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.”

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.

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.”

Though not meant as an “official” response to the State of the Union, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann’s (R-Minnesota) address to the Tea Party following President Obama’s speech turned out to be exactly that.  Where the president spoke in generalities and used ceremonial, presidential-sounding rhetoric to sell his big government programs, Rep. Bachmann laid out the reality in rather stark terms.  She showed graphs dramatically illustrating the vast expansion of government spending and debt, as well as the contrast between the low levels of unemployment during the Bush years and the high levels during the Obama years.

Mrs. Bachmann’s remarks stood out for providing very solid suggestions for fixing the economy.  She advocated stopping the cap and trade system, support for a balanced budget amendment, reducing dependence on foreign oil, turning back 132 Obama regulations that cost more than $100 million, repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with free market solutions, reducing tax and regulatory burdens on job creators, and reducing the corporate tax rate.

Bachmann ended with a soaring peroration about the miracle of America, the greatness of our country, and the liberty that is the foundation of our government.  Of course, a major aspect of the power of Bachmann’s speech was the integrity of the ideas and the consistency with which Congresswoman Bachmann and the Tea Party Movement have held those ideas and embodied them in recommended legislation.

One of them is Reagan. The other one would like to be.

After the “shellacking,” what will President Obama have to say about the State of our Union?  He gives his annual report tonight.

President Reagan made Americans feel proud of our country.  President Obama makes Americans feel obliged to defend our country (from him).  In his inauguration speech, his stated vision was to “remake America.”  Since then, we’ve gotten a glimpse of what he wants to make us into — and Americans rejected his view of America this last election.

While his messaging since then gives the appearance that he gets what Americans want, his policies and agenda have yet to change.  People are more savvy now and won’t be fooled by a cloak of rhetoric that covers the old agenda of big-government-by-regulation, disrespecting American Exceptionalism, promoting sexual identity politics, or empty words about “reducing abortion.”

President Obama will face a new Congress and public, both who are extremely sensitive to Constitutional limits and fearful of government spending.  Americans are unified, and ready for politicians to cut spending, reduce government, and quit vilifying political opponents — three items, by the way, of which the opposite mark President Obama’s career and his last State of the Union, when he pushed ObamaCare and unfairly criticized the Supreme Court justices sitting in front of him.

President Obama has an advantage this year in that it is no secret what Americans want and what the majority in Congress recognize is their mandate.  But like Reagan, his audience will not trust without verifying.

President Obama will have to prove through his actions that he will reduce government spending, promote and defend America to the outside world, stop funding abortion, and respect the Constitution and our religious heritage.

I attended a large reception for new pro-life members of Congress and their spouses on Monday night.  It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm for their new positions and their desire to change the world for the better.  As CEO of the largest public policy women’s group in the nation that helped to support these candidates, I cannot wait to work with them to pass life-affirming legislation.

They remind me of another group of freshman coming into Congress ready to shrink government at any cost and to fight for morality and American values.  I worry about these men and women, many of whom have young families.  Although I don’t always get to say this, I have to admit that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough was 100 percent right in Politico on November 16.  I met Joe years ago when he came to Washington as a member of the House in the 1994 Republican revolution.  He experienced first-hand many of the same challenges this folks will face.  Joe’s admonition to them to “Protect Your Family” is spot on!

It is so cliché — but true! — that families are often broken under the strain of the demands of Congress.  It may be tempting for the members to bow to political pressure to leave their families back in the state so they can “stay in touch with the district,” but it is downright foolish.  The impact of living a life as a new congressman without his family in Washington, D.C., can be devastating.  It is crucial to have the support of one’s spouse and family while attempting to change the nation for the better and dealing with all of the political pressure that comes with the position. 

There is no better watchdog group than wives and children.  Wives expect to know where their husbands have been and who they are with most of the time.  Children don’t read their parent’s press releases.  They just want their dad to pitch them a ball or their mom to  help with homework.  Wives don’t care how brilliant their husband’s salient points were in today’s floor debate.  They are going to say, “Pick up your socks, and grab a gallon of milk on the way home.”  Now that’s staying in touch with real America!

Newly elected congressmen and senators should leave all the political posturing behind and make sure to keep their families together during this important transitional time.  Joe is right.  To paraphrase a Biblical teaching, what does it prosper a man to gain the whole world but lose his family?  My prayer is for both the new members, their spouses, and their children to remain close and remember why they came to Washington.

Liberals are the self-proclaimed champions of social justice and redistribution of wealth in the name of fairness and equality.  But is their ideology consistent with their lifestyle?

Last September, Roll Call released a list of the 50 richest members of Congress.  Lo and behold, the top ten members on the list were all liberals!  In fact, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) tops the list.  How could this be?  The advocates of the working class?  I don’t think so.

Conservatives are lambasted as being the rich and entitled and are guilted into describing themselves as “compassionate” conservatives just to emphasize the fact that they are not out of touch with the middle and lower classes.

There is obviously a mischaracterization of conservatives and what motivates the policies they promote.  For instance, conservatives don’t advocate free health care for all.  However, the reasoning behind that doesn’t come from a desire to withhold care from those who need it, but from a desire to avoid low quality of care and rationing of care for all.  And these things are inevitable with “free” health care — in fact, they’re a couple of the “hidden costs.”  We’ve already seen evidence of this in the health care systems of Canada and Great Britain.

True conservatives also oppose the welfare system, but not out of a lack of compassion for the underprivileged.  Rather, they are driven to compel people to work hard and reap the financial benefits of that work.  This is the philosophy on which our capitalist society was built.  To promote a society that encourages dependence on the government for income undermines capitalism and demeans the individual.

Liberals consistently paint an image of their congressional opponents as elitist, wealthy, upper-class citizens who are unable to relate to the common American.  It’s sadly ironic to find out that the very members who point fingers at the right wing and characterize them as “entitled” and “out of touch with the American people” are actually the wealthiest and most elite legislators in town.  You will not find a true conservative complaining about anyone’s wealth or saying that someone does not deserve to be as wealthy as they are — or that they’ve probably earned enough.  

Seems to me the liberals paint a false image of themselves while promoting a big government agenda under the guise of helping the average American.  But are they really in touch with the American people?  I think it’s entirely unfair that they would lie in order to hijack issues like social justice and health care, because it looks to me as if they have a lot less in common with the average American than they’d like you to think.

Various papers and opinions that Elena Kagan wrote in the past are now surfacing and they shed light on her liberal social views.  That’s alarming to us at Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee.

I’ve just released the following statement on those papers and opinions, and I thought you might like to read it:

“As we suspected, President Obama nominated a far left liberal who supports both abortion and ‘gay marriage.’ Besides her disdain for the military and choosing to adhere to her own views rather than the Constitution and what is best for the security of our country, Elena Kagan has also demonstrated her distain for the unborn, the most vulnerable in our society.

“We believe Americans want a justice who will uphold the rule of law regardless of their personal views or leanings, especially the basic freedom of the right to life and the value of traditional marriage. We urge the Senate to oppose the nomination of Elena Kagan.”