For this month, we are focused on the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Secretary of the Commonwealth assists the Governor in his appointments to boards and commissions; and manages extraditions, clemency petitions, restoration of voting rights, and countless other certifications and filings of the Commonwealth.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth is Kay Coles James, who provided the following for the Virginia, Pray Now corporate prayer call.

Secretary James asked for everyone to pray for wisdom for all the important impactful decisions that the Governor has to make. In particular, she asked for prayerful consideration of decisions as they relate to pardons, boards and commissions, restoration of rights, and personnel.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security oversee pardon requests.  On behalf of both secretariats, Secretary James lifts up families who are waiting on pardons for their loved ones.

The Secretary asked that prayers surround her Constituent Services team.  These remarkable women manage all of the Governor’s correspondence: snail mail, voicemail, and email. She highlighted the importance of relationship management and asked that prayers surround her outreach team who have the privilege of sharing the Governor’s vision and priorities with all Virginians. Governor Youngkin has made it a priority that the outreach be a conversation—not only sharing what the administration is doing to make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family, but more importantly, connecting with Virginians and listening to what they have to say and bringing those ideas back to the administration.

Lastly, Secretary James asks that prayers surround the Partnership for Petersburg team. This initiative brings together state, local, business, community, and faith leaders to foster comprehensive relationships and change in an area of great need.

The Partnership for Petersburg is a holistic partnership that brings together more than 40 initiatives under eight separate pillars to make a significant difference in the lives and livelihoods of Petersburg’s citizens and the economic health of the city itself.  It is also the Governor’s hope that the Partnership can become a model for work with other cities across the Commonwealth.

The program includes initiatives in Agriculture and Forestry, Commonwealth, Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Labor, Public Safety, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.

Devotional:

WHEN WE PRAY

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11–13

Jeremiah is not just some old book that we can put on the shelf. It has incredible application for us today. Jesus quoted from Jeremiah during his ministry more than any other book from the Old Testament. In fact, it is quoted about 125 times in the New Testament.  

In this chapter of Jeremiah, there is a prophecy of how God will restore His people. Everyone knows verse eleven well, but we usually don’t keep reading. He is inviting us to come to Him in prayer, and He will hear.

I. GOD LISTENS 

God is so humble that He is accessible to us at any time. “Go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” It is important to know that while God promises to hear us, He doesn’t promise that the result of prayer will always be the same. 

II. HOW HE ANSWERS

There is a children’s song that says: “When I pray, sometimes God says ‘Yes’! When I pray, sometimes God says ‘No’. When I pray, sometimes God says ‘Wait’.”

He always hears, but His answer isn’t always the same.

1. The first line in this song says, “When I pray, sometimes God says ‘Yes.’”

This is the answer that is easy for us to hear.

2. But then the song says “When I pray, sometimes God says ‘No’.”

We often don’t like hearing this part, but it is biblical. Sometimes God says No to our prayers for our good! 

• Paul prayed three times that God would take away his thorn in the flesh and 3 times God said No.

• Moses prayed (Deuteronomy 3:23-29), that God would allow him to cross the Jordan with the people of Israel, and God said No.

• Jesus prayed that His cup would be taken from Him, but nevertheless not His will but the Father’s. God said No. 

But every time God says No, it is for a reason! It is for our best. Maybe you have prayed—maybe for a loved one who was dying, an election, a health problem, or a child—and God said No. It is not that He didn’t hear you, but He knew that saying Yes was not the very best. We may not always understand why, but we need to trust that God knows best and in eternity we will understand. 

3. Thirdly, “Sometimes when I pray, God says ‘wait’.” 

When Jesus was asked Jesus to come heal Lazarus, He waited so that God’s glory could be seen in a greater way!

While the answer is not always the same, God does hear the prayer of the righteous. And He answers and does what is best for us. Today, God is listening.

Revelation 8:4 says, “And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God…” Prayer rises before the throne as incense! Just as the incense that the priests would bring into the temple as a symbol of prayer, we too can bring the incense of prayer in our spiritual temple within us. 

When we kneel in prayer early in the morning, it rises before His throne. When we gather and pray in church, it rises before His throne. And when we gather as believers from different churches and places and pray together, it rises before His throne.