National Day of Prayer – A Call to Unity “To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.” Billy Graham


By Rev. Dr. Jeff Morrison


it was a formal calling together of the nation to cry out to God for His blessing and guidance on our nation and culture. This year we will keep the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 7 with the focus and theme being “Pray for


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America – UNITY.” That theme is drawn from Ephesians 4:3 where Paul appeals that the church be, “…eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It’s a timely call and one that Christians across the nation need to whole- heartedly embrace. Here’s just a few reasons why it’s so important that we get on board with this call to stand together in prayer now: 1. It pleases the Father when we are unified. Psalm 133:1 states, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when broth- ers dwell together in unity!” Telling us two things about our joining together.


id you know that we haven’t always had a National Day of Prayer? In fact, it’s a fairly recent development. It was on April 17, 1952 that President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming a National Day of Prayer. Of course, that’s not to say that prayers hadn’t been offered up to that point, but it was an important development because


First, the Lord makes it clear that it is a


qualitatively good thing when we are united in the truth. I learned a while ago that if God says that something is good then it is TRULY GOOD! So, if our living in a unity founded on the truth is a good thing then how good is it when we are unified in prayer! Second, it is a blessing to us when we are unified in the truth. Isn’t it refreshing and comforting when the people


around us are not in our crosshairs and we’re not the objects of their attacks? Part of the pleasantness is that we can focus our prayers on the true enemy of our souls rather than on brothers and sisters who are meant to be our supporters and encouragers! 2. We’re more effective when we stand together in this battle. An incredibly effective but age-old military strategy


is simply to divide and conquer. Of course, it’s often been mediated similarly through the quote, “United we stand, di- vided we fall.” But God had made that statement long before it came on the American scene in 1768. Ecclesiastes 4:12 points out, “…a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” The point is simple: isolated, even in prayer, we are far more vulnerable. If we stand together crying out to God with one voice how much more effective are we for the Kingdom’s sake! 3. It powerfully declares that message of the Gospel is true. Jesus


is the master of everything He does; if He does it then He does it to the Father’s standard of perfection. So, when Jesus prays we would do well to take notes on the content of His own prayers! In John 17 we have a portion of Jesus’ own high priestly prayer – the Master of Prayer speaking to the Father about the strategy of heaven! In verse 21 our Savior prays for us – those who would be brought from death to life by the ministry of the apostles. He prays, “that they all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Brothers and sisters, when we unite in prayer we are a force be-


yond what we can fully appreciate or understand. We are pleasing to our Heavenly Father, who calls this unity a GOOD THING. We are blessed in manifold ways as well, certainly not least of which is the fact that we are stronger standing together in crying out to the Father. And finally, when the world sees us standing together in the Gospel, a plurality of people from different races, cultures, languages, and economic backgrounds, Scripture tells us that some- thing amazing happens: people begin to believe the Good News, that Jesus really is the Savior! Now is the time for us to run after these things! Let’s use this


national call to prayer not to just get on board for a day or a week or a month. Let’s use this as an opportunity to begin living together in a single, unified spirit of prayer. Let us pray!?


Rev Dr Jeff Morrison is the Associate Pastor of First ARP Church in Gastonia, NC.


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