I invite you to join me each day as we pray for our nation until the election crisis has resolved. I’ll be reading the daily Give Him 15, making comments, and then we will pray together. You can join me here as we Appeal to Heaven for America.

Report from the White House on the Battle for Religious Freedom

One of the things we need to note when battling for this election is our first amendment right of freedom of religion. There is a very real battle over religious freedom in America which will be affected by the outcome of the 2020 elections. President Trump has done much over the last four years to ensure that our first amendment rights of religious freedom are honored. Advancements have been made in nearly every sector, including government, labor, and education. He has nominated conservative judges to our courts who have largely upheld those rights at every federal court level. 

Just this week, the U.S. Supreme Court told Colorado and New Jersey they had to treat churches equally to secular establishments. It had previously ruled last month that New York was wrong in applying different rules to churches and synagogues than to businesses. It has become the case of precedence now for COVID situations. Churches in California seeking to remain open, essentially won their suits on December 3rd when the Court turned their cases back to lower courts referring them to the New York decision.

This week, The Department of Justice announced a joint, final rule along with eight other Agencies — the Agency for International Development and the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs — to implement President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13831, on the Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. This final rule does the following:

• Ensures that religious and non-religious organizations are treated equally by the federal government, and
• Clarifies that religious organizations do not lose their religious liberty protections and rights just because they participate in federal programs and activities.

Read the entire ruling here.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor under Sec. Eugene Scalia just instituted significant religious liberty policy actions regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause on Religious Exemption. This rule encourages “the full and equal participation of religious organizations as federal contractors.” The ability of religious groups to pursue government contracts and federal grants can no longer be discriminated against on the basis of religion. This further tears down the “wall between separation of church and state.”

Even the battle for international religious freedom has made tremendous advancement under the leadership of Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. He was appointed by President Trump to that office. His philosophy as a believer is that without religious freedom for all, there will eventually be religious freedom for none. Though our government cannot specifically advance Christianity in the nations—that’s the role of the Church—he knows that opening international doors to religious freedom will also keep them open for the sharing of the gospel. This helps us fulfill our covenant mandate from the Lord to take the gospel of the Kingdom from these shores to the ends of the earth.

Now, understand something very important. The devil hates all of this. He wants to lock us down and shut us out of anything to do with secular society. I do understand that the gospel may go forth regardless. We have seen the church explode under persecution in some circumstances. But I ask you, “Why would we want to let things get to that point. Would we really rather just hand the enemy this nation knowing that religious persecution, especially against Christians and Jews, is on the horizon?” Do you think I’m being an alarmist here? I’m not. There is much in the Democratic platform that limits our freedom. We now have some Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives putting out a document to the incoming Biden transition team. Here is the document: “Restoring Constitutional Secularism and Patriotic Pluralism in the White House: Prepared exclusively by Secular Democrats of America PAC for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Transition Team.” While you may be thinking, “surely that would never be instituted,” and I am not a fear-monger, it is important to note that this is a mindset of the left currently seated in office! Their hatred is astonishing. Therefore, we cannot dismiss this. We must keep fighting so these things cannot be activated.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19; ESV)

Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:

• Thank the Lord for the religious freedom we currently enjoy and ask for expansion of it.
• Bless President Donald J. Trump and the Secretaries of our executive departments for expanding religious freedom principles and practices throughout our government.
• Bless Secretary Scalia for including religious groups in the ability to obtain government contracts and grants. This further destroys the lie of the wall between church and state.
• Bless Amb. Sam Brownback for expanding the mindset of religious freedom to the nations of the earth. This can open doors to expand the Kingdom of God from our shores as God covenanted with us to do.
• Intercede for those that hate Christians and Jews and want to remove them from secular society, especially from government.
• Declare, “No demonically-inspired plan to shut the Church out of government shall prevail in the U.S.A.”

A prayer you can pray:

Lord, we thank You again today for the freedom of worship we have enjoyed under President Donald Trump. This is one of the greatest things You have given us under this president. All of our constitutional rights are important, but this one means the difference between worshipping You as we desire, whenever and wherever we want to or not. It also enables us to continue sharing Your gospel everywhere You send us to do so. So, Lord, we bless President Trump for his leadership in this. We bless the Secretaries of our executive branch that have expanded religious freedom through their departments to the people they serve. We bless Sec. Scalia specifically for the actions the Department of Labor has taken to allow religious groups equal access to government funding, clearly dispelling the lie of the separation of Church and State. We bless Ambassador Sam Brownback for expanding religious freedom from our nation to many other nations of the earth, enabling us to share the gospel of the Kingdom more freely.

Now, Lord, we ask You to determine this election on our behalf. We humbly ask You that everything be brought into the light and discovered quickly. Time is growing short, but we have placed our hope in You. Grant us grace and four more years to expand these freedoms into the fabric of America. Shut down the plans birthed in hatred against Your people. We decree that these anti-Christ plans will fall to the wayside. We pray that those who have devised these plans would have an encounter with You. They need You, and America does not need their demonically-devised ideas. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.  

Today’s decree:

Freedom to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth shall be secure in America!