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What Is The National Day of Prayer and Why Are We Involved?

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation.  It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.  Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.

The church in Santa Cruz is participating in the day of prayer as an act of Christian unity and to ask the Lord to bless our county and our leaders, to seek his will for us, and to ask that his Kingdom will come and his will be will be done in our county even as it I done in heaven. 

What If I Can’t Come, Can I Still Be Involved?

You bet!  If you are unable come physically to any of these specific locations you can still join us by setting aside your day for fasting, and pray when you have time.  For instance, perhaps you could set aside your lunch hour to spend some time walking around your workplace or neighborhood asking the Lord to bless those you see, or the businesses, etc.  You may simply set aside some time to ask for the Lord’s will to be done in Santa Cruz even as it’s done in heaven.  If fasting from food is not possible for you visit the Fasting link on this page for some creative fasting options.  You can also print out and take the Spiritual Inventory.

How Can I Prepare For May 1st?

Spend some time reading through 2 Chronicles 29-31. Ask the Lord which of the practices that were evident from these chapters we can apply today in our desire to seek renewal for our church and nation. 

You can also print out and take the Spiritual Inventory.

Why Pray?

To some prayer feels like drudgery, like an item on a spiritual to do list.  To them, prayer seems like something that perhaps should be done, but must be endured rather than enjoyed.  This is sad because prayer, far from being a pointless demand on our already limited time, is actually a gift.  Let’s take a look at two reasons why we pray so we can better understand the privilege of prayer.

Intimacy with God

The first and foremost reason we pray is to build intimacy with God.  Building intimacy in any relationship, whether life-long friends, siblings, husband and wife, or parent and child, requires spending time together.  Building intimacy with God requires no less.  Prayer is the primary way we spend quality time with God, talking to him and listening to him.  Prayer is the place we truly come to know God and his love for us.

Richard Foster teaches, “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.  Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.”^[i]   Similarly, Bill Hybels says, “The most intimate communion with God comes only through prayer.”^[ii]

Prayer is a privilege in the deepest sense because it is an invitation to get to know the God who loves us on a deep and profound level.  The intimacy forged in prayer is so dear it led Alberta Patterson to wonder, “If you don’t spend time with God in prayer don’t you just get lonely for him?”^[iii]  It is so precious, so intoxicating it led a 17th century monk named Brother Lawrence to teach others to cultivate it this way, “My most useful method is this simple attention, and such a general passionate regard to God, to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweetness and delight than that of an infant at the mother’s breast; so that, if I dare use the expression, I should choose to call this state the bosom of God, for the inexpressible sweetness which I taste and experience there.”^[iv]

In prayer God counsels us, teaches us, listens to us, comforts us,^[v] encourages us, spends time with us, relates with us, loves on us.  Mother Teresa said it well, “Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and to keep Him as your own.”^[vi]

Experience God’s Power

The second reason we pray is to activate God’s power in our lives.  It has been said that in prayer we seek to, “move the arm that moves the world.”  Bill Hybels points out, “When we work, we work; but when we pray, God works.”^[vii]  Through prayer God has made available to us the same power that formed the earth, put the stars in the heavens, and raised Jesus from the dead. 

If we’re not experiencing the fullness of God’s power Scripture says it’s because we’re not praying. “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.”^[viii]  Billy Graham said it this way, “Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.” ^[ix]

The amazing truth about prayer is that it changes things.  Sometimes it changes our circumstances, sometimes it changes us, sometimes it changes both.  Jim Cymbala has noted how prayer has frequently been the catalyst for revival.  “Whether you study the Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Welsh Revival, the 1906 outpouring on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, or any other period of revival, you always find men and women who first inwardly groan, longing to see the status quo changed - in themselves and in their churches.  They begin to call on God with insistence; prayer begets revival, which begets more prayer.”^[x]

Exodus 17:8-13 tells the story of a battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites.  As long as Moses held his hands up in prayer the Israelites were wining, but as soon as he let his arms fall they began losing.  This story communicates a truth about prayer: as long as we present ourselves and our requests before God he will pour out his power; if we stop we shouldn’t be surprised if his power stops flowing through and to us. 

Let’s not be those who don’t experience God’s power because we’ve neglected to call on his name.  God wants to do mighty things in our day, in our town, in our lives, and he wants to involve us in his work through the privilege of prayer.

What Is Fasting, How Do I Do It?

Let’s face it, we love food!  From the television and radio promoting restaurants, to grabbing lunch with a friend, to finding food accessible anywhere, anytime, our culture largely revolves around eating.  In fact, this is so true, we all too often find ourselves wrapped up in the habits of daily life and, in doing so, actually miss out on an important area of our spiritual life.

The act of fasting, foregoing food for a predetermined amount of time for spiritual benefit, is one of the most commonly overlooked aspects of building and maintaining a deep and growing spiritual life.  Fasting can last the duration of a single meal, or can be the total self-denial of all food for multiple weeks.  It is important to understand authentic Biblical fasting is not to be confused with modern diet fads, or refusing to eat for political motives.  When we fast for spiritual gain, we allow ourselves the opportunity to commune more closely with God by literally setting aside one of our most basic needs.  As our physical condition weakens from the lack of nutrients, our spiritual condition is elevated by a concentrated focus on God. 

Through fasting, our lives are able to attain better balance by enabling us to realize how enslaved we can become by the nonessentials of life.  It is often a sobering experience to suddenly understand how quickly we crave things we do not need  – food, fashion, gadgets, whatever – until we find ourselves enslaved by them.^[xi] Fasting reminds us that we are sustained “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”^[xii]  Food does not sustain us; God sustains us.  Therefore, as we fast we are not so much abstaining from food, as we are feasting on the word of God.^[xiii]

Jesus taught the disciples how they were to pray and fast; his expectation was that they would do both.^[xiv]  It is clear Jesus’ expectation is not limited only to his first century disciples.  Jesus expected us to fast in our day as well.  In addition, as members of the same faith community we can expect to reap great rewards of corporate fasting too.  In the Old Testament corporate fasting appears to be a prerequisite for revival.  In Joel 2:15 God’s people were challenged to “declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.”  The result of the obedient fast would be that “afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”^[xv] Joined with other similar Biblical evidence, we can’t help but wonder if it is possible that greater revival and an increase in the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit on all people is delayed in our day, at least in part, as a result of our lack of fasting.  Have we fed our self-indulgence rather than demonstrated our self-denial? How often do we really say "no" to ourselves and to our own appetites and cravings – whether for food, or other device – for the sake of seeking the face of God through fasting and prayer?  Can you imagine what would happen if we did participate in this holy discipline?

What If I Can’t Fast From Food?

If you have any health problems that would be compounded by fasting (i.e., low blood sugar, etc.) you should consult your physician before taking part in this exercise.  If it is unwise for you to fast from food we recommend participating in a fast from something else.  Some people have found fasting from “noise” particularly helpful.  This could include a fast from radio, T.V., the internet and other media.  Others have found fasting from a particular food helpful for example, fasting from coffee, or sugar.  Perhaps you would want to fast from a certain amount of sleep.  The main point is to abstain from something in order to focus on prayer and communion with God.