Praying for our Nation and our Families

I usually stay fairly quiet with political issues, because I don't like to debate or cause contention. But I do believe it is extremely important to be informed/educated and do our part to improve the world. Today, I am not talking about any issue in particular, just the bettering of our nation in general. We must stand for what is good and protect our families!
My family found this article on the church website yesterday about doing our part, and I was very touched and inspired by it. I love that it emphasized the importance of strengthening our families, because we have seen Satan fighting so hard to break families most recently. This talk was given over 30 years ago, yet Elder Perry knew families would be facing these trials today!
It is our job to teach our children in our homes what is good and right and to depend on Faith and our families!
Here is the article, if you would like to read it.
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=1e705930f289b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

I posted my favorite parts here below, and then I added the flyer for a Nation wide FASTING AND PRAYER, Friday 9/11, in case you wanted to participate.
Just sharing my thoughts. :)
love, Brooke

God’s Hand in the Founding of America
by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Council of the Twelve
(New Era, Jul 1976, p45, Adapted from an address delivered on February 24, 1976, at BYU)

I look around me and find some very definite signs of the decay that is beginning to occur. Corruption, crime, dishonesty, immorality, pollution, laziness, devotion only to special interests—these are signs that precede the fall of great civilizations. We see so much evidence of these signs before our eyes. Yet I realize the promise that has been given to us in this great land of America. I also remember the prophecies concerning our great responsibilities to preserve that which we have been blessed with by God. The Lord has promised to sustain the truth in this land.
Our commitment to America has been testified to by many, but I will point out to you special witnesses who have indicated our responsibilities to this land.
First from Brigham Young, second president of the Church: “Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, ‘The time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.’ It will be so.” (Journal of Discourses, 7:15.)
Now another witness, John Taylor, third president of the Church: “When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth, and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations.” (The Gospel Kingdom, Deseret Book Co., 1943, p. 219.) This is part of the program.
A final witness is from George Q. Cannon, former member of the First Presidency, who said that “the day will come when the Constitution and free government under it will be sustained and preserved by this people.” (JD, 23:104.)
Now, I declare to you that if we are not in the beginning stages of the fulfillment of this prophecy, we are at least in the stages where we are preparing for its fulfillment. . .
America’s Future
Today we are fortunate to live in a choice and promised land. It will remain free and blessed as long as its people remember the God who gave them life and this free land. We must remember that the family is the basic unit of a strong society. We are all part of God’s family; and as our Father, he expects us to build strong family units. It is in the family that the basic morality and righteousness should be taught that will keep America free. Each member of every family plays an important role in America. For several thousand years throughout this land the great fathers and mothers, the noble sons, the patriot sons, the choice daughters have forged America into what we have today.
It is America’s conscience that has preserved her. America is beautiful only when she is good, when children are laughing in her streets, and love abounds in her families. Without this conscience, civilization crumbles, as it has before on this continent. We are all part of America’s future. Our job is to remember the lessons of the past, to patch up the mistakes and the sins of everything that has gone before. The place to start is within our own families; and as we have been counseled, “No success can compensate for failure in the home.” That’s where we want to leave these people who come and have an opportunity of hearing our message, the most important message that will be taught during America’s Bicentennial year.
America’s Greatness Is Based on Righteousness
The source of America’s greatness is not a new doctrine to us. The Book of Mormon has declared over and over again that the blessings of heaven are contingent upon the righteousness of its people. In fact, this teaching has been proven in almost every age. Remember in 1831 when the famous French historian Alexis de Tocqueville said:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world of commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” (Jerreld L. Newquist, comp., Prophets, Principles and National Survival, Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1967, p. 60.)
I want to again remind you of your responsibility to preserve the righteousness of America. I have reviewed 4,000 years of history, declaring this to be a land of promise, chosen of the Lord for his special purposes. Now we must deal with America’s future. The land must continue to remain strong and great and good. It is destined to be the major supplier of human and financial resources, to build the kingdom of God here in the whole world, and to prepare the world for the return of the Lord and Savior. The adversary knows all too well that a weak America will literally stop this building process and thwart the work of God.
I hope I have painted a clear picture for you to see your role in this great eternal process. The Lord is making his major investment in you. In my dealings with the Lord, I have found him to be one who expects performance. Look at the very beginning; he supplied Adam and Eve with the potential for their needs. Remember his first command to them—multiply, replenish, have dominion over, and subdue. (See Gen. 1:28.) They were not placed in the Garden of Eden merely to have a comfortable life or to enjoy the benefits of the Lord’s labor, but to accomplish, to do. He is the supplier of resources and, in turn, expects performance out of us.
John Adams understood the potential of a righteous government when he wrote:
“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible as their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. Every member would be obligated in conscience to temperance and frugality and industry, to justice and kindness and charity toward his fellowmen, and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God. In this commonwealth no man would impair his health with gluttony, drunkenness or lust. No man would sacrifice his precious time to cards or trifling with other mean amusements. No man would steal or lie or in any way defraud his neighbor, but would live in peace and good will toward all men. No man would blaspheme his Maker or profane his worship, but a rational and manly, a sincere and unaffected devotion would reign in the hearts of all men. What a utopia, what a paradise this region would be.”
I want to issue you a challenge. I want you who are the best trained, the best educated, who have been given these great advantages here in America to literally become the conscience of America and the molders of its destiny and future. With your knowledge, your training, your understanding of how God works in the hearts of his children here on earth, let us obligate ourselves to temperance, to frugality, and to industry. Let us show justice, kindness, and charity toward our fellowmen. Let us demonstrate the love and reverence we should exhibit toward our Almighty God. Let us not trifle with the things that are holy to God.
Fifty-six men represented 2.5 million in 1776 to bring about a new nation that has literally blessed the whole world. That was one man to every 45,000. Today I’m calling on each of you to exert an influence over about 220 million people in this land. The odds are even better for you; the advantage is on your side. This is the time for you to be bold enough to stand up for what you believe, to let the world know that God still blesses this great land of America—if we will live righteously, according to that which he has commanded.
Will God bless us that we may have the courage to fulfill our responsibility here? I know by personal experience during these last two years that the heavens are still open, that he still does direct his work here. That message should ring from the hilltops of this nation during its Bicentennial. Will you have the courage to stand up with me and be counted with those who would preserve this land of the free through the righteousness of its people?

Isn't that a great article!!

During the Revolutionary War, Congress appointed a Day of Fasting & Prayer to call upon God, and plead for His Providential aid. The fasting and prayers of three million Americans were answered as the power of God enabled them to win battles they otherwise shouldn’t have won and gave them strength to defeat their enemy.
Today, we too are in need of miracles for this great nation. We invite you to join us as we call upon God again through Fasting & Prayer on September 11, 2009,
to help us secure and preserve our Faith * Family * Freedom
and for guidance to know what WE can do to protect our Nation and its inspired Constitution.
Please join us!