By Chanel Bingham

The National Day of Prayer, established in 1952 and celebrated on the first Thursday in May, is a day that has engrained itself in the very fabric of our nation’s Christian heritage.

This year, perhaps more than any other time in modern history, the National Day of Prayer gives us an opportunity to collectively gather as one nation and humbly seek God’s forgiveness for our apathy toward the evil that has inundated our culture and ask for His wisdom and guidance as we look toward the future of our country.

As we unite together as a nation, I pray that God will equip each of us with the boldness to challenge evil, the strength to promote the truth of Jesus Christ, and the love required to extend the same mercy, grace and compassion as shown to us by our Heavenly Father.

Our nation is in need of our prayers. Let us repent of our apathy and pray for an awakening within our own hearts and begin to pray not just today, but every day for our country.

Below is the National Prayer, written by Dr. Tony Evans for this year’s celebration. May we each take a moment to reflect on these words as we turn our hearts toward God and seek His truth.

“Dear heavenly Father, we come to You today as a humble people desperate for Your supernatural intervention on behalf of our beloved nation. First, we thank You for all the blessings You have bestowed on our land, blessings that have allowed us to bring so much good and benefit to not only our own citizens but also to the rest of the world. The very ideals upon which this country was founded were based on biblical truths, no matter how some try to rewrite history to deny that very fact today.

This is why our hearts are so broken over how You continue to be marginalized and dismissed by both our people and our institutions. We are also saddened by the fact that Your people have contributed greatly to the spiritual apathy that now engulfs us. Our satisfaction in remaining religious without being fully committed to living out the truths of Your Word has caused us to become co-conspirators with the forces of evil that are destroying us as a society.

It is for this reason that we personally and collectively repent of our carnality and recommit ourselves to becoming visible and verbal disciples of Jesus Christ. Enable us, by Your Spirit, to no longer be secret agent Christians but rather to publicly declare and live out Your truth in a spirit of love so that You feel welcome in our country once again.

Thank You for Your promise to hear our prayers when we call to You with hearts of repentance and obedience, which is how we are appealing to You today, Father. On behalf of Your church, we affirm afresh the priority You are to us that You would fill every dimension of our lives as we seek to bring You glory through the advancement of Your kingdom in our personal lives, our family lives, and in the lives of our churches and our government leaders. We confidently invite heaven’s intervention into all the affairs of our nation and we praise You in advance for Your answer.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

For more information on the National Day of prayer, visit http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Chanel Bingham is a freelance writer, blogger and public speaker. She resides in Thorsby with her husband and four children. You can visit Chanel at www.thepolishedcanvas.com or on Facebook at “The Polished Canvas.” Her column publishes each Thursday.