May 1, National Day Of Prayer
May 1 is the annual National Day Of Prayer. My church, like many, is committed to interceding for the needs of our great and troubled nation on this day. We have conducted this occasion in many ways in the past, including organized assemblies and detailed prayer lists. This time we have simply encouraged one another to set aside significant time(s) to pray, and left the details up to the individuals. Such is in line with “the priesthood of the believer”, a significant doctrine of our church.
Last night at our Midweek Prayer Service, I asked the small group who was gathered to put together a list of some specific ways to pray for our nation. Here’s the list:
(1) Wars in Afghanistan & Iraq
(2) Churches
(3) Political Representatives – federal, state, local
(4) Firemen & Policemen
(5) Economy
(6) Families
(7) Those In Positions Of Authority
(8) Those Losing Homes & Jobs
(9) The Elderly
(10) Wisdom & Discernment Of The People
(11) For The Department Of Transportation to do something about the dangerous condition of Davenport Road
Some thoughts about the list:
*No one is suggesting we pray for victory in these wars- such would be rather presumptive. Our church members, as I think are most Americans, are quite weary of this war and saddened more than angered by the mounting death tolls. We are praying for an end to war.
*Our Wednesday night group is mainly older people, I think because the younger members are either working in other areas of the church at the moment, or in the middle of a busy week of work and activity and think they cannot spare the time for midweek church. That is too bad, because in my opinion, when you are too busy to pray then you are too busy. Anyhow, several of these older members are Yellow-Dog-Democrats. Still, they find it important to pray regularly for our Republican Administration, Governor, Senators, Congressman, etc. Indeed, prayer transcends politics.
*#11 is interesting. I try diligently to encourage our people to move beyond seeing intercessory prayer as basically a time to pray for the sick! So I make a habit every meeting to ask for requests for other matters. And this time I was specifically requesting prayers for our country. So when the lady voiced her request, at first I was stunned into a moment of silence. It just came out of left field, not germane to the current issue. It is an important matter- her driveway empties onto a semi-blind curve, so for her safety something needs to be done. But it seems an example for all of how difficult we find it to move beyond ourselves and our own immediate needs when we pray.
NDP 2008 – from the Florida Prayer Network, a detailed and helpful prayer guide. I notice at least one mistake in their list of federal leaders- can you find it?
Lady G has a fine post on this subject.
Ultimately, like most things that are important, prayer needs to be something we do. Those of us in churches are sometimes more involved with planning and studying than the actual doing.
Prayer- Just Do It!
