Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. (Joel 1:14)
 
Thursday is the National Day of Prayer. I urge you to participate in Calvary’s special prayer service on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. and bring someone with you. Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, says, “I find it very interesting that even though … we complain about the present darkness, we still are not desperate enough to sincerely pray and call congregations to pray. If the darkness is as bad as we believe it is morally and spiritually, why is it that we still do not pray?”*
 
Before we gather in our solemn assembly to pray for our nation, we would do well to consecrate and prepare ourselves, as the Israelites did before meeting with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai. Here are some suggestions for preparing your heart for our service on Wednesday evening:
 
Pledge allegiance in praise
Affirm before the Lord that you are a citizen of His kingdom first and of the USA second.

Acknowledge that the Lord rules over all nations in all eras, including ours in 2016. He tears down and builds up nations; He removes and appoints rulers. He judges sin, and His judgments are always just. He brings calamity, always for His good purposes. Ask yourself, If the Lord has decided that the time is ripe for judgment of the United States, am I OK with that?  

Praise the Lord for His great mercy. As believers, we are spared His wrath by the blood of Christ. But He is patient even with unbelieving individuals and nations, graciously withholding well-deserved punishment, at least for a time.

Remember one of the themes of the minor prophets: In the cosmic battle between good and evil, the Lord ultimately prevails. When we consider our nation and our world in 2016, it’s easy to despair and think darkness is winning. It will not!

Recognize that the power of prayer is in the One to whom we pray, not in our prayers, either their quality or quantity.
 
Give thanks

A friend asked me once, “What if we received tomorrow only what we were thankful for today?” The Lord has abundantly blessed us a nation, both in the past and the present. But we often concentrate on what we don’t have and on what’s wrong instead of being grateful for what we have and what’s right. Make a list of the good things we as Americans enjoy and thank the Lord for them.
 
Confess sin

More than half of Daniel’s well-known prayer for his nation (Daniel 9:4-19) consisted of confession of national sin. We need to do the same for America. Unbelieving citizens will not, but we can. Abortion, materialism, redefinition of marriage, children wounded by divorce or illegitimacy, addictions to alcohol and drugs are examples that spring to my mind. You will think of others.

It’s tempting to point the finger at “them” – at “those people” we hold responsible for the sins we’ve listed. But we also need to confess our own sins as individuals, as Calvary church, and as the American church as a whole. Have we been complacent? Lukewarm? Have we failed to be salt and light in our culture, becoming indistinguishable from the rest? Have we kept our mouths shut in the name of tolerance or peace instead of speaking the truth in love? When we do speak out, do we display the love of Christ? Do we see cultural or political opponents as caricatures or as human beings created in the image of God, as people for whom Christ died, if only they would accept the gift?
 
Get to the root
Meditate on what the root of our nation’s problems might be. I suspect that the root is not to be found in our elected leaders, our economic system, our schools, big government, or Hollywood. Be ready to pray over the disease, not the symptoms. 
 
Examine your motives
Finally, examine your motives as you enter into the National Day of Prayer service and lift requests to the throne of heaven. Do I want God to “fix” America so that my comfortable life continues undisturbed? Or do I want God to do His sometimes painful work for His glory and the eternal good of people called Americans?
 
See you Wednesday evening!

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea

* Quoted in Decision magazine, April 2016, p. 15