Dear IRS,

I understand your people have been deeply interested in the content of my prayers.

I never thought I'd see the day.

I have always assumed prayer in any form goes against the current notion many of you in the IRS share -- the notion that absolute separation of Church and State involves suppression of any religious expression in public.

We religious types are used to being called out for praying at football games, graduations, and the like. But I hadn't thought you would be interested in the private prayers offered by me and my like-minded fellow citizens -- people who collectively wish to put their concerns before the Almighty.

Was I ever wrong!

I'm shocked you are inquiring about private thoughts before God. I assume you may also want to talk to our pastors, insisting they break their vows to keep confessions confidential?

I suppose I should not be surprised at your behavior, since a great Prophet warned there would always be people who desired to pry into all the secrets of the human heart. "Be on your guard," he said. "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs."

Let me be clear: My prayers are none of your business. I like to keep my thoughts between me and my God. But since you asked, I will let you know what I'm praying. I pray for my family.

I ask they will be blessed, particularly the littlest members. I ask they grow up to be pure, true, noble and brave. I ask they be preserved from predators who wish to devour their minds, bodies and souls. I ask God to place guardian angels around them to keep them from harm. I pray that when and if God calls them home to live with Him, they are escorted by angels. I pray the death of innocents and innocence will cease.

I pray for the Church.

I ask she will be free to preach the blessed gospel of Christ in all its permutations. I ask she is salt to preserve an increasingly corrupt culture. I pray for bravery for her as she faces persecution here and around the globe. I pray her priests and pastors will be emboldened to stand up for the truth.

But I am guessing you don't care much about my prayers for my family and my church. I am guessing you want to know what I am praying about the government, the nation and the world. You want to know where I stand politically, and think my prayers will give you some clues.

Very well.

Here is some of what I pray:

I pray God will recall the good deeds of America and have mercy on a nation which stood up and battled at great cost the evils of fascism and communism, taking down the Nazi scourge and felling the Iron Curtain. I ask God to remember the great good our nation has done, to take note of her generosity to nations less fortunate, to remember how many of the poor and oppressed she has absorbed into her borders. I ask him to recall her great deeds of generosity, for her attempts to ameliorate the grim conditions of those living in poverty, afflicted by disease, destroyed by famine, and ground down by oppression.

Then, knowing what evils presently afflict her, I ask God to recall her to Him. I ask she repents and is forgiven. I pray for an end to the massacre of the unborn, an end to the rise of infanticide and mercy killing. I pray for the true education of our children, and for rich opportunities for them to rise to their God-given potential. I ask for the reform of our once great academic institutions and for the triumph of thinking over ideology. I pray for our military, that it not be corrupted but that it remains honorable, strong and committed to our defense and the defense of freedom everywhere.

And, yes, I pray for our government. I ask that whatever evil is hidden within be exposed; whatever nefarious machinations are being carried out be brought to the light and expunged. I ask perpetrators of evil be punished according to the law. I ask true reform sweep throughout our national, state and city governments. I pray for just and righteous servants to be raised up as leaders. I pray for congress, our courts and our executives to be models of integrity, justice and righteousness.

I ask for honesty and impartiality to reign in our civic institutions, including the IRS.

You read that correctly. I pray for the IRS, too.

I ask that it and its employees be returned to the impartiality demanded of our civil servants. I ask that if it fails that test and continues in the paths of oppression and corruption, it collapses and is replaced with a more just system.

I ask for discernment and courage for my fellow citizens. I pray we are always on the alert. I pray we all will render to Caesar what is justly his. I ask we respect and honor in as far as possible our government and our fellow citizens. I ask we have the bravery to refuse obedience when our leaders demand we go against our God-given consciences.

Last, I pray we will not give to Caesar what he has no right to know, much less demand or control; namely, our consciences, our thoughts, our hopes and our dreams -- and our prayers.

Fay Voshell holds a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, which awarded her the Charles Hodge prize for excellence in systematic theology. She was selected as one of the Delaware GOP's "Winning Women," class of 2008. Her writing has been published in American Thinker and National Review. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com