May 3, 2012

Today, May 3 2012, marks the 61^st annual day of prayer. Over the course of our existence as a nation we have taken part in 137 days of prayer and fasting. In fact, 34 of our 44 presidents have called for a national day of prayer.

And, as usual, the national day of prayer brings with it the usual debate on the constitutionality of such an observance. Groups like the ACLU, or Freedom from Religion, are issuing petitions to ban the National Day of Prayer. And many groups on the other side of the pendulum are vehemently defending its legality.

Originally national days of prayer were issued to unite our country in prayer over a pressing issue (like war). Some of our most venerable idols have initiated and participated in them, like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

But in their times, we were a nation of Christians. We are a nation of Christians no longer.

While the majority of our population identifies themselves as being Christian, it’s hard to believe that statistic when you look at the amount of lawsuits and petitions over religious freedom and especially over the disagreement with the Christian faith.

And you’re probably wondering where this is going by this point. Well, to spare you the long rant about government policies, civil rights groups, and Christian activism I’ll make my point.

I’m not behind this idea. That’s right; I disagree with the idea of a National Day of Prayer. Didn’t see that coming now did you?

This said, however, it’s not the principle that I disagree with. Rather, it’s the need to have one at all.

We shouldn’t need an official declaration to unite us in prayer for a day. We should already be doing it every day.

We shouldn’t need to have the President tell us that on this day we should kneel together and pray for our country, for wisdom for our leaders, for the hardships we face. That should occur every single day for as long as we live.

I’m not advocating that we make every day a National Day of Prayer, but that principle should go unspoken. We should do it on our own, without having to be told that we need to.

So today, I am going kneel with (hopefully) the rest of our country and I’m going to pray to God like our Founding Fathers did so many years ago (though not nearly as eloquently). But when May 4 comes, I’ll be back on my knees praying for what most people will forget come tomorrow.

So go ahead, argue all you want about this day, take it away even, you’ll never stop me, you’ll never stop those who truly care. All you’re doing is throwing fuel on fire that has been raging since long before Christ was ever born or this nation ever conceived.