Tag Archives: Prayer

Atheist Group Attacks Acclaimed Baseball Coach

The virulent anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation is attacking the 2013 National Baseball Coach of the Year because he would lead his team in a prayer before they took the field.

Larry Turner of Owasso High School teaches his baseball players to do more than just play the game.  The team also visits war veterans in hospitals and teaches the sport to children who want to compete in the Special Olympics.

Now, the aggressive anti-Christian FFRF says a “concerned citizen” filed a complaint with them over the coach leading the team in prayer.  The Freedom From Religion Foundation routinely files complaints all over the country where it is not located on behalf of anonymous people they do not provide evidence of truly existing.

The group did say in their letter they have no actual evidence of the coach leading the prayers, just the allegations of an unnamed source.

The anti-Christian group has been focusing this year on high school coaches who may lead or participate in prayers with their teams before games.

The school has not yet responded to the demands of the FFRF.

President Hosts Easter Prayer Breakfast

An Easter Prayer Breakfast was held at the White House Monday.

Invitations to the breakfast were sent to members of various denominations.  The President addressed the crowd to speak about Christ and His love.

“We’re reminded how He loves us, so deeply, that He gave his only begotten Son so that we might live through Him. And in these Holy Days, we recall all that Jesus endured for us – the scorn of the crowds and the pain of the crucifixion, in our Christian religious tradition we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection – all so that we might be forgiven of our sins and granted everlasting life,” President Obama said.

The President also used the occasion to speak about the tragedy at Jewish community centers in Overland Park, Kansas, saying that nobody should have to worry about their security when gathering for worship.

The President then encouraged the Christians in attendance to not “remain on the sidelines.”

“I want to thank you for your ministries, for your good works, for the marching you do for justice and dignity and inclusion, for the ministries that all of you attend to and have helped organize throughout your communities each and every day to feed the hungry and house the homeless and educate children who so desperately need an education,” the President said. “You have made a difference in so many different ways, not only here in the United States but overseas as well.”

National Day of Prayer May 1st

This year the National Day of Prayer will be on Thursday, May 1st. We invite you to join with us as we pray for America. This day of prayer is a vital part of our American heritage. The first call to prayer was made in 1775. The Continental Congress asked all the colonies to pray and ask God for wisdom in the formation of a nation.

This recognition of the importance of prayer has continued throughout America’s history. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called for a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer”. A joint resolution was made by Congress in 1952 which was signed by President Harry Truman declaring that day an annual, national day of prayer. Then in 1988 President Reagan set the national day of prayer to be observed on the first Thursday of May every year.

The Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, Mrs. Shirley Dobson, wife of Family Talk founder, Dr. James Dobson has selected the theme for this year to be: “One Voice, United in Prayer” in agreement with Romans 15:6 – “So that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Shirley Dobson requests: “In these few remaining days leading up to the 2014 National Day of Prayer on May 1 – and on that occasion, in particular – it’s my prayer that the Body of Christ will recommit itself to vigilant and unceasing intercession. If we do not weary in this, there’s no telling how powerfully God will answer!”

The Jim Bakker Show and Morningside Church acknowledge that prayer is of utmost importance. Without the foundation of prayer in our life or ministry, nothing of lasting value can be accomplished.

God has chosen prayer as the method that He responds to and works through to bring His will to this earth. It is vital that we pray for God’s will to be done on earth and in our lives. His will is revealed in His Word. Jesus prayed to the Father in Heaven, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Now, if Jesus needed to pray for the Father’s will to be done, how much more do we need to!

Pastor John Hagee will be on the Jim Bakker Show on the National Day of Prayer. We believe that the timing of this is very significant. Join with us in prayer on May 1st for the righteous to rule our nation and for the leaders of our country to know God in a personal intimate way. Pray for them to seek His face, His will and desires for our nation. I think we can all agree that this is a critical time for our nation. Let’s continually pray for our leaders and our nation.

God is a good God and He desires to bless our nation, but how can we be blessed if we are turning away from Him and His ways? That is where the intercession of God’s people can truly make a difference. We start with ourselves individually, humbling ourselves before the Lord, repenting of our sins, turning away from them and following God. THEN the Lord will heal our land.

II Chronicles 7:14—“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

May God bless America as we once again turn our hearts back to Him!

Charges Against Christian Prayer Vigil Holders Dismissed

A group of Australian Christians who entered a government Minister’s office and held a prayer vigil protest have had all charges against them dismissed by a court.

The five Christians had pleaded guilty in court to the charges against them before the Magistrate dismissed them.

“The aim was to pray about the asylum seeker issue in public, to draw attention to Australia’s cruel policies of indefinite detention,” said Matt Anslow, one of the Christians involved in the protest.

The Magistrate said “If ever there was a peaceful protest this was it” as he dismissed the charges.

“Martin Luther King Jr spoke about there being times when civil disobedience is necessary to dramatise an issue of injustice so that it can no longer be ignored,” Anslow said.  “For us to be silent in the face of injustice is to be complicit in the injustice, for us not to speak is to speak.”

Minister Scott Morrison was targeted for the protest because he has said that he is a Christian. The group wanted to encourage Morrison to act on his Christian beliefs.

School Opens Investigation Into Child Told Not To Pray

A kindergartner whose school accused her of making up a story that a staff member told her not to pray over her lunch has been vindicated when the young girl was able to identify the person who told her to stop praying.

Gabriella Perez had told her parents Marcos & Kathy that when she tried to pray over one of her lunches at school last week a staff member told her not to do it and that it was not good for someone to pray.

The parents contacted the principal of the school who said she informed teachers of the rights of a student to pray.  However, all the teachers said they did not know of such an incident happening and the school spokesman insisted there was a “miscommunication” on the part of the child.

“The situation as stated by the parent has not occurred according to the school’s investigation,” Michael Lawrence of Seminole County Schools told WKMG-TV.

Now, after the school was approached by lawyers from the Liberty Institute representing the family, a new investigation is being launched after Gabriella was able to positively identify a lunch monitor out of a lineup as the one who told her that she had to stop praying.

“My goal throughout this process has been to defend my daughter’s religious liberty,” Marcos Perez said in a statement.  “I am thankful that the school now believes that something clearly happened when my daughter attempted to say grace, and are taking swift action to correct the situation.”

Alabama Governor Declares Day of Prayer Over Students

The governor of Alabama called on the people of his state who believe in Christ to lift up the state’s students in prayer.

The “Day of Prayer Over Students Across Alabama” was held on Friday, March 28th.

“Whereas Alabama students face extreme challenges, such as peer pressure to abuse drugs and alcohol, negative influences in the media, school violence and gang activities, and low self-esteem,” Governor Robert Bentley’s proclamation reads, “… Alabamians are encouraged to pray for God’s protection, guidance and peace, and for opportunities and blessings on the students of Alabama.”

The proclamation marked the 9th time the governor has made the request of his state’s citizens to cover the students as they try to learn and grow. First Priority of Alabama, who coordinates Christian clubs within schools, initiated the movement for the first statewide prayer day in 2006.

“Praying for students is not just a privilege, it’s a necessity. They face an enormous amount of peer pressure to become part of what is considered normal by the world’s standards,” Matthew Wilson, Executive Director of First Priority of Greater Birmingham, said. “Without prayer, these students will not be able to stand against the insurmountable odds they will face from childhood until they leave this world.”

Commissioner “Willing To Go To Jail” Over Prayer

A Maryland county commissioner says she’s ready to go to jail for her faith in Christ.

Robin Bartlett Frazier, a Carroll County commissioner, said that she will refuse to acknowledge a federal judge’s order that the county’s meetings no longer open with prayers that mention Jesus Christ or any deity.

“If we cease to believe that our rights come from God, we cease to be America,” Robin Bartlett Frazier told CBS. “We’ve been told to be careful. But we’re going to be careful all the way to Communism if we don’t start standing up and saying ‘no.’”

The anti-Christian group American Humanist Association had filed a lawsuit in 2012 on behalf of what they claimed were three residents of the county.  Judge William Quarles Jr. ruled on Wednesday the board must stop opening meetings with sectarian prayers.

The Supreme Court is currently considering a similar case.

Not on our Watch!

Over the years, one thing that has troubled me deeply and that I’ve asked Jim and our show guests about is, “Where were the Christians when they took prayer out of school?”  Of course, many, like Jim, were doing everything they could to stop this travesty.  But once it started, it was like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining momentum and strength. Though there were individuals who were preaching, teaching and proclaiming that taking prayer out of schools would lead to all kinds of moral decay, the resistance lacked unity and the result was a dismal failure.  They succeeded in taking prayer out of schools, and it was because Christians of all denominations couldn’t get it together enough to stand in one accord and say, “oh no you don’t!”

America’s moral decline rapidly accelerated following this one event – the U.S. Supreme Court’s removal of prayer from our nation’s schools. On June 25, 1962, 39 million students were prohibited from doing what they and their parents before them had been doing since we became a nation – publicly calling upon the name of the Lord at the beginning of each school day. Continue reading →

Evangelist Bayless Conley Critically Injured In Boating Accident

Global evangelist and Southern California pastor Bayless Conley was critically injured in a boating accident on Catalina Island Monday night.

Conley has undergone surgery that his doctors termed as “successful.”  He remains in critical condition along with one of the other passengers on the boat.  A third person suffered minor injuries.

Local emergency staff says Conley and the others were on a boat that crashed full speed into The Isthmus near Two Harbors on Catalina Island.  The report did not say who was piloting the craft or where the victims were on the boat at the time of the accident.

“Please join us as we pray and trust God for a full and speedy recovery for Pastor Bayless and his friends,” Cottonwood Church said in a statement.  The church asked for people to pray for comfort for them and their families at this time.

A post on his television ministry’s website said Conley was responsive to doctors but that “the next 24-48 hours are critical” for his recovery.