25 Days of Prayer and Praise - June 27, 2026

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Everyday Faith Podcast from Eastside with today's Faith-Rooted Principle. Hey there, welcome back to the podcast. I'm Isaac Johnson, and today is Saturday, June the 27th. We are still in our 25 days of prayer and praise, thanking God for America. And today I want to talk about the phrase one nation under God. One nation under God. On June the 14th, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill to insert the phrase under God into the Pledge of Allegiance that the children recite every morning in school. Previously, the pledge, originally written in 1982, had contained no reference to God whatsoever. So really when the push came to add under God to the Pledge of Allegiance, it gained momentum during the second Red Scare, which was a period when US politicians were keen to assert the moral superiority of the US capitalism over so Soviet communism, which many conservatives regarded as godless. And so it was added as a move, really, to show that our country had some sort of moral standing, whereas the Soviet Union at the time did not. And court cases about whether students should recite the Pledge of Allegiance had already reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1940s, and that was before Under God was even added. In the decades after the 1954 edition, there were numerous other lawsuits related to the pledge. But I am just I'm so thankful that we have that phrase that is in uh in our uh our Pledge of Allegiance under God. And so as we celebrate our nation's independence, you'll hear the words God bless America. In fact, at the church I just put up uh a flag that says God bless America. But perhaps the more important question is this is America seeking God's blessing by living under his authority? You know, the Bible reminds us in Psalm 33, verse 12 blessed is a nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The verse doesn't say a nation is blessed because it's wealthy, because it's powerful, because it's influential. It says it's blessed when its God is the Lord. America has enjoyed uh incredible blessings throughout our history, and I'm thankful for that. Our freedoms, uh the opportunities and the prosperity that America has, it's remarkable. Uh but those blessings aren't guaranteed to last forever. And throughout Scripture we see that every nation is accountable to God. Proverbs 1434 tells us this righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. And really the future of our nation, it's not determined by elections, it's not determined by economics, it's not determined by how strong our military is, but by the moral and spiritual spiritual condition of its people when Christians take a stand. You know, laws matter, leaders matter, but our hearts, the hearts of the people matter even more. You know, it's easy to point fingers at Washington. It's easy to say, well, look at what's going on. But you know what? Revival has always started and should always start with God's people. Like Second Chronicles 7 14 reminds us if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, then will I turn from my wicked way, then I'll I'll I'll hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sins, I'll heal their land. So as we're coming up to America's birthday, and we celebrate uh the freedom that we have, but remember uh as Christian citizens, we need to be faithful, faithful ambassadors for Jesus Christ, faithful to share his word. And I'm so thankful that we have that phrase, one nation under God. But I believe that to be under God, hey, we need to be under his control, and we as believers, we need to stay under his control. Let's have a word of prayer for our nation. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for the emphasis that our nation has had on God for so many years. Lord, we have that in our pledge of allegiance, uh, that uh we are one nation under God. We have it on our money, and God we trust. God, thank you for that. But God, I pray that uh as we see uh our nation kind of in uh moral straits of that are not correct. Morally there's problems, and uh society is seemingly turning its back on you. Lord, I pray as Christians we would take a stand. Lord, I pray that we would start revival in our own hearts and lives, and then it would spread to our city, it would spread to our state, it would spread to our the whole nation, Lord, because Christians are taking a stand for what's right. God, I pray uh that you would continue to bless America as you have. Lord, thank you so much for the way that you provide and how you take care of us. We'll be careful to give you all the praise. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thanks for joining us for today's Rooted Principle, right here on the Everyday Faith Podcast. If today's conversation has encouraged you, be sure to share it with someone who might need it. And don't forget to follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode. We'll see you next time, right here on the Everyday Faith Podcast.