National Day of Prayer

Posted on May 05, 2016, 8:42 am
4 mins

“What a thrilling, glorious thing it would be to see the leaders of our country today kneeling before Almighty God in prayer. What a thrill would sweep this country. What renewed hope and courage would grip the Americans at this hour of peril.”

The hour of peril when Billy Graham wrote those words was far different from the hour of peril in which we stand now. Graham’s letter to President Harry Truman and members of Congress led to the first National Day of Prayer, on April 17, 1952. We’ve been praying annually as a country ever since.

Now, long since the Korean War, the urgency remains. I don’t meet many people who are content with the current state of affairs. In a time marked by division of politics, race and religion, I can think of no more important call than that of prayer.

According to the Pew Research Center, 84 percent of the world’s population today is religious. We can picket, boycott, argue or fight against those with different views or expressions from our own, or we can recognize that this freedom to pray is part of the fabric with which America was founded. It’s freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the freedom our pilgrim forebears sought when they left England to worship as they desired. So in that tradition, let us pray.

Let us pray for our leaders. Whether you agree with their policies or not, their religion or not, their hairstyle or not, every leader needs prayer. Pray for them to have wisdom and for words that might heal and bind rather than divide.

Let us pray for “them.” Whether your definition of “them” is someone with a different sexuality, a different race or a different religion, let’s pray for relationships leading to mutual respect that might lead to less “them” and more “us.” Whoever “they” are to you, may peace and love begin in us.

Let us pray for the next generation. People often say the next generation is our future, but this will only be the case if we make them our present. Whether it’s your child, the kid next door or the university students you drive by on the way to work, let’s pray for God’s blessing and a revival of faith among those coming behind us.

For these and a million more reasons, let us pray.

As someone trying imperfectly to follow Jesus, I believe prayer is one of the greatest gifts God has granted us. It’s not about being perfect enough to participate, but rather about the perfect one who invites broken people just like me. Prayer is coming in humility to find God’s hope and love.

The National Day of Prayer offers us an opportunity to unite under this banner of hope and love.

It’s hard to explain, but there is something of supernatural significance that happens when we rally as one. Divisions are bridged. Wounds are healed. Things change for the better.

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