National Day of Prayer Devotion: In Christ's Name

Mark 14:72     Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

Today, all around the nation, many prayer services will be held in churches and temples, government buildings and arenas. People of faith will gather together to specifically ask God to heal, bless, and prosper our country. In cities and towns across the States, people will listen to the prayers of church and political leaders, as well as praising God for all that He has done throughout our nations’ history.

Some of the prayer services will be controlled by the clergy, while others will be presented according to government guidelines. Jesus may or may not be mentioned, depending upon who structures the services and who is invited to lead them.

For me, this is a day when Christian pastors, who publicly pray, have a straightforward choice: to invoke the Name of Jesus and honorably make their prayers in His Sacred Name, or to give in to the secularists by setting aside Christ and making all prayers to God alone. In other words, pastors can choose to uplift the Name of Jesus and be associated with Him, or they can placate the crowd and deny Him, just like Peter.

I’ll be participating in a service at a Baptist church tonight, so I really cannot imagine that Christ’s Name won’t be invoked throughout the whole evening.

Praise the Lord!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we want to honor You with our lips and our lives. Your Name is above all others in the Universe and Your Presence in more important than anything else on this day. Hear the prayers of Your followers for this nation today. May we be blessed by Your guidance, embraced by Your love, and enthused by the message of the Gospel and the ways of God’s Kingdom here on Earth. In Your Precious and Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

National Day of Prayer Devotion: A Godly Nation

Psalm 40:4      Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer and in the evening I will be participating in an ecumenical prayer gathering at a West Knoxville Baptist Church. At this time in our nation’s history, I feel it is important that Christians gather together for prayer and ask God to give our leaders and people the spiritual guidance that we need to overcome domestic disasters and to lead our country back to God.

I have always believed in national prayer, even when I was a pastor in Scotland. I was deeply influenced by the life and teaching of John Knox. He once prayed to God, “Give me Scotland or I’ll die!” Mary Queen of Scots also stated that she was more afraid of the prayers of John Knox than an army of ten thousand. Knox’s zeal for the people of Scotland, and his uncompromising prayer for the nation’s conversion to the Reformation is an important part of the foundation of Presbyterianism. Without it, Presbyterianism would probably have never been established.

Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, has endured a lot of criticism for his uncompromising views on Islam. He has called it an evil religion and because of this, he has been ‘disinvited’ from the National Day of Prayer service at the Pentagon. Franklin is the founder of Samaritan’s Purse which has helped hundreds of thousands of people across the Islamic world, who have suffered because of fierce Sharia laws that subjugate and oppress women and children. I happen to agree with Franklin about Islam.

So tomorrow, wherever you are and in whatever country you live, pray for the leaders and people of your nation. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to bless, guide, and protect your people.

Prayer:                        Lord God, wherever we are, and to which ever nation we belong, we humbly ask Your blessing upon our leaders and people. In the midst of economic crises and domestic disasters, we pray for the resilience to recover, the resources to support one another, and the vision to sustain a future for the common good of people everywhere. In Christ’s Almighty and Victorious Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called “Lupins.” It’s an impressionistic depiction of a field of lupins in the Mid West. You can view a larger version online at the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4580550342_c5ed9226e7_b.jpg