True followers of Jesus Christ should lead their communities as good citizens.

This is our moment to represent God in our nation.

Today, we join Scott Pauli in studying what the Bible says about the Christian and his country.

If I were to ask you today, what is the greatest need of our nation?

Immediately I would get a number of answers.

People would say, well, we have great economic needs or we have political needs or there are

moral things that need to be addressed.

But I would say to you, the greatest need of every nation is always spiritual.

Because if you get that right,

everything else grows and flows out of that. And if that is true, then what is the first thing

that we as God's people should be doing? Our first work must be our prayer work. We need God.

That's exactly the message that we find in 1 Timothy

chapter 2 beginning in verse number 1. Paul wrote, I exhort therefore that first of all, would you

mark that phrase in your Bible and in your heart? First of all. Someone may say, first things first.

Well, this is the first work first of all

supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for

kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable

life in all godliness and honesty for this is good and acceptable in the

sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved

and to come under the knowledge of the truth.

It was John Bunyan that said that we can do more than pray after we've prayed,

but we can do nothing until we've prayed.

...