Must We Really?

Today is the nationally designated Day of Prayer (established in 1952 by President Truman, not the Holy Scriptures), and I've been asked before why I don't actively participate. While I don't go out of my way to avoid NDP, I have a hard time fully embracing it.

Every Sabbath (Saturday) is a day of prayer. Every Day of The Lord (Sunday) is a day of prayer; these days established by The Lord and by the early Church, respectively, to devote to worship, prayer, The Word, and the Sacraments. Each of these is devoted to the community of faith coming together to give thanks for the past week and to pray and to prepare for the week ahead.

As I continue to develop into my role in the Church as a pastor as well as a disciple of Christ and seek to become more actively engaged in The Way (as we all must), I become less concerned about gathering for prayer only because the president or the governor has declared it. I agree the nation must always seek ways to come together, but the faithful must first find it within themselves to worship The Lord deliberately, purposefully, and with holy intentions.

I do not discourage NDP. Any opportunity to engage the secular within the holy narrative is a worthwhile endeavor - until "what is holy is thrown to the dogs" and eventually loses any real meaning.

I do pray The Lord will deliver this nation, but the "leadership" from Washington DC cannot ask for or expect a national day of prayer to have any real impact while they actively seek ways to destroy those with whom they disagree and continue to deceive those whom they claim to represent. This unholy conduct, unfortunately, is not limited to Washington DC.

It bleeds into the Church which, in too many instances, has become more concerned with political action and social justice than with Her standing before The Lord. Not to impugn social justice, but often it seems to be that our sense of social justice is highly subjective, with no real shared value, and not based strictly on The Word which requires we look out for one another. Social justice, then, becomes a "god" unto itself, and prayer becomes self-serving only to that end.

Will The Lord hear a collective prayer nationally designated? Only The Lord knows. Prayer is never a wasted effort nor an empty gesture - unless we are seeking "our will be done" rather than His. Then, as The Word seems to infer, will our prayers fall on deaf Ears.

It is often said, "As the Church goes, so goes the nation". I might ask, then, how're we doin' so far? Until the Church finds Her way according to The Way, until the Church takes its role as spiritual leader to the nation seriously, we will continue to be lead by the nose according to the whims of "Caesar".

Looking at the state of this nation, I suggest we "seek The Lord while He may be found". Then may we expect our prayers to be heard ... and answered.