Well it’s that time of year again. April 15th is the income tax deadline every year.
How much will the federal government spend this year? About $4 trillion. (And no I don’t know how many zeroes there are in a trillion – but it’s a lot!)
Top 4 categories of spending by the Federal Government
Social Security, unemployment and labor - $1.28 trillion
Medicare and Health - $1.05 trillion
Military - $609.3 Billion
Interest on the debt - $229.3 Billion
Does the government represent your views with the way they spend your money? Do they use the money you send them wisely? I worry that the 4th biggest spend item is interest on the debt. How is that sustainable?
I know that Christians have various political views, and are far from a monolithic group. However, I think we can all agree that we need leaders with wisdom and discernment in addition to leaders who are believers. This week let’s pray for our country, our leaders and our future.
Heavenly Father,
We know from our own history books that this nation has been a unique experiment, and a blessing from You to millions. We are a nation of immigrants, who in this one country have been able to overcome our differences and unite to provide a place with the strong values found in the Bible. We thank You for all the blessings You have lavished upon our nation.
Help us, oh Lord, to continue to shine Your light throughout the world. We pray that You would help men and women discern their gifts, and if their gift is leadership, that they would govern diligently. (Romans 12:8) Lord we pray for calm, sober leaders who would seek Your wisdom as we go through these troubled times.
We pray that You would protect our men and women in the military and all those who now serve, and have served our nation in the past.
We pray that our citizens would continue to value our Constitution and way of life, that we could be united in the wisest path forward.
We pray for responsible government that will seek to use the money given to it by its citizens to improve and protect our nation, and not create so much debt that it becomes a burden to our children in the future.
We pray that the members of the government remember that they are there to serve the citizens, and not the other way around.