National Day of Prayer: Seeking God’s Heart for America…and the World

Abraham Lincoln is often credited—erroneously—with commencing America’s days of national thanksgiving and prayer in 1863. In fact, he merely prompted these important days to occur more often. It started fourscore and nine years earlier, according to the U.S. House of Representatives, when “the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of four chapters of the Bible.”

Last year, House Resolution 547 called for observing the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer on May 1. U.S. Code Title 36 obliges the president to pronounce such a day on the first Thursday of each May. H.R. 547 specifically cited America’s “long history of turning to prayer both in times of crisis and in times of thanksgiving, including over 130 national calls to prayer by the President of the United States since 1789,” when George Washington decreed a day of national prayer and thanksgiving.

National prayer trends have begun elsewhere as well. Canada’s legislative branch of government will host that nation’s 49th National Prayer Breakfast from May 6-8. The United Kingdom has a National Day of Prayer and Worship team that has visited more than 150 municipalities over the past three years. Filipino President Benigo Aquino led a National Day of Prayer and Solidarity in January to remember those lost in natural disasters in 2013. And what began in South Africa as a national prayer movement in 2001 has evolved into an annual Global Day of Prayer event—with millions of participants in virtually all countries.

Australia’s prayer effort deserves special attention. Last year, Canberra hosted a National Day of Prayer and Fasting, followed by 40 days of prayer and fasting during Lent. Then after Easter, the Australians kept going. In a spirit of grace and gratitude, they directed their intercessions toward the United States.

For 48 hours last spring, Australia’s national prayer day team not only called on Australians, but 100 countries across the planet to pray for America! They did this in 2013, too, garnering prayers from 28 nations. They highlighted three prayers in 2014: “that America would repent of its pride and self-idolatry…and welcome God back;” “that America would seek wisdom from God;” and, inferring Revelation 2-3, that the U.S. Church “would reject her lukewarm apathetic attitude and arise to her full God-given destiny in Christ and together walk in their first love for God.”

This selfless effort on the part of America’s brothers and sisters in other parts of the world offers three things to the Christian American—especially with mid-term elections approaching this fall. First, Christians in America are not alone. They are merely an extension of the universal Church. Second, Christians in America need not over-focus on the effects of politics on faith. The greater prayers may focus on the impact faith can make on politics. Third, since Christian Americans are a prayer target for Christian non-Americans, then Christian non-Americans must also be a prayer focus for Christian Americans.

This fit well with the theme for the 2014 National Day of Prayer, “One Voice, United in Prayer,” which had Romans 15:6 as its key verse: “That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Senior organizer John Bornschein believed Americans had “an unprecedented opportunity to see the Lord’s healing and renewing power made manifest.”

The Global Day of Prayer offers a key strategy to transformative prayer. They ask participants to pray for 101 days: ten days before the event, the day of the event, and ninety days afterward. The ninety days are meant to create permanent habits of prayer and faith in the hearts of worshippers, irrespective of what happens in their lives or in the elections and events of their countries and all the Earth.

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(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)