Thursday, May 1st, is the National Day of Prayer , a day set aside to pray for our country.
When
I look at the problems in our world, nation, state, community, and our
schools, it becomes very clear to me that our intellect and financial
resources alone cannot solve these problems. Our founding fathers
realized this early in our country’s history too.
According to
the National Day of Prayer website, “The National Day of Prayer is a
vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775,
when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in
forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history,
including President Lincoln's proclamation of a day of "humiliation,
fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress,
signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer.”
In
recent years, there has also been an open invitation for people of
faith to meet on this day at their local city hall from 12:20 pm –
12:40 pm for 20 minutes of prayer.
Last year was the first time I made it to City Hall for this special time. This is what happened in 2007.
I arrived at city hall a few minutes late and was rather expecting to see
a small group at the 3 flag poles on the plaza but didn't. There just was a
maintenance worker eating lunch at a picnic table and 2 people seated
on the ledge by the POW memorial plaque.
Although I did not really expect anything inside City Hall due to
today's mistaken separation of church
/state stance, I checked there anyway. Nothing there. Back outside, I thought I would walk past the man and
woman seated by the plaque. I realized as I got closer the man was
Cater Doering--the veteran who petitioned city hall for the city to fly the
POW flag.
Carter recognized me and as I approached, I saw the woman was holding up a Declaration of
Independence. They were reading it together and commenting about how
many references there were about our Creator, etc. I asked if I could
join them. Soon after, 2 separate vehicles pulled up and parked. A
woman got out of each and asked if they could join us.
We then stood in a circle, joined hands and prayed. Each of
us prayed at least once for our nation, city, soldiers, POW/MIAs, our
country's youth, the president, etc. There was also thanksgiving for the
foiled terrorist plots and the protection our nation has been blessed with
since 9/11. It was a great experience.
Here I did not know the 3 women at all, but
it did not matter because we were there for a common purpose. We must have prayed there about 15
minutes or so, then the 2 women had to get back to work.
If you do not feel comfortable praying corporately, please do not let that stop you from participating. If you are a person of faith, I think you will be uplifted whether you pray aloud or silently for our nation and leaders. This is not a denominational event, just a meeting of people of faith who care about our country.
2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
I am hoping that I will see Carter and the ladies again, and maybe you too?
