We are told daily – in subtle, insidious, quiet ways – not to pray, not to believe, not to give God glory due, not to ask help (except from the Government), and not to live our faith. Do not take the bait.
How often do we wake up, go to sleep, work a full day, and imagine we are different, that others no longer see the world as we do, or hold our values, or that we are alone? We are not.
Nationally, despite all the leftist rhetoric and activism, indoctrination at every level of society, schools, workplaces, and political leadership, the power of prayer and presence of God holds.
A recent PEW survey – nationwide – found that 84 percent of adults pray weekly, faith in our loving God alive and well, more than 8 in 10 adults believing and 55 percent pray daily.
If this surprises you, consider how much of what we are fed by media and social media, political activists, politicians, and disrespecters of history, deniers of faith and God, is intended to deceive, mislead, and weaken us for their benefit. Think how much poison courses the veins of our body politic.
Now, let me make this personal for a moment. Yes, I pray daily, often several times a day, without hesitation or public display. I remember my youth vividly, my life as one protected by a loving God, and remember – often in very real terms – how grateful I should be, must be, even to be alive.
The Bible, which I should consult more regularly, offers countless references to prayer and its power. If you believe, if you can put the world aside, come with a child’s heart, you will live.
Writes St. Paul in his epistle to the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication … with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Powerfully, unforgettably, Matthew – who recites to us Christ’s exact words in his speech on the Mount of Beatitudes – writes at 6:9: “Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” My son, close to the church writings, reminds me, “keep asking…”
Mark writes, with conviction and urging, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Looking back, in this quiet moment – as I give genuine thanks for a roof over my head, heat in this whirling snowstorm, and no mortars falling in – I can count over and over the times that the Lord has saved me, here, far away from here, in places I felt alone, and yet there He was, beside me.
The thing is humbling, overpowering, and yet strengthening. These days, besides paying bills, writing things, bringing in wood, doing the chores we all do, I am campaigning – to become Maine’s next Governor. This is a calling, a duty, a mission, not an indulgence, and so I am serious.
But here is the part few know, unless you have met me, and unless you have been among those who pray for me, it is not really me, it is Him. Over and over, in half of the events I go to, people come up privately and pray with me, for me, over me, and I am made light, light as a feather.
When you feel low, when you feel the world has lost its way – as surely it has – and yet you want to believe, want to be strong, want to be affirmed in what is right, comforted, consult the Bible, and consult your own heart, be joyous. Pray with joy. “Ask and it will be given …” I do daily. Behold, the power of prayer is real, whether the media covers it or not, and more than 8 in 10 know it.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
