US Declaration of Independence

I was surprised when I read the US Declaration of Independence for the first time. According to this document, the British king was doing all the following.

• He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures;
• He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power;
• He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation;
• For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
• For protecting them, by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;
• For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
• For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
• For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury;
• For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences;
• He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people;
• He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation;
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers.

The great irony is that most of these activities have been done by US Presidents, either at home or abroad. Power does not change.

Prayer and Authority (9) Declaration beats Babble

Understanding the nature of prayer will change the way we pray. First of all it means we can stop babbling on. Long prayers change nothing.

When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matt 6:7-8).

Babbling on in prayer is a waste of time, because God already knows what we need. We do not have to persuade him. We pray to give the Holy Spirit freedom to act.

After making this statement, Jesus gives an example of the way that we should pray. The second clause of the Lord ’s Prayer is not a petition or a plea, but a declaration of what should happen. Translated literally it reads like this.

God’s kingdom, Come!!
God’ will, Let it be done on earth!!

These words are closer to a prophecy than to a prayer. They are a declaration calling the Kingdom of God into existence. This is how we should pray. By declaring God’s plans, we give the Holy Sprit permission to bring them into being. By announcing the kingdom, we allow him to do God’s will on earth.