National Day of Prayer

Thursday, May 4 is the National Day of Prayer.  Begun formally in 1952 and later established as the first Thursday of May, the National Day of Prayer reads as such in the US legal code: “The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” (36 U.S.C. §119)

What a great reminder of the New Testament’s call to constant prayer!  In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul encourages his readers to “pray without ceasing.”  Much like the Thanksgiving holiday reminds us of the Bible’s exhortation to give thanks to our God, so the National Day of Prayer can remind us to entreat the God who made us.

But how and about what do we pray?  The context of 1 Thessalonians 5 reminds us that our prayers can include joy and gratitude.  We saw in 1 John 1 last Sunday that confession is critical. When we confess our sins, God offers us his forgiveness and cleansing. As Jesus himself instructed in Matthew 6:13, we can pray to be delivered from evil. We can pray for strength and love to live out the things we profess (we’ll look at this in 1 John 2 this Sunday).  We can pray as Paul did for the Ephesian believers that we and others “may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance” (Eph 1:18).

With all this in mind, let’s be encouraged to pray:

• Personally – confession, thanks, family needs, that we would live out our part of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20)
• Locally – our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, local ministries
• Nationally – wisdom for our leaders, that they would seek the God of the Bible (1 Tim 2:1-2)
• Globally – our global partners; Christians around the world, especially those suffering persecution for their faith