Pray for America

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. If you’re a Christian, it is essential that you spend time interceding for our nation. Tomorrow, we’ll do what Americans have always done in times of great need—pray and ask God for help with the issues facing our country. Perhaps those issues don’t seem quite as pressing as they did when Ben Franklin reminded the Constitutional Convention that “God governs in the affairs of men… And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” During the early days of our existence as a nation, we knew we needed God. And during the darkest hours of the Civil War, a minister said to President Lincoln that he hoped the Lord was on their side. Lincoln thought for a moment before replying, "I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right...but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I--and this nation--should be on the Lord's side." I must confess I share some of Lincoln’s “constant anxiety” about our nation being on God’s side. In fact, I have to conclude that America, for the most part, is a nation that has set its face against God. That’s why this Thursday is so important. It is vital for Christians to stand in the gap—between our Holy God whose ways are just and our sinful nation whose ways are sinful. On the National Day of Prayer, let us as Christian citizens do our part to talk to our heavenly Father with urgency and passion about the things we face as Americans.