Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

Whose Side Are You On? Column for the weeks of April 16-30, 2007

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As the National Day of Prayer approaches, it is only fitting to give some thought to what prayer is all about. After all, God and religion are definitely in the foremost thoughts of Americans. According to the Washington Post, religion is almost as popular on the Internet as sex. A search for “sex” on Google gets about 408 million hits and a search for “God” is around 396 million.

A National Day of Prayer (NDP) is not a new concept for our country.

• 1775 – Continental Congress designated “a time for prayer in forming a new nation.”
• 1795 – George Washington proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.
• Circa 1813 – President James Madison proclaimed a day of prayer.
• 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln signed a Congressional resolution calling for a day of fasting and prayers during the Civil War.
• 1952 – President Harry Truman signed a bill unanimously passed by both houses of Congress proclaiming an annual NDP requiring the President to select a day each year.
• 1988 – Under President Ronald Reagan, a bill was signed into law fixing NDP as the first Thursday in May.

And so shall it be written and so shall it be said!

Now we even have a NDP task force to help coordinate events on the first Thursday in May. The idea is for Americans of all faiths, religions, and denominations to gather to pray for our nation. Honorary chairman this year is Charles Swindoll, award winning author and pastor/teacher of the internationally syndicated radio program Insight for Living. Accessing web site www.ndptf.org can link you to local events, if you are interested in participating.

In addition to events, the NDP web site has helpful hints about what prayer is and even what you can pray for. It has great ideas like praying for our leaders to have divine wisdom, guidance, and strength to fulfill their responsibilities (1 Timothy 1:1-2). They have a Freedom Five initiative that urges people to commit to praying at least 5 minutes a day for 5 centers of power in our nation: the government, media, education, church and family.

To be effective, prayers for a nation should recognize and acknowledge an all-powerful, sovereign God on whom we are totally dependent. Our love for God should be declared and appreciation shown for the blessings he alone bestows upon us. Prayer can be tricky because God’s will and ours are not always the same. When we create a wish list of everything we want, we could come across like “give me this and give me that.” Even if it is full of noble causes and aspirations, it is still may be a polite way of saying, “Please give us this” and “please give us that.” Prayer is not intended to persuade God into giving us what we want; its purpose is to align our will with his. We must never forget to pray, “God’s will be done,” and actually mean it, recognizing that God really does know what is best.

Most of our presidents have been supportive of this prayer effort on the part of our nation. However, I think the one who understood it the most was Lincoln who led our country during its most turbulent time – the Civil War. When a minister from the North said to Lincoln that he “hoped the Lord is on our side,” Lincoln ’s response was, “I am not at all concerned about that….But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.”

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.