A Call to Prayer...

Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Lots of “stuff” going on in the news, isn’t there? Osama bin Laden’s death is at the top of the list, and I’ve been fielding media interviews right and left as a result. (OBL was born/raised in Saudi Arabia where my most recent release, People of the Book, is set.) For those of you who celebrate cultural holidays, this is Cinco de Mayo, and that will no doubt be a media focus today too.

And then there’s the Lakers. Phooey. Won’t even go there.

But the most important thing going on today (at least in my humble estimation) will undoubtedly get little more than a brief snippet of mention on anything but Christian or ultra-conservative news organizations—the National Day of Prayer.

Yep, that’s today, and I hope you are honoring/observing it with some much needed intercession for our country. I certainly am. But I also hope that we will recognize the need to be in prayer for our country every day. One day a year is fine for a national observance, but praying every day is necessary if we want to see the necessary results.

I mentioned this need for national intercession to a friend once, and she replied, “I just don’t know what to pray about.” SERIOUSLY? Let’s see, the Scriptures tell us to pray for those in leadership, so that’s a great starting place. We also need to pray for our military, our schools, victims of national tragedies, events in the news….

As far as I can tell, the problem is not a lack of prayer needs/focus, but rather a lack of time. We could all give up our jobs and personal pursuits, spend our entire lives in prayer, and never run out of things to pray about. Now we also know that’s not going to happen, but can we realistically commit to not only pray for our country today, but to at least remember our nation’s many prayer needs each day, even if only for a moment or two? Because the bottom line is that our military and political leaders can do only so much. Like us, they are human and therefore fallible. God, however, is not, and He holds us in His nail-scarred hands. Ultimately, if our country is to survive, we need to turn back to the One who has so blessed us these many years.

Will you join me? I hear God calling….