Thursday, May 1st is our National Day of Prayer. Millions of believers across the USA will join their hearts together in prayer, supplication and thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.
Leading up to the National Day of Prayer, the Baptist Association in my county is hosting many “read through the Bible” events in which God’s Word will be read aloud, publicly, from beginning to end. In 15 minute time slots, we were given the opportunity to sign up and read the Bible as part of this event, which started on Monday morning and will conclude on Thursday morning. That’s 72 straight hours of Bible reading, out loud and in public!
For my slot on Tuesday morning, I picked up in the 19th Chapter of the book of II Samuel. While it was a little bit intimidating to stand and read out loud in a public place I consider it a privilege to live in a country where religious expression is still protected by the Constitution. While many in our great country just want Christians to “shut up and go away” this event provides us an excellent opportunity for us to stand up and be publicly seen and heard.
Throughout this week the USA has been on my mind as a subject of prayer and contemplation. As children of the Most High God it is our duty and responsibility to pray for our nation and our leaders. From the greatest to the smallest, we all need God’s presence in our life and a personal relationship with Him. So many in our land (and in our world) still don’t know the redeeming power of salvation or the hope that God offers all who would come to Him.
This week is an opportunity for us to really seek God’s face and pray for healing, for wisdom, and for a fresh movement of the Spirit of God in our country. But we don’t need to stop with the National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer should be the beginning of a fresh call for all believers to earnestly pray for their country, its leaders and its people.
Join with me today and commit to praying for your country. Even if you don’t live in the USA, your country needs your prayers now more than ever. Let us commit to going before our Heavenly Father with our prayers, petitions and supplications and watch as the Spirit of God begins to move.