Hi, I'm Joni and tomorrow we celebrate the National Day of Prayer.
I am so excited…are you excited? Just think: hundreds of thousands, even millions of believers across the United States joining together tomorrow in earnest prayer for our nation. Because it is a different world than the one in which I grew up. Schools, courts, and communities are bitterly divided by an angry partisanship, both personal and political. You can even see it on the school playground, not to mention the halls of Congress, right? Americans have forgotten how to be civil; the result is a haranguing national competition of who is more victimized than whom. Our national identity is as unsecured as our borders, and we can't even agree as to who our enemies are. In our country, we seem to happily embrace diversity in the name of tolerance, but so many scoff at and even scorn the very Judeo-Christian foundations on which our country was founded. Nothing is safe these days -- not even the Pledge of Allegiance. It seems we have lost our moral compass and America finds itself in desperate need of prayer.
Well, during this time of great uncertainty and turmoil, let’s ask our neighbors, coworkers and friends to lay aside differences and come together for a day of prayer for our nation. It’s not political, it’s not partisan. The National Day of Prayer is a solemn occasion to seek the favor of Almighty God on behalf of the United States. The theme for tomorrow’s National Day of Prayer is "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," and I want to urge you to join hands on May 5th, to bring praise, confession, and intercession before the Throne of the Lord.
And listen: This National Day of Prayer could be a great way to reach out to your neighbors or co-workers. I mean… what person refuses prayer, right? Ask your neighbor or that person you work with to perhaps take lunch time to come with you to a National Day of Prayer event in your community. Or encourage your kids or grandkids to meet together with their Christian friends at school tomorrow – maybe before or after school, or during lunch time – just joining together for a few informal minutes of prayer.
My husband Ken is a former public high school teacher and he will be the first one to tell you that prayer has always been a part of our national tradition. Just listen to this statement by Thomas Jefferson. He wrote, “Fasting and prayer are religious exercises… acts of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises [of fasting and prayer]. Every religious society has a right to determine the objects [of prayer] proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and [that] right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it.”
So, friend, there you go; the time is short. The National Day of Prayer is almost here and I want every person listening to my voice to make plans to participate in a community or church prayer event tomorrow, would you because never has our nation been in such great need of intercession. With religious institutions under attack, and even the National Day of Prayer itself in jeopardy, we need to go before God to ask Him, in His great mercy, to pour out His compassion on His people here in America, giving us a spirit of repentance that we might turn from our wickedness and live and then would our land would be healed. Oh, one more thing. Let’s continue praying for our nation using this little booklet I'm offering today called “Pray for Our Nation” filled with Scriptures and insights. Just visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org to get your free copy of “Pray for Our Nation.”
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