UPDATE: Edward has prayed for more than 55,000 potential voters at VoteYourValues2020.com. We asked him about his passion for prayer and this Vote Your Values assignment. We were so encouraged by his response:

Prayer has been a focal point in my blessed life from my mid teens forward.  Through Bible studies, sermons, and personal study time in the Word, the Lord demonstrated the value of prayer, and I am so thankful for His insights and guidance through the Holy Spirit.

View Comments (10)

In the beginning, the prayers were for an open mind to learn what I needed to know in high school, college, night school, and life itself. In my late teens, I prayed for a suitable marriage partner, and our pastor in a small country church introduced me to an attractive young woman, Evelyn, who became my wife 18 months later.  We both taught Junior High kids in Sunday School, and our pastor knew both of us quite well. In April of this year we celebrated 60 years in a Christ-honoring marriage, and have tried to live quiet, peaceful, and holy lives before the throne of God. We have been through many storms in life and have grown spiritually as a result.

Sometimes, the larger the storms, the more you learn as a believer.  We are both humbled by what He has done and where He has led us.  During our lives we have witnessed many life changing events: End of WWII, the Korean War, removal of prayer in public schools in ’63, the Vietnam war in the late 60’s with frequent college protests across the country, violence in our cities in 1966, Roe v. Wade in 1973, unbridled inflation, debt restructuring which now exceeds 23 trillion, colleges becoming more liberal, expansion of our idol worship to include worship of ourselves, our wealth, position, status, homes, cars, sports teams, money, and a host of other idols which ultimately have destroyed our relationship with God.

In America, we are currently engaged in an battle for the soul of our country, and many have allowed their wealth to destroy their spiritual anchor, which will result in ultimate calamity and possible destruction. Some months back we had never heard of Black Lives Matter (BLM), Antifa, and Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement, and today they are household names.  The overall purpose of these organizations is to destroy our great Republic and the basic spiritual principles that brought us success over the past 200 years, and replace them with socialism or communism. The destruction of our historical monuments is a daily reminder of efforts to erase events that shaped our history, some good and some bad, which allowed us to become the most powerful country in the entire world. The  new left and radical groups such as BLM are becoming the foundation for a new wave of public opinion, and we are greatly saddened by the turn of events. Unfortunately, I must admit that we are on the same path as Israel in 586 BC at the fall of Jerusalem and exile to Babylon.

Prayer became a key component during most of our lives and we will provide some personal experiences in order to demonstrate where God deepened our trust, love, and affection for Him as we lived through some times of great uncertainty, pain, and distress.  About 40 years ago, we experienced 3 chapter 11’s in Michigan, the last of which created great havoc for our family. This was a federal test case designed to be used on other companies in the 1980s. The U.S. Government charged all 6 employees of our small coin company with 38 federal felony counts, high penalties, and heavy legal fees for defense in the District court in Grand Rapids, Michigan (one of the longest trials in their history at that point). All of us were exonerated and lost all of our savings and wealth, but our family learned a great deal spiritually–to keep trusting the Lord. When we moved from Michigan to Arizona, my wife and 3 young daughters experienced another Chapter 11 just several weeks after we arrived. Needless to say, there was much soul searching trying to determine how and why we were here in Arizona under very difficult circumstances. During the above upheaval, we joined a solid evangelical church of 5000 parishioners called Grace Community Church in Tempe. Prayer was a key element of their ministry. Many people prayed and fasted with and for us during those rough times.

One of the members of Grace was a German immigrant who lived in Germany during the war–he and his family lost their home to allied bombers on the outskirts of a city in 1945, and were then forced to live in a partially destroyed apartment for 4-5 years. He and his family were then employed for 18 months by a sheep farm in Bufffalo, Wyoming to pay for their traveling expense from Germany to America, living in nearly slave-like conditions in a small trailer. He was 12 when he arrived in America, and moved to Milwaukee. He worked for American Motors at 18 and at age 26 he opened a small striping company . After 15 years he moved his company to Phoenix in 1981. During that period he became a born again believer, raised a family, and became a millionaire in Wisconsin. He hired me, because of my 20 years of excellent managerial/executive experience in sales. The Lord blessed us greatly at Ace Asphalt–we hired other Christians in sales and management, and the remainder of my business life was both challenging and rewarding.  The company grew from $3 million gross to over $100 million, with over 500 employees in 4 western states, winning many awards for our growth and customer loyalty. All members of my entire family have worked for Ace and my son-in-law now holds an excellent sales management position. I retired last November. Sometimes God provides big challenges and hurdles that we must embark upon to experience his full blessings.

ALL OF THE ABOVE WAS THE RESULT OF OUR SOLID, FERVENT PRAYERS AND THOSE OF FELLOW BELIEVERS.  We must be the instrument God wants to use to accomplish change.

During the past 10 – 12 years, my wife has had major 4  life threatening surgeries (one ended with sepsis, a difficult prognosis, and a 9 month recovery.)  Again, the Lord provided us with strength and endurance to fight and win in our surgical battles with PRAYER.  Evie, my wife, and I have attended Grace Community over the years. She was a gifted Bible instructor and I presented a small workshop on prayer and other Bible growth topics.

What we accomplish during this next 6 months may determine the course of history for our Republic.  The Forces of Evil are quite strong and seem to be gaining momentum with each week.  The coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed all cultures around the world, and truth and fiction are intertwined.

I enjoy praying and it gives me comfort and contentment as we overcome mainstream news bias.  This election may go down as the Election of the Century as we fight against falsehood, deception, and outright rigging to elect those who wish to destroy us.

In America we have great wealth, power, and prestige with little thought of the God who provided it. Hopefully, we will experience a great revival here in the U.S. If we could assemble 1000 prayer Partners to pray for 500 people per day, that number would total half a million per day.  This would enable us to cover all battleground states with multiple prayers.  Hopefully, all people under the IFA banner can recognize this election has profound implications. The Democratic party has moved markedly to the left.  Future generations are depending upon us to do His will to the best of our ability in this year 2020.

The coming generations that follow will view this election with great interest and our freedom is in great jeopardy.   This election will be a true slug fest at every level in our country, and we are praying for God fearing, righteous candidates to be the winners. II Chronicles 7:14 says ” If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We are committed to pray and serve where ever we can on a local, state or  national level.  We will continue to phone as we have in the past month and will continue to pray for you in all your efforts for a successful election.

Will you join us? Go to VoteYourValues2020.com.

(Used with permission. Written by Edward Ondrick, IFA intercessor.)

Please share this wonderful testimony of the power of prayer over a lifetime.