Keys to the Kingdom – Carolyn Tucker

When I was a kid, occasionally I would watch the 1961-1962 Dick Tracy animated TV show. The alert, “calling all cars” was heard over the police department radio whenever there was a serious situation at hand. Everybody on duty, including the English bulldog, would charge out of the building and work together to catch the bank robbers.

Right now, the United States of America is facing a serious situation. Our beloved Country is at a crossroads, and “calling all Christians” to pray and vote is of utmost importance. Exactly who are the Christians? Just because you go to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a barn makes you a horse. Believers are not a group of neutral individuals by any means. If you’re a true Christian, then you are a born-again Christ-follower and, by faith, you believe that the Bible is the truth and ultimate authority. God’s Word is forever settled in heaven and in earth. Man cannot change what God has set forth. Where I come from, we say “like it or lump it.”

In the words of President Richard M. Nixon, let me make this perfectly clear. This article is about responsibility. My mom was a wise, loving, and godly woman and she told me not to discuss religion or politics with people. No doubt about it, those two topics will stir up a hornet’s nest if one is arguing his opinion to try to persuade the other.

However, believers have the responsibility of praying specifically during tumultuous times. We’ve all heard the common clichés about prayer: “Prayer changes things.” “The family that prays together stays together.” “Seven days without prayer makes one weak,“ etc. One of the most-popular verses regarding prayer is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” What stands out to me is the phrase, “My people.” This message from God is not to the sinners, but to the believers. Christians are to come humbly to God, pray, seek His face, and turn from their sinful/selfish ways. Then they can join together to pray for a tremendous impact. It’s vital that we not shirk our responsibility outlined in this verse.

Our prayers matter significantly. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. God uses our prayer petitions to accomplish His purposes in the earth. This is a critical time for believers to be in agreement and interceding in specific prayer. In the book of Daniel Chapter 9, we see what intercessory prayer accomplished. Daniel prayed for God to lean down and listen to him and then he writes: “I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God…. As I was praying, Gabriel…came swiftly to me. He explained to me, ‘Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God.’”

The Key: The Founding Fathers are “calling all Christians” to stand strong in their responsibility to pray for the saving and healing of America.