“What a difference a day makes.” On Saturday, Feb. 18, my friend and sister Norma (Roe No More) McCorvey passed away. Norma was a valiant voice for justice in the anti-abortion war. We met on the battlefield years ago. I will miss her. Pray for her family and loved ones. Read a statement from her family here.
Only hours before news of Norma’s departure was announced, I woke up to face the day with a strange feeling that the world was shifting again. I couldn’t quite connect the awareness with current events, yet I knew in my heart there was a shift.
Moments earlier, as I was waking up from a dream, I heard these words: “Your daddy’s a grouch.” Just before opening my eyes, I either thought or replied: “Nope. My Daddy’s a King!” Then I woke up to face the day.
As I lay dreaming, I had no way of knowing that as the day progressed, I would hear the poignant news of Norma’s death or receive a text pointing to First Lady Melania Trump’s tender rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer” at a rally for her husband, President Donald Trump, at his U.S. Tour rally in Florida that same day.
Now regarding the dream: Before you assume I was speaking of my biological dad, Rev. A. D. King, the brother of my famous uncle, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., please realize that I was speaking of and still am praising my heavenly Father, the holy one and only Lord God Almighty, the Creator and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ and author of the Holy Spirit, the loving Father of John 3:16. Oh, if we could only pray harder to model our kinship with our loving heavenly Father.
My dream was an affirmation and confirmation of what I’d been reminding myself of all week: the sovereignty of God. However, sometimes grumpy, self-righteous and merciless judgment creeps into the hearts of God’s children. When we act this way, since we say we are like our Father, it’s easy for others to think our Father is a grouch.
I’m sharing these recent experiences with you because you just may be one who has been impacted by current events the way I’ve been lately.
For some reason, midweek last week, I turned on the television set to national news before I read my Bible verses for the day. For the record, I try not to do this because I’m old enough to realize that I need daily heavenly fortification to help me face the problems of the world. But that morning, I overrode my training and daily regimen:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matt. 6:34, MSG).
For those moments, while standing before the television as I flipped back and forth between the programs, President Trump was being hammered by hostile media, and he was defending himself. As he described how he was still draining the swamp while bringing new jobs back into America, I began to cheer him on, hoping that he would also speak of his reversing tax payers’ funding to abortion providers outside of America as well as the appointments of Dr. Ben Carson to HUD and a pro-life Supreme Court Justice.
In the midst of all of this, I was in danger of putting my confidence in President Trump rather than God. Realizing that I was slipping toward emotional reactions, I came to my senses, turned off the television and began to pray:
“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live” (1 Tim. 2:1-3, MSG).
Thursday had been a media day for me, filled with interview responses to my blogs and media appearances regarding race-baiting, Bible-baiting and sexism; and not enough time praying and meditating in the presence of God.
All of the hoopla over my recent interviews had begun to subside as I released a blog that said that race-baiting, Bible-baiting and sexism across the aisles must cease.
On Thursday, I texted some fellow prayer warriors who were at various strategic prayer conferences around the country: “Very intense warfare. Heart was getting heavy. On a call right now about exposing spiritual darkness and averting disaster.”
They responded with great insight and encouragement.
The next morning, Friday, soon after turning away from the TV screen, I joined a conference call where a report of a “Trump Resistance Movement” was discussed. We wondered if the “Resistance” really understands that their movement is fueled and funded by those who support abortion, anarchy and the like? Do they seriously want to resist restoring jobs from overseas, restoration of our inner cities, putting Americans back to work? Are they seriously resisting ending racism, reproductive genocide, sexual perversion and global terror?
On that phone conference call, I shared a word from our prayer warriors’ camp:
“Praying to circumvent the demonic structures and infrastructures and traps. Guidance by Holy Spirit. Political correctness is serious witchcraft (mind control). Don’t ask God to show up. He is waiting for us to show up [to wake up, get up and get busy]. “
In summary of this eventful week, I learned or was reminded of many lessons over those last few days:
1. Remember, don’t turn on the TV before prayer and Bible reading (and maybe coffee).
2. Turn off the TV [and radio and social media and human conversation] and pray when your emotions get ahead of your spirit.
3. Pray with partners who can encourage and uplift with unbiased input.
4. Avoid all strife. Love and forgive. Seek highest ground of agape love as well as nonviolent conflict resolution.
5. Spend quality time with God. Pray without filtering the Bible or making God’s Word a “have it your way” buffet. {eoa}
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