National Day of Prayer breakfast draws strong crowd
by Ron Burtz
“Lift up the Word; light up the world” based on 2 Samuel 22:29-31 was the theme for this year’s National Day of Prayer observance in Hamilton County. Local Christians gathered at the Leadership Center at the break of dawn on Thursday for a 6:15 prayer breakfast that featured an address by Dist. 34 Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City.
Piano music was provided during the breakfast by Marcia Luebbe who also accompanied the closing group song. Chad Carlson served as the Master of Ceremonies for the event and led in an opening prayer. Scriptures were read by Aurora High School students Ansley Harvey and Ethan Ramaekers and Hampton High School senior Sam Wishman gave an oral recitation.
Following prayers for the national government by William Feely, state and local government by Steve Mead and for churches, schools and families by Cindy Muilenburg, Jesse Labrie performed a solo of the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.”
In introducing Sen. Lippincott, Carlson noted that he had served as an F-16 fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force before working for many years as an international captain for Delta Airlines. He was elected in 2022 to serve in the Nebraska Unicameral.
Lippincott opened his speech by leading in prayer, stating, “Lord, our state and nation has slid so far from the reverence and humility we once walked before You. Now the words of Isaiah ring true for us: ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.’ Instead, let us be as John the Baptist said, ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’”
Much of Lippincott’s speech focused on America’s Christian heritage and the need to return to those values in order for the nation to become whole again.
Quoting Scottish historian Alexander Frasier Tytler, the senator said every nation in world history has gone through 10 steps in its rise and fall (he said this lifespan is typically 200-250 years and the U.S. celebrated its 247th birthday last July 4th), beginning with bondage, rising to liberty and abundance and then falling into selfishness and eventually back into bondage.
“Now we all know where we are,” Lippincott stated. “We’re toward the end! So what’s happening?”
Challenging the audience to go home and read Deuteronomy 28, the senator said that passage begins by describing the kinds of things that bring the blessings of God to a nation but ends by describing the curses that fall on a nation that disobeys the Word of God.
Noting that every Christian faces the snares of the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, Lippincott said the antidotes corresponding to each of those are tithing to the Lord’s work, fasting and prayer which takes humility before the Almighty.
Lippincott closed with a story of a conversation that took place between founding fathers John Adams and Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1777 during the Revolutionary War. He said the United States was losing the war at that time and Rush leaned over to Adams and asked, “John, do you think we can win this war?”
Lippincott said Adams responded by saying, “Yes, if we fear God and repent of our sins.”
“It was true then and it is true today,” the senator concluded.
Following final comments from Carson and a closing prayer by Jordan Grantham, the event closed with all participants singing “God Bless America.”