On Thursday, April 9, a Wiccan will open the Iowa House of Representatives in “prayer.”
Every day before the legislature is opened, a prayer is offered for Iowa’s legislators, asking God to give them guidance. Traditionally this invocation has been performed by a Christian pastor, but it is open to whomever the appointed legislator wishes to invite. Rep. Liz Bennett of Cedar Rapids chose to invite a Wiccan priestess.
It’s a development many Christians across the state recognize has spiritual ramifications. Many have asked The FAMiLY LEADER how they can respond.
The simplest and most powerful answer is to pray.
In fact, on Thursday, April 9, several Christian leaders and pastors in the Des Moines area are planning to come to the Iowa Capitol to pray for the Lord’s guidance and protection. You can visit the Facebook page “Prayer at the Capitol,” for example, to hear Pastor Michael Demastus of Fort Des Moines Church of Christ explain in his own words why he’s mobilizing a prayer vigil during the same time as the Wiccan invocation.
The FAMiLY LEADER constantly encourages pastors to take a stand for our Christian values, and we are encouraged that pastors are coordinating prayer efforts at the Capitol.
In the United States of America and the State of Iowa citizens have the freedom to worship whomever they wish. It was these religious liberties that helped the church thrive and grow in America. We believe Rep. Bennett has those same rights as well.
It is not the exercising of Rep. Bennett’s rights that brings us concern. Rather it is the spiritual heart and condition of our state and nation that would bring us to the point of seeking a Wiccan’s guidance on our government that brings us concern.
Since the founding of our nation many Americans have chosen to worship the God of the Bible, the triune and one true God, the Creator of the universe. It is to Him we have prayed and opened legislative sessions in the state of Iowa. It is He whom the Iowa Constitution refers to as the “Supreme Being.” It was also to Him Benjamin Franklin urged the Constitutional Convention to pray to at the founding of our nation.
So, yes, Rep Bennett does have the right to have a Wiccan pray. But why? Why not pray to the God who has blessed our nation and our state since its founding?
In 1 Samuel 17 David a small shepherd challenged Goliath because of Goliath’s pride to stand against the one true God. And in 1 Timothy 2:5 Paul writes: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”
On April 9, Christians in the Des Moines area plan to also use their constitutional right and come to the Iowa Capitol to pray for the Lord’s guidance and protection. We encourage you to join them, be respectful, and pray to God to guide our state and its elected officials.
