How Do You Leave God out of Prayer?

First, the good news. President Joe Biden recognized the National Day of Prayer last week.

Article by Jerry Newcombe from WND.

Now, the bad news. Although he marked the day with a written proclamation, as all presidents have done for decades, the reportedly “devout” Catholic left God out of his pronouncement.

How do you do that if you’re sincerely emphasizing the value of prayer?

Lifenews.com summed up the president’s proclamation: “Joe Biden Mentions Racial Justice, Climate Change in ‘National Day of Prayer’ Message. But Not God.”

States Biden’s proclamation: “As we continue to confront the crises and challenges of our time – from a deadly pandemic, to the loss of lives and livelihoods in its wake, to a reckoning on racial justice, to the existential threat of climate change – Americans of faith can call upon the power of prayer to provide hope and uplift us for the work ahead. … Throughout our history, Americans of many religions and belief systems have turned to prayer for strength, hope, and guidance.”

In our highly secular age, it’s almost not surprising to see God or Jesus left out of a supposedly prayer-centered statement. In a dissenting opinion to a church-state case in 1984, Lynch v. Donnelly, the Supreme Court referred to the phenomenon of “ceremonial deism.” This implies references to God that “have lost through rote repetition any significant religious content.”

But it wasn’t always like this in America. One man noted that despite the difficulties we as Americans faced in our divided nation, we must fervently thank the Almighty for all His blessings to us.

He wrote, “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come … They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

Those words were written by our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln on Oct. 3, 1863, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation. Despite the devastation of the Civil War, he could still find cause to thank God and ask for His help.

Another American prayed that the nation would come to imitate the Savior, that is, Jesus, so that we might become a happy nation.

He wrote, “I now make it my earnest prayer, that God … would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do Justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves, with that Charity, humility & pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion & without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.”

That was George Washington. The father of our country wrote this in a famous letter called “the Circular to the States.” He wrote it in June 1783, after – -by God’s Providence – -we had successfully won our independence from Great Britain a year and a half earlier at Yorktown.

Another man in American leadership asked that the Lord would guide our nation and help us work through our myriad problems.

As he officially proclaimed a day of prayer, he penned, “On that day I ask all who believe to join with me in giving thanks to Almighty God for the blessings He has bestowed on this land and the protection He affords us as a people. Let us as a Nation join together before God, fully aware of the trials that lie ahead and the need, yes, the necessity, for divine guidance. With unshakeable faith in God and the liberty which is heritage, we as a free Nation will surely survive and prosper.” This was Ronald Reagan, 40th president, on March 19, 1981.

He proclaimed May 7, 1981, as the National Day of Prayer that year – he also signed a bill into law that made it an annual event on the first Thursday of each May. Reagan often noted that as a nation we absolutely need God’s help.

Another example of a national day of prayer involving actual prayer – to God – involves a group of American leaders, desperately calling out for His help. They set aside a day of what they called, “Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer.”

They urged fellow citizens to “confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his [God’s] righteous displeasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness.”

This was the Continental Congress – the very group of men who helped create this nation in the first place. They set aside May 17, 1776, as a day for intense prayer. And God answered their prayers.

Our history is rich with examples like this – sincere calling on the Lord. But Biden’s comments on prayer remind me of “ceremonial deism.” Alas, one could just as well invoke, “To Whom It May Concern.”

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‘The Purge’ by Big Tech targets conservatives, including us

Just when we thought the Covid-19 lockdowns were ending and our ability to stay afloat was improving, censorship reared its ugly head.

For the last few months, NOQ Report, Conservative Playbook, and the American Conservative Movement have appealed to our readers for assistance in staying afloat through Covid-19 lockdowns. The downturn in the economy has limited our ability to generate proper ad revenue just as our traffic was skyrocketing. We had our first sustained stretch of three months with over a million visitors in November, December, and January, but February saw a dip.

It wasn’t just the shortened month. We expected that. We also expected the continuation of dropping traffic from “woke” Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but it has actually been much worse than anticipated. Our Twitter account was banned. Both of our YouTube accounts were banned. Facebook “fact-checks” everything we post. Spotify canceled us. Medium canceled us. Apple canceled us. Why? Because we believe in the truth prevailing, and that means we will continue to discuss “taboo” topics.

The 2020 presidential election was stolen. You can’t say that on Big Tech platforms without risking cancellation, but we’d rather get cancelled for telling the truth rather than staying around to repeat mainstream media’s lies. They have been covering it up since before the election and they’ve convinced the vast majority of conservative news outlets that they will be harmed if they continue to discuss voter fraud. We refuse to back down. The truth is the truth.

The lies associated with Covid-19 are only slightly more prevalent than the suppression of valid scientific information that runs counter to the prescribed narrative. We should be allowed to ask questions about the vaccines, for example, as there is ample evidence for concern. One does not have to be an “anti-vaxxer” in order to want answers about vaccines that are still considered experimental and that have a track record in a short period of time of having side-effects, including death. One of our stories about the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” causing blood clots was “fact-checked” and removed one day before the government hit the brakes on it. These questions and news items are not allowed on Big Tech which is just another reason we are getting canceled.

There are more topics that they refuse to allow. In turn, we refuse to stop discussing them. This is why we desperately need your help. The best way NOQ, CP, and ACM readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We are on track to be short by about $4100 per month in order to maintain operations.

The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. We had 5,657,724 sessions on our website from November, 2020, through February, 2021. Our intention is to elevate that to higher levels this year by focusing on a strategy that relies on free speech rather than being beholden to progressive Big Tech companies.

During that four-month stretch, Twitter and Facebook accounted for about 20% of our traffic. We are actively working on operating as if that traffic is zero, replacing it with platforms that operate more freely such as Gab, Parler, and others. While we were never as dependent on Big Tech as most conservative sites, we’d like to be completely free from them. That doesn’t mean we will block them, but we refuse to be beholden to companies that absolutely despise us simply because of our political ideology.

We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.

As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.

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