A Day of Prayer?

When the apostle Paul told us, by way of the Thessalonian letter, to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the idea of a "day of prayer" seems to maybe send the wrong message to some of our citizens. Sure, it's a fine reason to draw the Church together to pray with one voice, as happened at a "prayer concert" last night at a large Omaha church. But do we need a day on the calendar, and one set by Harry Truman at that (a fine gentleman, but not well known for his evangelical convictions), to bring the Church together for prayer?

And, with the religious climate in our nation today, can we really hope to have a "national" prayer day that will in any way be satisfying to all, even among those who accept the name "Christian", and even less those who call themselves some other name or no-name. James Dobson is miffed at the president for not sending a cabinet member to the event at the Capitol, and now a "source" claims that conditions were set on who could come from the White House, i.e., they had to be "pro-life." An understandable qualification from Dobson's view of an event built on prayer to the God of life, but further limiting the scope of a day intended to bring the nation to prayer.

Meanwhile, others want to open up the appeal for prayer to all comers, regardless of the content of their faith statements. Now, as I understand the Bible, God Himself puts limits on the kind of prayer He responds to, i.e., that which comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is to say, "in Jesus' name." God may "hear" other prayers, and in His sovereign will may allow a person to follow that route to eventually find the truth that is through the One Savior of all mankind, Jesus Christ. But that's not to say He regards all prayers as equal, just being happy that at least folks are praying, not cursing.

Maybe it's just impossible these days to get everyone to agree on the meaning of a "day of prayer", so it might be better to just call the Church of Jesus together (and maybe a lot more often than yearly would be a good idea), and make it clear that only those who pray in the Spirit of God (Ephesians 6:18) are expected to join in. At least then we won't get people confused by thinking at "all prayers are equal."