REMARKS

             BY
      Cm EVERETT KOOP, M,D,
        SURGEON GENERAL
           OF THE
    U,S, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
US, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

    PRESENTED TO THE
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
  NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
     'MARCH 28, 1989


  THIS PRAYER BREAdFAST IS AN INNOVATION FOR THE COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, AND I'M DELIGHTED TO SEE IT COME ABOUT,
THOSE OF US IN GOVERNMENT HEAR A LOT ABOUT THE SEPARATION OF
CHURCH AND STATE BUT THAT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO MEAN SEPARATION

OF GOD AND STATE, WE ARE GRATEFUL TO HAVE MEMBERS OF MILITARY
MINISTRY WITH US TODAY, A BRANCH OF CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST
UNDER WHOSE AUSPICES THIS BREAKFAST IS HELD, AND I WOULD LIKE TO
ASSURE MY FRIENDS WHO CONSIDER JUDAISM THEIR RELIGION THAT WHEN I
SPEAK OF GOD TODAY, I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE GOD OF ABRAHAM
AND SARAH, OF ISAAC AND REBECCA, OF JACOB AND RACHEL, AND OF YOU
AND ME,


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  I BELIEVE IT IS FITTING FOR THOSE OF US IN THE HEALTH
PROFESSIONS TO HAVE SUCH AN OCCASION AS THIS, MANY OF US
PRACTICE WHAT WE CALL WHOLE PERSON MEDICINE AND LET ME TELL YOU
WHAT THAT MEANS TO ME, I BELIEVE THAT MAN IS A TRINITY, HE IS A
SOUL, HE HAS A SPIRIT AND HE INHABITS A BODY,  IF WE MINISTER TO
ANY ONE OF THESE OR ANY TWO TO THE EXCLUSION OF THE THIRD, WE ARE
MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE CARE OF THE WHOLE PERSON,


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  AS I HAVE PONDERED THE QUESTION, I THINK THESE TIMES OF
SPIRITUAL GET TOGETHER ARE CALLED PRAYER BREAKFASTS BECAUSE IT'S
EASIER TO TALK ABOUT PRAYER, WHICH IS COMMON TO ALL RELIGIONS,
RATHER THAN TO GET OFF INTO SOME DOCTRINE THAT MIGHT BE
CRITICIZED BY OTHERS,

  ONE CAN ONLY SPEAK FROM WHERE HE STANDS, I'M GOING TO SPEAK
WHERE I STAND AND CENTER WHAT I HAVE TO SAY THIS MORNING AROUND
PRAYER,


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  YOU HAVE HEARD ME SAY MANY TIMES THAT I HAVE NEITHER POWER
NOR BUDGET, BUT I DO HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF COMMUNICATIONn WITH
THAT IN MIND, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION: ARE YOU ON
SPEAKING TERMS WITH GOD? IF YOU ARE, YOU ARE BLESSED AND IF YOU
ARE NOT LET ME TELL YOU THE WAY YOU COMMUNICATE IS BY PRAYER,

  ONE QUESTION PEOPLE FREQUENTLY ASK ME: IF GOD IS SOVEREIGN,
WHY PRAY AT ALL? I HAVE NO BETTER ANSWER THAN THAT GIVEN BY THE
GREAT BRITISH PREACHER OF THE LAST CENTURY, CHARLES SPURGEON WHO
SAID:  "YOU PRAY BECAUSE IT'S GOD'S PLAN." NOW, BEFORE I GET
INTO A FURTHER DISCUSSION OF PRAYER, I SHOULD TELL YOU HOW I CAME
TO BE WHERE I AM SPIRITUALLY,


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  I WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO WAS RAISED IN A CHRISTIAN HOME
WITH DEVOUT CHURCH GOING PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, I DID ALL THE
THINGS THAT THEY DID, COULD HAVE ANSWERED PRACTICALLY ANY SUNDAY
SCHOOL QUIZ YOU GAVE ME, APPROPRIATE TO MY AGE, BUT I NEVER
UNDERSTOOD WHAT I PROFESSED TO BELIEVE, I WAS 29 WHEN THAT DAY
CAME AND IT WASN'T A SINGLE DAY, IT WAS A GRADUAL ACCUMULATION OF
KNOWLEDGE THAT I EVENTUALLY APPROPRIATED FOR MY SELF OVER A
PERIOD OF SEVERAL YEARS, AND IT WAS MORE THAN JUST SHIFTING
GEARS FROM MY PARENTS' RELIGION TO MINE,  IT WAS REALLY A WHOLE
NEW REVELATION THAT BROUGHT ME TO UNDERSTAND WHERE I HAD BEEN,

WHERE I WAS AND WHERE I WAS GOING,


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  AT THAT AGE OF 29, I FIRST UNDERSTOOD THAT A CHRISTIAN WAS A
PERSON WHO BELIEVED THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS AND
THAT HE CAME TO DO WHAT HE SAID HE CAME TO DO, THIS IS THE
SIMPLEST DEFINITION I KNOW ALTHOUGH IT MAY SOUND COMPLICATED, HE
SAID HE WAS THE UNIQUE SON OF GOD AND HE SAID HE CAME TO REDEEM
SINNERS, I BELIEVED THAT THEN, I BELIEVE IT NOW,

  THE BIBLE HAS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT TO SAY ABOUT PRAYER, BUT
TWO THINGS: ONE POSITIVE AND ONE NEGATIVE ARE WORTH
REMEMBERING, ST, PAUL TOLD TIMOTHY TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING BUT
WE ARE ALSO TOLD IN THE 66TH PSALM THAT IF WE CHERISH SIN IN OUR
HEARTS GOD WILL NOT HEAR OUR PRAYER, SO IF WE'iE INTERESTED IN
BEING ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH GOD, WE HAVE TO MAKE PRAYER A
SERIOUS HABIT, AND WE HAVE TO COME IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND,


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  IN ADDITION TO i/HAT THE BIBLE MIGHT SAY, MEN HAVE SAID A
GREAT DEAL MORE,  NEVERTHELESS, AS I REFLECT ON THE RELATIVE
AMOUNTS OF TIME PEOPLE SPEND ON THEIR BODIES COMPARED TO THEIR
SOULS, CONSIDERING THE STAKES, I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYONE HERE
WHO PROPORTIONS HIS TIME CORRECTLY, I KNOW I DON'T,

  A LOT OF PRAYER IS HIT AND RUN, BY THAT I MEAN "LORD GET ME
OUT OF THIS AND I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU ASK", SUCH PRAYER COULD BE
CALLED THE GIMMES,


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   BEFORE WE HAD THE 4 NEW WARNINGS ON CIGARETTES, YOU ALL KNOW
HOW HACKNEYED THE SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING ABOUT CIGARETTES
BECAME, NOBODY PAID ANY ATTENTION TO THE MEANING OF "THE SURGEON
GENERAL HAS DETERMINED THAT SMOKING IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH",
BUT IT WAS FREQUENTLY MENTIONED IN DERISION OR IN A JOKING WAY,

  SO IT IS WITH THE LORD'S PRAYER -- I DOUBT THERE IS ANYONE
HERE WHO DOESN'T KNOii THE LORD'S PRAYER, BUT HAVE YOU SAID IT SO
OFTEN THAT IT HAS BECOME MEANINGLESS? IT REALLY IS THE
DISCIPLE'S PRAYER, NOT THE LORD'S PRAYER -- WHICH IS FOUND IN THE
17TH CHAPTER OF JOHN'S GOSPEL, -- AND I DON'T THINK IT WAS EVER

MEANT TO BE SAID REPETITIOUSLY AS IT IS IN SO MANY CHURCHES, THE

DISCIPLE'S SAID:  "LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY," JESUS GAVE THEM A
SAMPLE, A GUIDE, A TYPE,


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  FOR YOU FDA'ERS OUT THERE, THERE ARE NO RULES OR REGULATIONS
FOR PRAYER BUT THERE ARE GUIDELINES AND THEY ARE IN THE 1lTH
CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, AND THE 6TH CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL
OF MATHEW BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE LORD'S PRAYER IS FOUND,

  PRAYER BEGINS WITH A "P" AND IN ORDER THAT YOU REMEMBER WHAT
I'M SAYING, LET ME BE ALLITERATIVE AND DO A LITTLE PLAY ON WORDS,

  YOU'LL FIND THE LORD'S PRAYER PRINTED IN YOUR PROGRAMS, YOU
MAY WANT TO JUST FOLLO'd ALONG,


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  OUR FATHER, ACKNOWLEDGES WHO IS BEING ADDRESSED, WHO GOD IS,
AND ESTABLISHES THE RELATIONSHIP WHICH WE KNObi FULL WELL BECAUSE
WE HAVE ALL HAD A FATHER AND MOST OF US ARE PARENTS AND
UNDERSTAND THAT RELATIONSHIP,

  WHO ART IN HEAVFN, ACKNOWLEDGES -WHERE GOD IS AND FIXES THAT
IN RELATIONSHIP TO WHERE WE ARE,

  ii& LOWED BE THY NAME, IS THE ACKNOh'LEDGEMENT OF WHAT GOD IS
-- HE IS HOLY AND DESERVING OF PRAISE AND HONOR AND GLORY,


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  SO FAR WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT PRAISE TO GOD, IN THIS
EXEMPLARY PRAYER, IT SAYS TO ME THAT CONVERSATION WITH GOD SHOULD
BEGIN WITH PRAISE,

  IHY KINGDOM COME-, HAS TO DO WITH THE ORDER OF THINGS IN
GOD'S WILL, IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO MAKE HIS
WILL YOUR WILL AND BRING ORDER TO EVERYTHING YOU DO,

   THY WI LBE, INDICATES THAT
BECAUSE HE IS PREEMINENT THERE; HE SHOULD BE PREEMINENT IN OUR
HEARTS,


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  REMEMBER I SAID WE WOULD 3E DOING ALLITERATION IN P'S,
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PRAYER, AND PRAISE IS WHAT I HAVE SAID COMES
FIRST,

  THE NEXT "P" IS GOING TO BE PETITION, BUT BE VERY CLEAR THAT
PRAISE PRECEDES PETITION,

  GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAIIY BRFAD, IS NOT BECAUSE THE LORD
DOESN'T KNOW WHAT WE NEED BUT IT MAKES US FOCUS ON THE ESSENTIALS
AND WHAT IS IN HIS WILL,


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  GOD WILL PROVIDE OUR NEEDS BUT HE WANTS TO BE ASKED, IN A
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP, THE PARENT WANTS TO BE MORE THAN JUST
A PROVIDER, SO IT IS WITH GOD WHO WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS
CHILD,

  WE HAVE BEEN PETITIONING WITH A "P" - FOR PROVISION WITH A
"P", AND WE HAVE THE NEW TESTAMENT PROMISE THAT "MY GOD SHALL
SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS," - NOT WANTS, BUT NEEDS,

  FORGIVE US OUR DE3TS AS WF FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS, IS THE CRUX
OF ANY PRAYER, DEBTS ARE SINS AND ONLY GOD CAN FORGIVE SIN, AND

WITHOUT THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN WE CAN HAVE NO EXPECTATION OF
FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM HERE OR ABODE WITH HIM LATER, THIS IS A "P"
FOR THIS IS PURIFICATION,


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  LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPUTION BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL, ARE
PETITIONS ASKING FOR PROTECTION, *

  JHINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE PO'rJER, AND THE GLORY FOR FVFR, HAS
SPECIAL MEANING FOR ME,  JESUS HAD JUST RETURNED FROM THE
WILDERNESS WHERE HE HAD BEEN TEMPTED BY SATAN, THERE, SATAN
TEMPTED HIM BY OFFERING HIM THE KINDOM'S OF THIS EARTH, THE POWER
TO RULE THEM, AND THE GLORY THAT GOES WITH IT IF JESUS WOULD BOW

DO'dN AND WORSHIP
ACKNO'dLEDGING TO
DISCIPLES, THAT T
HIS FATHER'S, I
-- HE EMPHASIZED

FOREVER,

HIM, JESUS, WITH THAT EXPERIENCE SO RECENT, IS
GOD HIS FATHER, IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS
'HE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY ARE UNIQUELY
LIKE TO THINK THAT WHEN HE PRAYED THIS SENTENCE
THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY


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AMEN, MEANS YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF "SO BE IT",

  TO RECAPITULATE THE "P'S",  WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING THE LOWER
OF PRAYER, THE ORDER OF EVENTS IN THE LORD'S PRAYER IS PRAISE,
PETITION FOR PROVISION, THEN PETITION FOR PROTECTION -- AND
REMEMBER PRAISE PRECEDES PETITION -- THEN PETITION FOR
PURIFICATION,

  THE FINAL PARAGRAPH OF PRAISE HAS TO DO WITH PREEMINENCE --
THAT'S THE KINGDOM, WITH POWER AND WITH PERFECTION - THAT'S
GLORY,


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  PRAYER IS HOW WE FIND COURAGE TO LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN, TO
FIND A SPOUSE, TO BEAR THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE, TO ENDURE
REJECTION, TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN, JOBS, AND MUCH MORE
-- TO KEEP IN CLOSE COMMUNICATION WITH GOD,

  GOD IS REAL; GOD IS PERSONAL; GOD IS THERE, GOD HAS SPOKEN
TO US THROUGH THE OLD AND THE NE\+/ TESTAMENTS, THROUGH HIS
PROPHETS AND APOSTLES AND FINALLY THROUGH HIS SON,


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  THEOLOGY, WHICH IS THE STUDY OF GOD, CAN BE AS COMPLICATED
AS YOU WANT TO MAKE IT,

  THE LATE CARL BARTH, WAS A THEOLOGIAN'S THEOLOGIAN, HE WAS
ONE OF THE MOST COMPLICATED THEOLOGIANS THAT EVER LIVED, AND I
FOR ONE, FOUND HIM VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, YET WHEN WE WAS
AN OLD MAN OVER 90, HE GRANTED A RARE INTERVIEW TO REPORTERS WHO
HAD BEEN TRYING TO SEE HIM FOR YEARS, THEY ASKED HIM THIS
QUESTION:  WHAT IS THE MOST PROFOUND THING THAT YOU HAVE EVER
LEARNED IN YOUR LIFE? CARL BARTH VERY QUIETLY AND SLOWLY SAID
WHAT EVERY CHILD LEARNS IN SUNDAY SCHOOL, "JESUS LOVES ME THIS I
KNOW FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO",