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The
Disciple and the National Day of Prayer
(Message
delivered at a National Day of Prayer Breakfast; May 6th)
Imanuel G. Christian
May 2010
The Second Thursday of the month of May has been declared the National Day of
Prayer in the United States. Recently a federal judge declared it
unconstitutional. But there is nothing unconstitutional about the people of God
praying for the blessing of God on their nation. No president, judge or any
other human authority can stop them from doing that.
Some
3000 years ago Solomon was doing just that at the dedication of the Temple.
God’s response to his prayer was, “…if my people pray…I will heal the land” (2
Chronicles 7:14). There is a certain promise here: “I will heal their land”. But
this is a conditional statement, “If my people who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray”. The obvious question is, Do we pray? Yes, we do
pray. But the other question is, Who do we pray for? For ourselves! What do we
pray for? For our individual needs. Maybe we also pray for our friends and
relatives. But, again, what do we pray for them? The same things that we pray
for ourselves: jobs, healing, some other concerns for our day-to-day life on
earth. Do we ever go beyond that? In our prayer life we usually have a frog in
the well attitude that is happy in its little circle and wants to live an
undisturbed and comfortable life and has no idea of the vast world outside.
The
Book of Habakkuk presents an ideal that we can follow, not only for the Day of
Prayer, but for every day of our life. The book begins with a prayer, actually
with the prophet’s complaint to God. But he is not concerned for himself or for
any of his needs. He is concerned for his nation. He is concerned for God’s
honor and for God’s glory. His complaint is,
Why do you make me look at
injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and
justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is
perverted (Habakkuk 1:3-4).
Wow! What a
contemporary picture! The Word of God, no matter how ancient that may be, is
always contemporary. The prophet lived in a situation that is very similar to
ours today. He saw violence, injustice and evil all around him, and he took his
complaint directly to God in prayer.
God answered the
prophet’s prayer. God told the prophet, just look around you and you will see
that I am not inactive. “Look at the nations and watch… for I am going to do
something in your days” (1:5). “I am raising up the Babylonians” (1:6) who will
tear your nation apart. That is like saying, “I am raising Al Qaida that will
destroy the United States”. Think about 9/11 and how it has impacted our normal
lives. That hardly answers the prophet’s complaint. “How can you allow those who
are even more evil to succeed?” he asks. God answers his second question that
satisfies the prophet and he ends the book with one of the strongest statements
of faith found in the entire Bible (3:17-19).
What moved the
prophet from the depth of despair to the mountain top experience? First of all,
the prophet becomes freshly aware of God’s sovereignty. Evil, although it may
seem rampant, is under God’s control, and He is using it to accomplish His plan
and purpose. God’s ultimate purpose is, “…that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11;
Cf. Psalm 2).
Secondly, like
Job in his utmost distress, Habakkuk saw the glory of God. “His glory covered
the heavens and his praise filled the earth” (3:3). It made a deep impact on the
whole being of the prophet. “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at
the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled” (3:16). Evil
exhausts itself for nothing and its labor is only fuel for the fire that will
consume it. But, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of
the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (2:12-14).
So, the
prophet’s only response, and ours too, is, “I will wait patiently for the day of
calamity to come on the nation invading us” (3:16b), the day when God will take
care of the evil and establish His righteous rule. Until then, “…the righteous
will live by his faith” (2:4); live life totally pleasing to God no matter what.
And so the book ends with the most beautiful and strongest statement of faith.
How can we have
that kind of faith. Three things. First, we have to be people of the Word.
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17; NASB).
Nothing else gives us the solid foundation for our faith. “On Christ the solid
rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand”, said the hymn writer Edward
Mote (1834). Through our regular time in the Word we come to know God, His
nature and character, see His glory and realize His plan and purpose, and
develop that faith like Habakkuk that cannot be shaken. What this nation needs
is people who are grounded in the truth and living it out in their daily lives.
Secondly, we
have to be people of prayer; not with the frog in the well mentality, but with a
global perspective, praying that God’s plan and purpose will be fulfilled. Pray
for our nation. Pray for our leaders that God will guide them and use them to
accomplish His plans and purposes. Pray for world leaders. Pray for missionaries
working in every part of the world spreading the good news that the solution to
all the problems in the world can be found only in the King of Peace.
Studying the
Bible may be prohibited in the public schools. Prayer may not be allowed in
public places. And the National Day of Prayer may have been declared
unconstitutional. We may complain about all that. But what prevents us from
studying the Word and praying in our homes? We have no right to complain about
the absence of prayer and Bible studies in public places if we are not using
that privilege in our homes. Are our children being raised in Christian homes
today in a way that they will become God-fearing leaders of our nation tomorrow,
leaders that will change the culture of our nation?
Thirdly, we have
to be people who show their faith through their good works. As Jesus said, “Let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your
Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We have to be light in this dark world and
salt that prevents the decay in our culture. We need to get involved in groups
and activities outside our narrow circle of friends.
God’s promise on
this National Day of Prayer is very clear, “If my people who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal
their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).
The promise is
certain. But the conditions must be met!
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