My word for 2013: prayer

I don't know much about the future, but I do know one thing -- I will need to be praying next year. My word for 2013 is prayer, the verse is Hebrews 4:16 -- Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I have picked a word and Bible verse for the year for the past three years. I began with refuge in 2010, and the verse was Nahum 1:7. My word for 2011 was wisdom, and the verse was Proverbs 2:6. My word for 2012 was simple, and the verse was Psalms 1:6. The idea of God as a refuge came in handy in 2010, but I didn't do so well at gaining wisdom or keeping it simple in 2011 or 2012. Let's hope I gain some ability to keep prayer in the forefront for 2013.

My Prayer for National Day of Prayer

The National Day of Prayer was yesterday, despite the ruling I mentioned a few posts ago.  I prayed with my small group and throughout the day, more than on a usual day.  I can't say I was really all that motivated to pray, to be honest, but it was a good reminder that the country needs prayer, and that God is in control.  I prayed (and pray) to the Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus, and ask(ed) that our leaders would make good decisions, that they would be obedient to Him, and that the Christian groups in the country would grow.  I believe in the separation of church and state, and believe that the freedom to worship has allowed Christianity to flourish in the United States, while it has not been as successful over time in Europe because of the historicity of the church -- the fact that it is an institution made up of human beings who make mistakes and become corrupt seems an insurmountable obstacle to many Europeans to believing in Jesus.  Europeans live surrounded by cathedrals that have become memorials more than living, breathing churches, and many feel no need to darken a church door. The Christian church in the U.S., by contrast, is vibrant and still reaches many people, even if some denominations are shrinking in number.  I think the prayer day, overall, was a success, despite the obstacles it faced and the controversy of Pres. Obama's decision to issue a proclamation instead of having a White House ceremony, which I blogged about a little here.  I hope next year's event will be even more successful.

National Day of Prayer in the News

This ruling on NDP made the news on both National Public Radio and the Christian station I listen to. Apparently it's unconstitutional to urge Americans to pray. It violates separation of church and state, according to one federal judge. My take on it (if you read the actual proclamation) is that although it does not require anyone to participate, and tries to reach out to all people of faith and even non-believers, there is something of an inherent contradiction in citing the freedom to "not worship" in a document urging people to pray. It's strange that this kind of thing didn't come up with Pres. Bush, who held an "ecumenical service" at the White House for NDP, instead of just a proclamation, as Pres. Obama does. Maybe that's why all the federal judgeships that are up for debate now matter -- judges ought to have ideological independence so that true abuses of power can be checked. Pres. Bush's ideological system of removing US Attorneys drew some criticism at the end of his term of office, but probably not enough. We need to prevent judgeships from becoming bound to ideology, and judges come from the US attorney ranks, I am sure. Anyway, not to turn this into an anti-Bush rant, I think this ruling is not the end of the world, especially since the President intends to ignore it.