Pastor Joe Wright gave a prayer before the Kansas House of Representatives in January 1996 that sparked a political furor and led to “angry walkouts in two state legislatures.  More than more than 6,500 phone calls were made to Wright’s church and so many boxes of mail that the church staff didn’t know what to do with.  Wright’s prayer went viral, with hundreds of emails, which were republished on the internet.

We need more of God’s witnesses to stand boldly like this minister no matter what the cost is.

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says: “Woe to those who call evil good”, but that is exactly what we have done.

* We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
* We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
* We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
* We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
* We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
* We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
* We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
* We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
* We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
* We have abused power and called it politics.
* We have embezzled public funds and called it essential expenses.
* We have institutionalized bribery and called it sweets of office.
* We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
*We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
* We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh GOD, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

Rev. Wright logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.

Picture Credit – GailAllen.com

The Washington Post published an article in May 1996 with excerpts of the prayer:

“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your word says, Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

“We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.”

“We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.”

“We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.”

“We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.”