Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I’m getting ready for the National Day of Prayer.
And I’m honored that for 2011, I have been asked to serve at the chairman of the National Day of Prayer, but that’s next year, we’re talking about this year right now and I hope that you are making plans to sign up for the prayer advance your church is probably organizing for this coming Thursday. Because, oh, does our nation need prayer! Never before have so many of my friends gotten so energized, so on board, so committed to praying for this country. What with many of our servicemen and women in Iraq or Afghanistan… the economy… so many Americans needing jobs… the rising tide of humanism and secularism… especially at the heart of our nation in Washington, D.C., right?
I grew up near Baltimore, not too far from Washington, and I remember when I was a kid taking school trips to our nation’s capitol… walking up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, eating a sack lunch by the cherry trees alongside the Jefferson Memorial – whenever I went to Washington, wherever I went, I’d gaze up at those tall, gleaming monuments, those impressive federal buildings with the Greek-style columns… I’d see all that white marble, and think, “God must live here.”
I was soon to discover that Washington, D.C. is not where God lives… which is all the more reason we need to pray for what goes on in our nation’s capitol, because if you and I don’t cry out to God, then shame on us – the very monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. are doing it! And you know what, I mean that literally, I do – many of those monuments already have God’s name carved in their stone. If the people of our country refuse to praise God, then the stones, the rocks, and the marble in our nation’s capitol are calling out, the engraved concrete is shouting praises to God. Even the tallest, greatest monument of all will testify to God’s greatness… the Washington Monument. And that’s a fact! Because you may not know this, but at the top of the Washington Monument, you know that really long, tall obelisk at the center of the Washington Mall, there is a testimony on it to the greatness of God because inscribed on the eastern face of that huge obelisk are these simple words carved in stone: “Laus Deo.” It’s Latin and it literally means “Praise God.”
Isn’t that something! Carved on the top of the highest structure on the Washington Mall is the proclamation, “Praise God.” Wow! It’s like those words stand above the noise of protesters, of politicians who argue; those words stand above the humanists and secularists and atheists, and 100 others who would seek to dismantle or deface the name of God off our memorials. I can’t imagine any government initiative that would dare try to erase those words of “Praise God” on the face of the Washington Monument.
If you’d like to share this story about the Washington Monument with others, tell them to visit joniandfriendsradio.org because I’ve done a short video telling about the words “Laus Deo” carved in stone on our nation’s most prominent monument. It’s quite amazing that God has preserved this testimony and others on the stone monuments and buildings right there in our nation’s capitol, wow! So check it out at joniandfriendsradio.org. Truly, the rocks are declaring the greatness of God, and as we approach Thursday, the National Day of Prayer, I really want you to join me in asking God to please move in the hearts of the people of our nation to do the same. After all, why should the Washington Monument have all the fun?! See you later, friend, until next time on Joni and Friends!
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