Questions Week 10, Day 4
“O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” is my favorite patriotic hymn. I love the description of our magnificent landscape with its amazing mountains and plains. I am moved by the second verses’ references to the previous generations who moved into the wilderness to begin a new venture in community. But I also love the sense of imperfection and the awareness of the spiritual challenges we face. “God mend thine every flaw!” Don’t let freedom be an end in itself or treat it as an unlimited good—”Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.” Avoid materialism—”May God thy gold refine—till all success be nobleness and every gain divine.”
Prayers for America should combine appreciation with a sense of our nation as an ongoing project in which our virtues battle with our vices, since we know that the Kingdom has not fully come.
What worries you about America?
What makes you glad?
As Israel prepared to enter the land, notice the spiritual warnings God gave.
FAMILY TIME—
Pray a prayer for our country that is thankful and realistic.