ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer.
In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer. In 1988, that law was amended, designating NDP as the first Thursday in May.
Through seven decades, the efforts of the NDP Task Force have mobilized to observe the day in all 50 states and U.S. territories and to intercede for the nation.
The president is required by law to sign a proclamation each year, encouraging Americans to pray on NDP.
The NDP theme for 2024 is “Lift up the Word and light up the world!” from II Samuel 22:29-31, which reads:
“For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.
For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” (NKJV)
The theme is chosen each year by the NDP Task Force, a Christian non-profit organization.
Locally, the National Day of Prayer is sponsored by the Liberal Ministerial Alliance and promoted by local churches, organizations, city and county government, businesses and individuals.
The local event will take place at noon Thursday at the Light Park Pavilion at 11th and Kansas in Liberal. This is a live event, and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
The event will stream on Facebook pages for the ministerial alliance, Leader & Times and other media sources. The weather forecast is favorable for Thursday, and there will be time afterwards for fellowship and refreshments.
There will be Spanish interpretation for the theme prayer and full prayer guides available in English and Spanish. For those who miss the live event, replays will be available on the social media sites.
Individuals will be praying over what are referred to as the Seven Centers of Influence in Society or Seven Mountains of Culture – family, church/religion, business/workplace, education, military, government, arts, media and entertainment.
The individuals presenting at the event are people of Christian faith within the community and representing every center of influence. Thursday’s local event will open with the presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance and “America the Beautiful” followed by individual prayers of repentance and on behalf of the church and the nation as a whole.
Coordinator Cindy Hall said the primary prayer need for this year is repentance itself.
“As the body of Christ and the church as we are called by His name, His people, we need to continue to repent for a lot of the important issues, most of all as the church,” she said. “We haven’t been involved in all of the centers of influence in society for many years. We drew back and said we’re not to be involved in politics or government or education, the family unit, and we’ve paid the price for that.”
More specifically, Hall said Christians need to repent for innocent bloodshed, anti-Semitism and idolatry.
“We need to preface our prayers before we make petitions and supplications, requests from God to heal our land, to bless us with the things we’re looking for and to meet our needs,” she said.
Hall said in the past year, people’s minds and hearts have experienced concern about increasing matters of trouble.
“It looks like the darkness has increased even more, and it’s being exposed more and coming to light,” she said. “The light penetrates the darkness, exposes the darkness and has victory over the darkness. We’re called to be light, dispensers, light carriers individually and corporately and as the church.”
Hall said prayer needs exist at the state and local levels as well.
“On a state level, a lot of the things that are going on in our state capitol within the government and the legislature,” she said. “There are issues. There’s many there being supportive of our representatives and our senators and things that are godly they are trying to work on and pass.”
Locally, though, Hall sees more positive than she does elsewhere.
“We’re seeing the body of Christ come together in unity for kingdom purposes,” she said. “The economy is a concern.”
Hall said the need for prayer increases with every new year.
“It’s just amped up more and more,” she said. “A lot of times, we’re focused on our own individual selves and needs, and we need to remember the persecuted, the church throughout the globe. We need to remember all of our representatives we have in government – our city and county governments and our school board. We need to remember them for the decisions they’re making and how they represent us.”
This year’s NDP has added prayers for Israel and the persecuted church throughout the world, revival, the upcoming elections in 2024 and demographics within the family of God.
There will be a national broadcast at 7 p.m. Central time on a variety of networks and digital platforms in the U.S. and around the world. Joining NDP President Kathy Branzell will be A.R. Bernard, Matthew West and many more. For more information, go to www.nationaldayofprayer.org.
