~by State Senator Jesse Green, SD24
May 5, 2023
Greetings from the Golden Dome. We have just completed our last week of session! The moment we adjourned was a special moment I will never forget. The National Day of Prayer Ceremony was going on while we were finishing up, and I was honored to give the prayer for the event on behalf of the Senate. Governor Reynolds was the first elected official to start, followed by Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg, State Auditor Rob Sand, then myself. It was a great moment of reflection for me to think about how blessed we are as Iowans.
I just started a college course on the book of Romans. Part of the course takes students through the historical circumstances of the time. We are currently examining the government, society, and what challenges the church was up against during the time the book of Romans was written. The further I go through the study, my appreciation for our system of government grows continually. The Founding Fathers structured our system in consideration of our human nature, and the flaws that come with it. Their perseverance, and the wisdom that God gave them, is why we are still a great state and the greatest nation the world has ever seen. We certainly have dark times in our history due to being flawed people, but for the most part we have been able to wrestle through our disagreements through the elected and legislative process, which as a result, has allowed our society to keep moving forward without having to shed more blood amongst ourselves.
The following is a prayer I wrote out the first year you elected me and I have kept in my desk ever since as a reminder to help me stay grounded during stressful times of the legislative process. It is also the prayer I gave at the event. I hope it is helpful to you as well as you make tough decisions.
Heavenly Father, teach us to stand in your grace. When we are standing in grace, we have a proper perspective of who we are, and who you are. When we stand in grace, we have a proper understanding that we are all helplessly in need of a Savior, and must receive the forgiveness you offer. As a result of standing in grace, we will begin to live a life of gratefulness and have the ability to forgive others. It is then that we will become the men, women, and servant leaders you have created us to be.
Teach us to stand in faith. Faith is the invisible that we know to be true because of who You are. Some of us have faith in our money, sports teams, our families, where we live, and far too often we are guilty of putting too much faith in our political ideologies. I pray that we learn to stand in faith in You, and You alone.
Teach us to stand in Christian liberty. Christian liberty is not a matter of having the ability to be whoever we want to be and follow our whimsical feelings from day to day, but rather Christian liberty is being given the ability to be the kind of people we ought to be and you created us to be. Please teach us to use our freedom to glorify your Son, the one who purchased our freedom on the cross with His blood.
Teach us to stand in unity. There is only one action that can unify any two people, and two political parties, and that action is a bended knee to your Son for what He accomplished on the cross.
Once we evaluate ourselves today and know that we are standing where we should be, give us the courage to fight. On this side of heaven, we will always be in a fight, and we are honored that you have given every one of us in this room the very breath in our lungs to be a part of the fight for at least one more day today.
Bless this time we have together, may our words, actions, and legislation glorify you. We love you. In your Sons precious and holy name that is greater than any other, Amen.
I hope to see you at a parade or community event. Please reach out to me for a cup of coffee or with a phone call at 515-351-9761 to discuss whatever is on your mind. Thank you and God bless you.
