The other day, I heard a Christian radio talk show host repeat our national motto, “In God we trust.” She said it as if it were true. I only wish.

I think God would be shocked to think that our nation, or even a majority of our nation, truly believes that. But before you begin thinking I’m some kind of closet liberal or that this may be true of all the non-Christians in America, but not of evangelicals, think again. I believe most people who call themselves evangelicals don’t actually live out, “In God we trust.”
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A few weeks ago, I got into a discussion with some young Christians who said they didn’t believe in the death penalty. “But do you believe God believes in the death penalty?” I asked.

Well, there was some debate on that. They thought God did believe in it, but Jesus didn’t largely because of the story of the woman caught in adultery. “I’m not sure how to take that.” I said, “I always thought Jesus was God, don’t you? Do you think the Son and the Father have a disagreement over this issue?” They weren’t ready to go there, so of course they wanted to know what I thought.

I don’t believe in the death penalty as it’s enforced in the U.S. currently. But, I actually believe in the death penalty, if we applied it with the safeguards God provided. And here’s why;
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Years ago, I was listening to an interview on NPR that startled me. The man being interviewed was the Director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism in California. (By the way, Altruism is the unselfish concern for others. And I have no memory of the interviewee.) The rest of this blog is my best recollection of this interview.

“I became a Christian after studying altruism,” he said. That got my attention! He went on to say, “I believe Darwin and evolutionary science are largely correct in the animal and natural world, but I believe they are wrong regarding humans. And here’s why.”
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I’ve had times when I’ve been so tired, angry or discouraged that I either couldn’t pray or it just felt hypocritical to do so.

Sometimes the source of my spiritual dryness is obvious to me. It’s either sin in my life that I self-righteously thought I have a right to commit because someone hurt me deeply. Other times I’ve been disappointed with God, and just didn’t see the point of asking him for anything, just then.

I can’t be the only one who holds back on spending time with God because “prayer just isn’t working for me.”

So, I thought it might be helpful to share how God enabled me and will enable you to move forward, even when we don’t feel like praying.
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