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PRAYER: Celebrating Something Very Right!

Have you noticed how much easier it can be to criticize something wrong than to stand for something right?

Take for instance…Prayer!

Christians have been appalled in recent decades to watch prayer ripped from the fabric of our country. First it was pulled from classrooms and then graduation ceremonies. Students had to fight to maintain their legal right to organize themselves for prayer even on their own time. Today, prayer has largely disappeared from civic events and activities.

Christians have pointed out that to deny prayer is to deny the very faith on which our nation was founded. And in this criticism, we have spoken the truth.

But it still doesn’t change the fact that often times it is easier to criticize something wrong than to stand for something right.

The convicting thing is that the greatest disappearance of prayer in America over the past 40 years hasn’t been in the schools, but in the churches. For all of our protest and platitudes, over the same years, church prayer meetings have become almost extinct.

Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, wrote this:

Am I the only one who gets embarrassed when religious leaders in America talk about prayer in schools? We don’t have even that much prayer in many churches! Out of our humility, you would think we would keep quiet on that particular subject until we practice what we preach in our own congregations.

With thousands of Christian believers in our community who commend the power of prayer and bemoan the loss of prayer from public life – wouldn’t you think that The National Day of Prayer would be the most celebrated holiday in American life? If we all joined together there wouldn’t be a building big enough in Fallbrook to hold us all. But in fact, such events tend to be small, even modest gatherings.

Here’s a simple idea I’d like to propose. I’d like to suggest that we start mobilizing for what is right and not just criticizing what is wrong. Many things in our government disappoint us, but when our President and Governor make proclamations calling for all citizens to pray in a special way, I think we should turn out in droves and prove that it really is important to us. We should use it as an opportunity to prove that we are people who make a positive difference and not just negative observations.

 

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