Prayer, Politics & Purpose: A Nation Turns to God

The National Day of Prayer has come and gone, but it's a significant day where so many people turn their hearts to our Maker, the One who gave us this great country and the One who is truly the King of the world, Pastor Rob Pacienza, a dear friend. He's the pastor of Coal Ridge Presbyterian Church. He's the speaker on Truths that Transform, of course, the head of the Center for Christian Statesmanship and the City of God Podcast. He is with me, and you actually, as we're talking, Pastor Rob, you are in the nation's capital where there's a lot of prayer going on today, huh?

It's amazing. This is the 74th annual National Day of Prayer that is hosted by the National Day of Prayer Task Force. But as we know, this nation was founded on prayer.

It goes well beyond 74 years. We know that presidents from the very beginning have challenged the country to repent, to set aside a day of prayer and fasting. And so, this is just another opportunity for us to be reminded of our Christian heritage as a nation, but most importantly, of our utter dependence upon God. And so, we're up here in the nation's capital, as you said, had an opportunity to participate in the Congressional Prayer Service at the US Capitol this morning, which is amazing.

We had casting crowns there, leading worship. We had Speaker Johnson opening up in prayer. And so, to see this happen in our nation's capital is an amazing thing. But we're also seeing and hearing of stories all across America of Christians gathering for prayer as well.

So, it's a special day indeed, special day in our nation's capital, but a special day for America. Pastor Rob Pastienza, talk about the culture and the political climate in terms of how believers should engage. Some people might look at you and say, what's this pastor doing up at Capitol Hill? What's he doing giving Bibles to incoming freshmen, congressmen, and senators? What's he doing speaking from the pulpit about the right to life, about marriage, and things of that nature? Should he just stay in his own little corner?

And should he just kind of mind his own business? Will you talk about the relevance of the gospel, especially in your ministry, to even the political spectrum and even to the culture out there? That's a great question. So, our founders never wanted the state to interfere with religion, but the founders could not conceive of a nation in which the church and the people of faith do not engage in the political sphere, do not engage in the culture. It was John Adams who said that this government can't survive.

It can't exist. This constitutional republic we're building can't exist without morality, and morality can't exist without the church engaging in the public square and being faithful. And so, it's our opportunity and really our obligation as Christians and as a pastor in particular to preach truth to power, to remind members of Congress where does government ultimately come from? It comes from God.

Where do our rights come from? They don't come from the state, they come from God himself. And so, our attempt of doing ministry in the nation's capital, preaching about culture from the pulpit, is to remind the nation that our ultimate hope is God. Our ultimate hope is knowing that with confidence that Jesus is on his throne, that the government rests on his shoulders, and to make sure that the people of God realize that politics is part of the God's plan for ensuring that we have a nation that is moral and just, but that can't happen if the church remains silent.

So, that's why we're here. That's why we talk about things that we talk about, not because politics is the ultimate, because the gospel is the ultimate, but we need to make sure that we have laws and legislation and legislatures that understand that the true hope is in the gospel, the true hope is in the kingdom of God. But if we have laws that restrain the church, then that message gets lost.

It's a good word. And I was going to ask you about prayer being how you're so involved in the National Day of Prayer and so many pastors. I'm just encouraged at all the groups getting together, praying and connecting. How should we be praying for our country? Because it seems like sometimes we pray for maybe too many felt needs. We pray for maybe too much prosperity. I'm not knocking prosperity. None of us want to be in the poorhouse, Pastor Rob, but at the same time, is there a deeper, more kingdom-minded, kingdom-driven prayer we should be having? Would you speak to that and how important that is?

Sure. I mean, you don't have to look too far from the Bible itself and see how did God's people pray for the nation? How did God's people pray for their leaders and what was desired amongst the people of God? And what you see, particularly in the Old Testament, it's always first a call to repentance and humbling.

And so that doesn't sound very attractive, right? But there is this sense in which we need to first and foremost pray that we would repent. We would return to our first love and that we would humble ourselves. And only when we humble ourselves does God promise to heal our land. So I think first and foremost, we need to be praying for repentance and humbling, starting with the people of God first.

And so you're absolutely right. We're not praying for this thing or another thing for us to gain more material wealth. Not that having material wealth is bad, but that can't be the first thing that we're focused on. It is the paradigm of the kingdom that says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. And that realizing that our ultimate treasure is not here on earth, but it resides in heaven.

And so that's what we need to be praying for, that the people of God repent, that they humble themselves, and then we can cling to the promise that God will hear us and then he will heal our land. Would that not be just a tragedy that we have a country that starts to stand up for life, a country that turns toward biblical values, a country that has all those boxes checked properly on the family and things like that, Pastor Rob, but we don't have Jesus, we don't have a heart for him. It's like, what is it profit?

I think I asked this around the last time that the election happened. What is it profit if you gain the House and the Senate and the White House, but you lose your own soul? There's a deeper issue, the souls of people that have it politically correct, which I don't know if that such a thing exists, but yet they don't have it spiritually right. And that's really why, and I love what you do with the Center for Christian Statesmanship, and I love what you do with your church ministry and all you do with your podcast and your radio program, which I listen to almost daily, anytime I can. And a lot of folks are buzzing about Truths that Transform and just how you all have brought that back from Dr. D. James Kennedy's amazing pioneering days of radio. Now you're preaching and you know he was kind of a spiritual father to you, but the gospel is central. Just close us out here, Pastor Rob Pacienza, with the centrality of the gospel to everything and make sure people don't get everything else right, but get that wrong.

Well, I'm so glad you asked that question. I opened up my time of prayer at the U.S. Capitol this morning with a number of senators and congressmen present, and I reminded everyone that before there was a declaration of independence, there was a great awakening in this nation. It was the preachers and the pulpits of America that were preaching the gospel that paved the way for the American Revolution. So, we need to remember it's the gospel. The gospel has power. The word of God has authority.

And so, politics is simply a means to an end. We need to have good laws and good courts and good legislators that are allowing preachers and allowing the people of faith to continue to preach the gospel, but the gospel is the ultimate end. It's the gospel that transforms lives, and it's the gospel that transforms a nation.

Well, and it was a breath of fresh air. Hey, man, God bless you. I just walked by a guy, and you have a great day, man. Hey, on this day of prayer, here's a little prayer card to remind you how much God loves you. Hit that QR code about the gospel, about Truth Network. I'm on the live radio national with this guy here, Pastor Rob Pacienza.

If you listen to here in this area of North Carolina, 97.7, you'll hear him every day. God bless you, man. What's your first name? John. John, that's a great Bible name. John 3.16 is my favorite. All right, well, Pastor Rob, I'm interviewing you, talking to John.

He's going to turn you on the radio. God's work, you just want to spread the news everywhere I go, but it was just surreal to be with you, walking through the halls of the Senate and the Congress, giving Bibles to these dear senators and congressmen, and to their assistants, their aides. These kids are from somewhere in Texas, and they've up and moved to D.C. and trying to find a church, trying to find a Bible study. And the Center for Christian Statesmanship, you guys have a barricade, a strong fortress right there, just a few blocks from the Capitol, with the Center for Christian Statesmanship passing out Bibles.

And to be able to walk into an office, Pastor Rob, and say, hey, Mr. Congressman, we're not here for money. We're not here for our pet bill. We're not here lobbying, although there's nothing wrong with lobbying. We're here to give you a copy of God's Word, because this is where it all came from.

This is where our laws, from which our laws are derived. I mean, Pastor Rob, is there anything more cool than that time we had there in D.C.? And we've got to run that back, brother. We've got to run that back. We've got to run that back.

It's amazing. We did it during this past installation of freshman congressmen, and we did it two years ago in 2022, or 2023, therefore. And to this day, never been turned down, never been kicked out of an office. I think people, as you said, are blown away.

We're not there to ask for anything. We come open-handed. And most importantly, we come delivering God's Word. It was great to go into some established members of Congress that we visited two years ago, and lo and behold, what do we see in the foyer or on sitting on their desk?

A copy of the Bible that we delivered. So it's making a difference. It's making an impact. And we're grateful for the work that God continues to do through the Center for Christian Statesmanship.

Amen. Hey, give us a website, folks who want to donate, support what you're doing, want to hear your content, watch your wonderful videos and whatnot. Yeah, the best way is through Coleridge Ministries, our media ministry. You just go to CRM.TV. CRM.TV. You can find radio, podcasts, television, all of our documentaries, books. We're trying to equip the North American church on how to faithfully engage culture for the Kingdom of God. So go to CRM.TV.