Dear Praying American,

     We just got back from our trip to The National Day of Prayer Observance on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Rarely have we been so uplifted and given so much hope for America as we were by the spiritual events that took place in Washington last week. Oh how I wish we could have taken all of you with us! I will give a few highlights here, and then encourage you to viewa special slide presentation that we have prepared just for you.

The National Prayer Committee Meeting

     After we arrived in Washington by train from Baltimore, we hurried over to the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church for the beginning of two wonderful days of meetings as part of The National Prayer Committee. On Wednesday morning, we were surprised and then blessed when non-other than former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, led the committee in morning worship!

     Mr. Ashcroft played the piano as we requested hymn after hymn. How our hearts were intimately warmed as we sang the great old hymns together. Between hymns, Brother John Ashcroft shared stories from his life. Since we were in Lincoln's church, John told the story of what Lincoln said when he was asked about a certain preacher's sermon. "It was a good sermon, but not a great sermon," Lincoln said, "It was not a great sermon because he didn't ask us to do anything." Now there is one for all preachers to consider!

     Concerning his time in Washington, "Where no good deed goes unpunished", John joked as he quoted Harry Truman, who said: "If you want a friend in this town, go buy yourself a dog."

     John Ashcroft then told the story of how his 90 year-old father struggled to stand as John was about to be sworn in as a U.S. Senator. "Dad, don't struggle to stand." John said. His father simply replied, "Son, I wasn't struggling to stand, I was struggling to kneel." Ashcroft then said, "I think we ought to kneel more. We've become a non-kneeling culture."

     Concerning parenting and prayer, General Ashcroft added, "I think we would be more successful as parents if we'd meet our kids knee to knee instead eyeball to eyeball." What wisdom!

     Concerning Washington DC, Ashcroft said, "The spirit of Washington is the spirit of arrogance. The spirit of Christ was humility. Washington is a city of mandates. God created creatures of choice, not creatures of mandate, the spirit of inspiration, not imposition."

     Finally, when asked about the Obama presidency, Ashcroft told The National Prayer Committee: "Obama was not my candidate, but he is my president, and I'm going to pray for him!"

The National Day of Prayer

     That evening, we attended a reception by The National Day of Prayer Task Force. Here we were honored to meet with both James and Shirley Dobson.

     Shirley Dobson has been the guiding hand of The National Day of Prayer Task Force for sixteen years. What a gracious warrior for Christ and America!

     We were privileged to meet many other great leaders who are now engaged in the struggle for America's soul.One of these wasthis year's honorary Task Force chairwoman, Beth Moore. Beth brought a very, very powerful message the following day, which inspired everyone.

     During her speech Beth said: "Our call today is to throw away our arrogance, not our confidence. God esteems the faithful remnant; of that there must be no doubt! Let the remnant pray as those who expect to be heard."

     Beth also made an appeal for unity in prayer, warning: "These days do not allow us the luxury of in-fighting without enormous consequences." Amen and amen!

     So many other things happened during the Capitol Hill observance that I really must let our slide presentation do the rest of the telling for us. Know only that I am personally committed to The National Day of Prayer more now than ever before. America must return to God on her knees!

Our Prayer Force One Prayer Walk

     After the National Day of Prayer observance, we did a prayer walk around the U.S. Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, and The White House. In our last e-letter we asked you to join us in spirit and prayer as we did the walk on behalf of us all. We want to thank all who joined us in your hearts.

     As you now know, on the National Day of Prayer, we began anew our Prayer Force One, White House Prayer Meeting. This was made possible by a courtesy link to the George W. Bush Presidential Archive.

     I'm shown above at the northwest gate of The White House during our prayer walk. As you look at this gate, I would again like to invite you to join us in prayer for this daily opportunity to pray. If you would like to do this, just click on the White House gate above.

Be Sure & See Our National Day of Prayer Slide Presentation

     I really do want to share our Washington experience with you. To do this in the best possible way, we've prepared a special slide presentation. Please forgive all the photos of us, and especially of "Yours Truly", but I know of no better way to share the experience of meeting so many wonderful and dedicated Christian leaders. To view the slide show, just click on the U. S. Capitol photo below.

     Please forward this e-mail to your family and friends, and know that we appreciate your committed partnership with Prayer Force One.

     P.S. This Sunday morning at 9:31, I received a call from my wife, Sandy, and our daughter, Randi, who had just given birth to her and Jon's second child, Kimberlin Nicole Taylor. This is grandbaby number twelve. To God be all the glory!