Jan 18, 2022 – Prayer Focus
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 – The 24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call
“A CALL TO THE WALL…ONE NATION UNDER GOD”
1-712-770-4340 Code: 543555 # (Ongoing call…24 hours a day!)
We begin our hour by praising and giving thanks to God!
“Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.”
Psalm 17:6-7
We sing: America, the Beautiful!
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain
for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet whose stern impassioned stress,
a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
‘til all success be nobleness and every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years.
Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!
~~~
The key assignment for the 24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call is to intercede hourly
for the safety and security of our duly elected President, Donald John Trump,
and to pray for that which pertains to our nation!
We pray for his protection, for our First Lady, Melania, and their marriage
and for all the members of their family. We cover them all with the Blood of Jesus.
We ask that in every situation and decision, President Trump will be led by the Holy Spirit!
May he hear the truth about the “vaccines” and act accordingly, leading our people out of darkness.
Pray.
We pray for Governor Ron De Santis’ wife and Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis,
who is being treated for breast cancer! We ask for her complete healing and full restoration!
Pray.
For protection, provision, and peace for Professor / Patriot David Clements and his family!
Pray.
That God will “make a way, where there seems to be no way”
for Pastor Ioan and David to return to the United States!
Pray.
Strategic Focus for Tuesday
WELCOME THE KING OF GLORY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
THE REDEMPTION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC – Part 18
“You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.
For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
Matthew 10:18-20
Today, Mat Staver of LIBERTY COUNSEL will represent Hal Shurtleff and his Christian civic organization, Camp Constitution, in oral arguments before the US Supreme Court in the matter of Shurtleff v. City of Boston. He will argue that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment by censoring a private flag, in a public forum open to “all applicants” merely because the application referred to it as a “Christian flag.”
Camp Constitution’s flag itself was not the problem; it is white, with a blue square and a red cross in the upper left corner and it contains no writing. So, “WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT A FLAG?” A lot, actually. This case is not really JUST about a flag. It’s about the right of people of faith to be treated equally under the law, in accordance with the Constitutional guarantee. If Boston is allowed to do this today to Camp Constitution, our government will be allowed to exclude any one of us tomorrow from the public square, because of our Christian viewpoint. Pray.
As we learned yesterday, the city of Boston has an express written policy, inviting “all applicants” from the community to raise their private flags at various times on one of the three City Hall flag poles, to celebrate the “diverse” community. For 12 years, Boston received 284 applications, from every private group you can imagine…AND aLL of them were approved! Every Single One. Then, Application #285 came in from Camp Constitution, a Christian organization. When they asked to raise the Christian Flag for ONE HOUR on Constitution and Citizenship Day (September 17th), to celebrate the contributions of the Christian community to our nation’s founding and the rule of law, all hell broke loose. “What will people think?” was asked. All of a sudden they were concerned with appearances, after flying the Maoist/Communist China flag for years…and, of course, the pink and rainbow flags. “We can’t have people think we are endorsing Christianity,” they recoiled. What about the “separation of Church and State?” Pray.
Mat Staver of LIBERTY COUNSEL is representing Hal Shurtleff and his organization as he argues this matter before the US Supreme Court at 10 AM ET today! Following the oral arguments, Mat will hold a press conference outside on the steps of the Supreme Court. We have been praying yesterday and continue every hour throughout the day today, asking the Lord to allow him to prevail in this crucial case. Pray.
The law on this is crystal clear: Boston does not have to allow anyone to raise any flag on its flag pole, but if Boston opens a public forum and invites “all applicants,” then all must be allowed. Boston cannot cheat and put its finger on the scale of private viewpoints and private expression in the marketplace of ideas. What should have been an exceedingly easy, open and shut case, has turned into a FOUR YEAR struggle for justice and equal access. “Lost” TWICE in the lower court and TWICE more at the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court is literally the last chance to right this wrong. Pray.
Over the past three months, LC’s team has submitted briefs at SCOTUS, and have done numerous moot courts to prepare for this critical battle. Today, they need us to stand with them in prayer, which we happily do!
We pray:
- For the 9 Justices, that they will be receptive to our argument and reach the right result. Pray.
- For the LC team, and especially for Mat Staver, who will deliver the argument. Pray.
- That our adversary is confused and confounded so that justice is brought to bear in this matter. Pray.
The central focus of this case is whether the city flagpoles are a public forum as Boston has advertised. If a private speaker such as Camp Constitution challenges exclusion from government property, then the High Court must begin with the public forum consideration. The city, by policy and practice, designated its city hall flagpoles as a public forum for the private flag-raising events, accessible to all applicants through a minimal application process.
To the extent, the city’s policy or practice limits the flagpoles to flag raisings commemorating one of Boston’s diverse communities (e.g., Argentinians, Caribbean Americans, or credit union members), or a significant date (e.g., Bunker Hill Day, Juneteenth, or Marcus Garvey Day), or a cause (e.g., Pride, Walk for Peace, or organ donation), the city has created a limited public forum, for which Camp Constitution’s proposed flag raising to commemorate Boston’s Christian community and the federally recognized Constitution Day and Citizenship Day satisfied all legitimate criteria. The city’s exclusion of Camp Constitution from the flagpole forum was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination under any standard, and thus the forum analysis ends the case. Pray.
While this case can be resolved under the public forum doctrine, it also presents the Supreme Court with the opportunity to set clear parameters around the recently minted government speech doctrine so that it does not swallow the public forum and restrict private speech. This case is a clear example of the danger the government speech doctrine presents to free speech.
- Here, Boston had a longstanding practice and policy to open its flagpoles for private speakers, and in its own words created a “public forum” open to “all applicants.”
- But, after 12 years of no denials and virtually no review of the applications, Boston censored Camp Constitution’s Christian viewpoint under the guise of government speech.
- Boston never censored any flag until Camp Constitution’s flag. Under oath, the city official testified the flag would have been approved if the application did not refer to it as a “Christian flag.” The word “Christian” on the application alone triggered the censorship. The official testified that if the application had referred to the flag as the “Camp Constitution Flag,” then it would have been approved.
Pray.
Boston now argues that despite the policy and longstanding practice, the private flag raisings are government speech. However, the flags cannot be Boston’s speech.
- For example, the Chinese Progressive Association raises the flag of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to commemorate its celebration of Mao Zedong’s 1949 victory in the communist revolution that established China’s currently recognized government.
- Within mere days after the PRC flag-raising, the flag of democratic Taiwan is flown on the same flagpole. This flag is also called the flag of the Republic of China (ROC) representing the Chinese Nationalist government deposed by Mao’s 1949 victory and exiled to the historically disputed territory of Taiwan.
- Many sympathetic to mainland China view the ROC flag as subversive to the PRC, which would make Boston’s raising the ROC flag a form of “protest or other speech antithetical to” the message the city purportedly communicates through the PRC flag. The flags represent classic free speech in a public forum. Pray.
Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Boston opened a public forum for ‘all applicants’ and then slammed the door on Christian viewpoints. If Boston prevails, every local government will have a green light to censor viewpoints with which some government official disagrees. The tragedy would be the shrinking of the public forum as a marketplace of ideas. More speech is always better than less speech. This case is of national importance to protect the competing viewpoints of the public in the marketplace. This case is about more than just the Christian flag. This will set a national precedent and affect everyone. We must not give government the power to censor disfavored viewpoints in a public forum.” Pray.
This case will affect everyone. If Boston can open a public forum for all applicants but then close the forum to disfavored viewpoints, then every government will be able to censor viewpoints under the guise that every private speaker in the forum was engaging in government speech. Boston censored the religious viewpoint of Camp Constitution’s flag, which was to be raised for about an hour on September 17 in observance of Constitution Day, while supporters gathered around the flagpole. The flag was part of the ceremony to honor the Constitution and recognize the Judeo-Christian heritage and Christian Founders, like John Adams and Samuel Adams, both of whom were residents of Massachusetts. Pray.
Liberty Counsel has received 17 amicus briefs filed in support of the free speech case, including from the United States of America, 12 states and a wide range of organizations, even the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Pray.
Those in the DC area are invited to attend a prayer rally at 9 AM this morning, on the steps of the Supreme Court building, prior to the 10 AM oral arguments. Mat will also hold a press conference immediately after the hearing. These events will be live-streamed on the LC Facebook page, and the oral argument on Tuesday will be live-streamed by SCOTUS. *Tonight, on our Tuesday evening conference call, LC’s Vice President of Media, Holly Meade, will join Pastor Ioan and Maureen to give us a follow-up report!
We pray:
- For clement weather, so that those attending the prayer rally to support Mat are unhindered, both coming and going! Pray.
- That the press coverage of this matter will be reported both widely and POSITIVELY. Pray.
- That justice and fair play will prevail in this matter, and those who are trying to limit the rights of Christians to express their viewpoints will be defeated, as FREEDOM flies across this land! Pray.
- That Christians will awaken and become aware of the myriad of threats against our religious freedoms, and work together with groups such as LIBERTY COUNSEL to preserve our inalienable rights! Pray.
- That we will get our homes in order so that they might be places for His HABITATION and sanctuaries for others! Pray.
- That as the REDEMPTION of the AMERICAN REPUBLIC takes place, the leaders that God anoints and appoints will take their places alongside President Trump in the US Capitol and in the governments of each state. Pray
- That we will joyfully release the LOVE of GOD from our hearts over this nation, and those faux leaders, including Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, Fauci, and all who are now children of darkness, will accept His salvation and be transformed…OR, if they reject Him, they will be removed! Pray.
- For an “appointed place” and an “appointed time” for our meeting with President Trump! Pray.
(Resource: LIBERTY COUNSEL)
~~~
HINENI, ADONAI! HERE I AM, LORD!
ENGAGING IN A WARFARE OF LOVE! THE BATTLE OF THE BRIDE!
KADIMA! ONWARD…FORWARD!
“LAYNA!” LIGHT AND TRUTH!
BE STRONG…COURAGEOUS…BRAVE!
UNASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST!
GOD’S CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE!
MARANATHA! COME, LORD JESUS!
BE READY! REVIVAL IS COMING!
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
ONE NEW MAN!
VICTORY!
STANDING IN THE GAP!
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