A national day of prayer? How about praying:
In the morning - Psalm 5:3
Day and Night - Psalm 88:1
Morning, noon, and night Psalm 55:17
Without ceasing - 1Thessalonians 5:17
Prayer is not meant to be celebrated once per year, like a pagan festival. It is meant to be continuous and personal. Does that mean that we should not try to positively influence culture, of course we should. But how we do it is more important than achieving some pre-set goal or making the keynote speech. Blustering rhetoric does not make a good witness for Christ. Neither does talking the talk without walking the walk. I pray for Mr. Rekers but I am more concerned for those he may have permanently turned away from Christ. We have to be more responsible than that. When Jesus spoke of the hypocrites of His day He said this:
'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Matthew 15:8
How sad but true it can be today. We got the lip-honor down but where are our hearts? If they are not focused on the lost then we are misguided. If they are not focused on the fact that based on our beliefs, everyone not saved spends eternity in hell, then we are not focused correctly. Prayer is extremely important in the lives of believers, not this country as a whole. Every day should be our own personal national day of prayer.
Well meaning Christians love to quote 2Chronicles: 7:14 as a panacea for healing our broken land. The part they often miss is the opening of the verse. It reads, "If the people who are called by my name..." This verse is addressing how the church is supposed to behave, not the world. The land is healed when the world sees Christians living the life they profess so loudly, and professing that life, with more love. Jesus never protested when someone disagreed with Him. He did not stamp His feet up and down and insist He was the only way. He did not have to. His life showed it.
That is what He expects from us as well. He desires everyone to come to Him, not just those we deem acceptable. He wants us to come to him without distractions and anger. Without doubt in our hearts. He does not want May 6th to represent prayer. He wants all of us, to represent prayer every day. Celebrate the relationship, not the ceremony. Don't strive to stand at the podium - strive to be on your knees before Him.
