’s release.

Please join CWA and continue to pray for the immediate release of Pastor Saeed Abidini. If you were not able to watch the Congressional hearing and Naghmeh’s moving testimony, you can watch it here.

Chelsen Vicari, CWA’s Communications Strategist, contributed to this article.

Have no fear, the federal government is here! Wait… that isn’t right.

I’m no damsel in distress, and neither are you. The days of a masked hero helping those in need are, so it seems, nonexistent. But that is exactly what’s unfolding before our very eyes.

The government wants to tell “we the people” how to live. Citizens, if you think politics won’t directly affect you, think again.  New York City’s mayor decided to ban sugary drink sizes to 16 ounces, putting a limit on buying soda in order to thin out an obese New York populace.  Michelle “The Lunch Lady” Obama has implemented an Orwellian lunch program to regulate what American children can and cannot eat, and health (for the mother, not for the abortion-targeted baby) mandates are being shoved down citizens’ throats despite how deeply they offend citizens’ religious convictions.

And it doesn’t stop there.  As if forcing you to pay for abortions weren’t enough, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius blatantly ignored — and arrogantly violated — federal law by using her Cabinet position to tell Americans to vote for President Obama.

Where are the outraged media elites?  Where’s the lone, masked hero who fights against those who abuse their power?  As you’ve heard, time and time again, this election is one of the most important elections of our life time.  We cannot allow our government to keep implementing laws that go against “we the people.”

Americans, listen up!  If you want a government that will cater to your every need, you’re living in the wrong country.  This country — the one built on freedom and liberty, bought by the blood and sweat of our ancestors, and lusted after by the rest of the world — is not a country of equal handouts, but of equal opportunity to work hard to achieve our ambitions.  Yet, that is not what we are seeing.  Instead, we have an administration that has implemented more federal control over American citizens’ everyday lives, and what are Americans doing about it?  Nothing!

It’s the American citizens’ choice, but I urge you to take a good, hard look.  It’s time to bring our country back to its founding.  Ben Franklin once said, “It is a republic, if we can keep it.”  So, I ask, can we?

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is doing what it takes to keep our government accountable to the taxpayers.  CWA’s She Votes 2012 project is working to make sure Americans are registered to vote in this extremely important election.  Are you ready?  Are you registered?  With voter registration ending on October 8 in most states, now is not the time to idly wonder.  Click here now to see if you’re registered. … And if you aren’t, stay on the site and do something about it.

When I observe the increasingly secular political and cultural climate in America, I can easily assume that we’re doomed.  I watch the sad pattern of disobedience and decline playing out all over again.  When I look at history, I see that most empires eventually fall apart.  From Egypt to Rome to Israel, a tragic flaw does the kingdom in.

The common denominator? These empires rebelled against God’s commands.

Yet, a surprising section of Scripture offers me a glimmer of hope.  Reading in 2Chronicles, I witness how a Godly few — concerned men and women — can radically change a nation.  This somewhat obscure book of the Bible recounts the story of Judah’s rulers descended from King David.  The kings we hear about are a mixed lot.  Many are extremely evil — but not all of them.

What’s puzzled me as I’ve read is why good kings were inspired to follow the Lord after a generation or more of unrestrained immorality and disobedience.  Ungodly, immoral kings somehow managed to put sons on the throne who charismatically followed the Lord.

King Joash is one early example of just such Godly leadership.  Beginning in 2 Chronicles 22, the story unfolds of how Joash’s sinful grandmother, Athalia, killed the entire royal family except for him.  In hiding for seven years, he lived with the priests in the temple until Athalia was overthrown.  We learn that Jahoiada, the priest, and others faithful to the Lord protected Joash and raised him according to Biblical Truth.  The results? Throughout Jahoiada’s life, Joash remained a Godly king.

We see a similar story played out later on, when Josiah became king at age eight.  His father Amon and grandfather Manasseh were both among the most evil kings in either Israel or Judah. However, because of Godly people like the priest Hilkiah in his life, Josiah proved an exceptionally wise and Godly king.

In the lives of both Joash and Josiah, a small remnant faithful to the Lord helped point the entire nation in the right direction.  By working quietly behind the scenes for years, they ultimately made a huge difference in the running of their country.  Even though we don’t hear about them, I suspect similarly dedicated groups of people kept God’s law alive in hard times throughout Judah and Israel’s history.

Although the moral unwinding of America seems inevitable to me somtimes, the narratives in 2 Chronicles uncover a positive reality.  Even when people who believe in the Truth aren’t in power or don’t make up the majority of voters, we can still have a constructive influence on history.

By reaching the Joashes and Josiahs in our lives through prayer, persistence, and patience, we too can work behind the scenes to point our nation toward renewal.  It’s not glamorous, but I know my perspective has changed based on this truth.  I see that my individual contribution — and those of others like me — can make a lasting difference.

Want to start up a small business? At the federal, state, and local levels of government, you'll be responsible for 43 forms each year, some of which have extremely expensive penalties attached if you are late.

In the 1930s, Ruth Briscoe, a young woman from a poor minister’s family, was trying desperately to become a teacher.  Struggling like everyone else, simply buying food was a hardship.  In the midst of the Great Depression, Ruth could not find anyone to hire her.  But instead of relying on the government, Ruth relied on her creativity and sheer determination to earn money.  She created her own job by going door to door, selling fruit and candy she made in her humble kitchen.  Ruth’s home venture was so successful that the profits she made were enough to help her through that dark period in America’s history. 

Recently, President Obama appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss our nation’s current and extraordinarily deep recession with unemployment rates at nine percent and, really, 17 percent when counting all the people who are no longer looking for jobs or working part-time, and he used the opportunity to blame Republicans in Congress for blocking his policy efforts and stifling job growth.

One wonders why more people don’t take a cue from Ruth Briscoe’s entrepreneurial spirit and start their own business, thus, creating their own job?  Clearly, the growth of small businesses is the key to getting out of this fiscal mess. But things are different now. 

In reality, small business creation is now plagued by government regulation costs and increased taxes at every level of government, lending truth to the popular maxim, “It takes money to make money.”  Yet, for many Americans on a shoe-string budget, overbearing government interference limits their economic freedom to innovate and develop jobs.

Today, if Ruth wanted to start up her small business in my town, she would be responsible for 43 forms each year at the federal, state, and local levels of government.  Some of those forms have extremely expensive penalties attached if you are late.  Some areas of the country are even more burdensome.  And this doesn’t take into consideration all the other regulations she would incur.  God forbid if she doesn’t have a commercial kitchen in which to make that candy. 

Thanks to overregulation by state health departments, it’s virtually impossible to start up home businesses that revolve around homemade goods.  Now, I get that there are a lot of people out there who don’t share my sanitary cooking practices and the protection of public health is appropriate, but the amount of nightmarish regulations the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have created are overwhelming.

To legally run her home-based business today, Ruth would need to install a brand new kitchen in her home, complete with separate stainless steel sinks, counters, and expensive oven exhaust hoods.  Then Ruth would need to be sure her neighborhood is within local commercial zoning limits before she could even think about selling her goods.

The total cost of government regulations is reportedly $1.75 trillion each year with new rules and costs appearing every day.  It’s little wonder so many Americans who are trying to keep their small businesses afloat hire illegal immigrants in order to sidestep all the regulatory red tape.

Americans realize there must be an overhaul in government regulation, tax, and spending reform before citizens have the ability to create their own jobs and success like Ruth Briscoe did.  A new poll by the Polling Company, on behalf of Concerned Women for America (CWA), was conducted of Republican caucus voters.  It reveals that 94 percent of Iowa voters, 89 percent of New Hampshire voters, and 87 percent of voters in South Carolina agree that our burdensome government is stifling economic opportunities and employment solutions for Americans.

The government needs to butt out of private business.  In the end, it will not be heightened government rules that recover the nation; it will be the ingenuity, drive, and freedom of everyday men and women to take risks that will ultimately end this dim economic period and continue the legacy of American prosperity and success for future generations. 

Ruth Briscoe lived to be a wonderful teacher, wife, and mother to three children, including my husband’s mother.  Thank God she had that American “can do” spirit that she passed on to her children and grandchildren.

Good news!  Obama isn’t out to kill grandma after all.  He’s just threatening to hold up her social security check. … which would mean she can’t buy groceries. … which means she’d go hungry. … and grow weak. … and … and … OH MY WORD!!  Obama is trying to kill grandma — again!!!

[Insert collective sigh here.]  Seriously?  Obama is threatening to hold up seniors’ August retirement checks?  What a piece of work.  That he’s seriously going to give grandma the shake down (or at least shake her up) in order to try and force the GOP to go his way on the budget is sad, indeed, especially when one of the ways he can save money is by cutting his pet project, Planned Parenthood. 

But let’s be honest, grandma’s a better target.  She’s the classic sympathy picture — old, living on a fixed income, and needing our help.  She’s dependent on us, and if we don’t come to her aid, she’ll die.  The president’s just in an awful predicament.  Naturally, he doesn’t want to do it.  No.  Not at all.  It’s not his fault.  It’s the big, bad GOP that wants to cut and cap spending and balance the budget.  Darn those Republicans. 

And it’s not like the president can cut funding for abortions or anything.  I mean, why rile up the feminists?  Mercy no.  We’re not that far gone yet.  Better to target grandma, for pity’s sake.  The young, virile, liberal-headed, Obama-voting college sweethearts need access to abortion more than Republican-leaning seniors need food anyway, right? 

Hope and change: In with the new.  Out with the old folks.  Shame on you, Mr. President!

Bionics? Nope. Just good common sense and a calculator.

Washington and the nation are abuzz over Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisconsin) plan addressing the fiscal crisis and promising to cut $4.4 trillion in a decade.  The Democrats and President Obama have talked and talked about the crisis, offered to cut “millions of dollars” (a miniscule amount compared to the debt and deficit) and their “solutions” have only made the situation worse.  Now a crisis of Armageddon proportions looms just around the corner.  The nation needs someone to take the risk of providing leadership, and Congressman Ryan is stepping up to the challenge. 

For years, politicians have paid lip service to the fact that something needs to be done — that something has to be done to preempt the crisis.  The President and Congress bloviated about cutting spending, but the most it ever translated to was just slightly trimming the proposed increases being touted as absolutely essential; nobody was ever willing to actually cut the level of out-of-control spending and certainly not come close to touching entitlements.

Congressman Ryan’s plan wondrously changes the debate in profound ways.  The most obvious new aspect of the debate is that the amount of proposed cuts has jumped from a head-fake of mere millions in cuts to an amount in the trillions with the heft to make a real difference.  Ryan’s formal proposal — a budget resolution for 2012 — reduces the deficit by $4.4 trillion in a decade and cuts spending by more than $6 trillion.  The Ryan plan would cut federal spending to 20 percent of the GDP by 2015.  Even with such drastic budget reductions, the federal budget would not be balanced until 2030.

While his critics wail about draconian cuts — they are large, but only because they return us to the level of spending before Obama took office (hardly a conservative level) and drove spending through the roof — Concerned Women for America (CWA) believes that the crisis can be averted only by reigning in the bloated federal government.  We think that the American people are ready to trust politicians who will be honest with them and talk about the situation in realistic terms about what it is going to take for us to avoid complete financial ruin.  We also believe that our elected officials should be willing to do something, rather than burden our children and grandchildren with a mountain of debt and destroy the financial future of the nation. 

CWA applauds Congressman Ryan’s efforts as a firm step in the right direction.  As the Congressman noted, “This is not a budget, this is a cause.”  That cause is to get America to confront the fiscal threat facing the nation before it is too late and motivate Congress to act on ways to get the nation back on a secure financial foundation.

March is Women’s History Month, and pro-life congresswomen took to the floor of the House to echo the warnings of the early feminists — that abortion damages women.  How right they were.  These quick clips of the congresswomen’s speeches highlight why many women today reject abortion:

Rep. Jean Schmidt Excerpt

Rep. Renee Ellmers Excerpt

Rep. Virginia Foxx Excerpt

The latest Rasmussen poll indicates it is not 1995 all over again and that this time around a solid majority, 58 percent of the American public, prefers a government shutdown over continued business as usual.  Voters are demanding that Congress to do something about the fiscal crisis by cutting the budget, ending out-of-control spending, and reducing the nation’s mountain of debt — even if it means shutting down the government to force the President and Congressional Democrats to “get it” and get on with the business of scaling back government.

• How is it that the average American understands that record spending is unsustainable, but the Democrats do not understand?
• How can business leaders and economists warn against government overspending and speak out vehemently about the current threats and inevitable crisis without the President and the Democrats in Congress hearing their message?
• How can the experts point out that the fiscal crisis is hurting private sector job growth without the President and Democrats facing up to the fact that the stimulus didn’t work and unemployment must be addressed?
• How can millions of Americans lose their jobs and millions lose their homes without the President and the Democrats understanding that they are destroying middle-class America?
• How can the voters in 2010 have sent such a loud and clear message that they will no longer put up with reckless spending without that message being heard on Capitol Hill and in the White House?

This needs to be the year when the federal budget is smaller, not just frozen at last year’s bloated level.  This needs to be the year when last year’s outrageous level of spending gets deflated.  This needs to be year when we stop making larger and larger additions to the national debt and roll back the tide of red ink that gushes and sloshes through the budget projections.  This MUST be the year when we soundly reject the foolish notion that it is okay to spend more money than we have.

As Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said, “When you add it all up, the [national debt] numbers are staggering.”

As House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, “We’re broke!”

And just as Maggie Thatcher warned about socialism: We’ve reached the point where we’ve “run out of other people’s money.”